Defending champs Carr Tec retain B Division title

THE Ontario Masters Softball Cricket Clubs (OMSCC) 2023 season climaxed at the Ashtonbee Reservoir ground, Scarborough, Canada, last Sunday with contrasting wins for the A and B Divisions’ winners respectively.

While the A Division, like the Over-50 the previous day, saw Warriors winning in the last over and dethroning defending champions Rebel Masters, the B Division ended with a lopsided victory for defending champions Carr Tec over Ramblers.
Winning the toss and electing to take first strike, Rebel Masters were restricted to 131 for eight in their allotted 20 overs. In reply, Warriors, who are known for their poor records in finals, reached the target with four balls to spare.
The B Division final, on the other hand, proved a total disappointment for the Sunday afternoon spectators as Ramblers were shut out for 31 in 12 overs after being inserted to take first strike. Carr Tec rushed to the required total in 3.2 overs.
Warriors owe their victory to a fine knock of 46 from former Guyana Under-19 batsman Rovendra Mandolall, who came to the fore with his team in a spot of bother at 45 for four in the eighth over.

The former Essequibo player shared useful partnerships of 26 with Aftab Shamsudeen for the fifth wicket and 43 for the sixth with Avinash Singh (18 not out). However, Warriors still needed a further 18 runs when Mandolall, who struck one four and five sixes, went caught and bowled off Richard Driffield.
Singh and skipper Rabindra Diaram held their nerves and ensured their team came out victorious in 19.2 overs. Wickets were shared by Ramo Malone, Bunty Singh, Gavin Glasgow and Driffield, each claiming one.
Earlier, Rebel Masters suffered an early setback with the loss of Eon Katchay who went without scoring. Opener Desmond Chumney, in his usual attacking mode, spanked one four and three sixes in a bright 35 and along with Driffield (14) revived the innings. Other useful contributions came from Malone (19) and Chris Vernon (17) but the eventual total proved inadequate at the end.

Rakesh Dyal had the best figures, two for seven while Rakesh Ramotar ended with two for 14.
The respective Most Valuable Players awards went to Mandolall and Malone while the B Division winners were Suresh Ragoonauth (Carr Tec) and Daron Mahase (Ramblers).
Both the winners and runners-up teams were recipient of trophies and medals. The MVPs were also rewarded with trophies.
Several players were also rewarded for performances during the regular season. Imran Ali (Hawaiian Sensation) registered the lone hundred in Division A while Rishi Samuel, also of Hawaiian Sensation) scored the most runs (218) and had the highest ranking (1031 points).

In the bowling department, there was one five-wicket haul from Looknauth Ramsuchit (Hawaiian Sensation) while Linden Persaud (Hawaiian Sensation), Gavin Glasgow (Rebel Masters) and Bisham Sukhdeo (Reliance Lions) had four. Raja Amit Pooran of Canadian Legends claimed the most wickets (16).
There were four centuries in Division B – Krishna Arjune (Pegasus), Hazari Girdhari (United), Fazil Rasool (United) and Richard Rosan (United). Arjune also topped the batting aggregate with 414 runs and had the highest ranking (1532 points). Four-wicket hauls were achieved by Patrick Balkaran (United), Girdhari and Devin Shivrattan (Ramblers. Jano Panday (United) and Mark Khan (GT Bannas) were tied for taking the most wickets (10).
Meanwhile, a perplexed Ramblers’ captain, Patrick Shivrattan, disclosed that he had no answers to his team’s disappointing performance in the B Division final.