By Frederick Halley

FRESH off the completion of the 11th edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) tournament, which will climax today at the Guyana National Stadium, the seventh edition of the Prime Minister’s T20 Softball tournament, organised by the Georgetown Softball Cricket League (GSCL), in collaboration with the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Culture, Youth & Sport, bowls off on Friday at various venues around Georgetown and the East Coast.

According to the organisers, all systems are in place for the staging of the three-day softball extravaganza which culminates at the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) ground, Queenstown, next Sunday.

Some 34 teams, including eight women teams, will be vying for supremacy when the action bowls off with prize monies topping over three million dollars.
The women will however be in action on Thursday when the two finalists will be decided following the knockout round at the Lusignan Community Centre ground.

As in the past few years, the Over-50 Legends category which has been dominated by Regal Legends in and out of Guyana, has attracted most attention once more and will see 12 teams battling for the top prize of one million dollar.

Among the teams vying to topple the defending champions are last year’s runners-up New York Softball Cricket League (NYSCL) who blew a great opportunity at the Guyana National Stadium last year when they had Regal Legends in a precarious position.

Seemingly dead and buried at 104 for 8 in the 16th over, Regal legends were rescued by a stunning 45-run partnership between Rudolph Baker and skipper Mahendra “Anil” Hardyal, rallying to defend the title with a thrilling two-wicket victory over the previously unbeaten NYSCL.

Set 147 for victory after restricting NYSCL Legends to 146 for seven in 20 overs, Regal Legends achieved the target with four balls to spare.
Regal Legends continued their winning ways in Orlando and in New York this year, with the former being quite special for the Guyanese contingent since it ensured they had claimed titles in all the competing leagues.

The champions are undaunted by the loss of the experienced Eric Thomas who was involved in a road accident recently but is confident they can achieve victory despite his absence. Another stalwart, Wayne Jones, was also absent from the team that participated in New York in July and Regal Legends won handsomely.

Apart from NYSCL, stiff opposition is expected from Toronto Blizzards who reached the final of the NYSCL tournament but were recently dethroned by Pegasus Storm in the Ontario Masters Softball Cricket Clubs (OMSCC) Over-50 final. The latter is also aiming to create an impression in their first overseas sojourn.

A fierce battle is expected to ensue in the Open All Stars category with the star-studded Knight Riders Ariel All Stars aiming to win their third consecutive title in as many years.
After whipping Regal All Stars in 2021, they made light work of Name Brand in last year’s final with skipper Brian Mangar blasting a superb 94
The slimly built Mangar tore the Name Brand attack to threads with an innings that belies his stature, blasting six fours and eight sixes off a mere 43 balls as his side made absolute mockery of the 143 for five made by Name Brand in their allotted 20 overs, reaching the target in 13.3 overs, losing two wickets in the process.

Regal All Stars will counter with the hard-hitting left-hander Sachin Singh who scored a magnificent century in the NYSCL final to lead the home team to a lopsided win over Orlando and Greg Singh among others.

Regal Masters will also be aiming to defend the Over-40 title which will see six teams vying for superiority, including last year’s finalists Ariel.

The winners in the Open All Stars and Masters Over-40 will cart off a hefty prize of $600,000 each while the runners-up will receive $50,000. The women’s category will see the winners taking home $300 000 and the runners-up $25,000. Players of the final in all four categories will be recipients of trophies while the player of the series in the Open and Masters categories will collect 50-inch flat screen TVs. The player of the series in the women’s division will get a 32-inch TV.

Apart from DCC, where the finals will culminate under light, other venues slated to be used include MYO, Gandhi Youth Organisation (GYO), Police Sports Club, Queen’s College, Lusignan Sports Club and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).