MERCENARY and Cambridge Jaguars emerged as respective winners of the flick and round-arm softball categories when the 59th Annual Guyana Independence Festival, organised by the Guyana Independence Festival Committee, climaxed at the St. Bede’s ground, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada last Saturday.

Mercenary, who have been dominating the Ontario Softball Cricket League (OSCL) competitions over the past years, defeated an OSCL combination by seven wickets in the flick bowling final which saw four teams contesting while Cambridge Jaguars triumphed over Apex Predators by 65 runs in the round-arm division, both matches played over 10 overs.
Winning the toss and opting to take first strike, OSCL were restricted to 79 for seven in their allotted 10 overs.

Led by an attractive unbeaten 31 from Richard Latif, which included two fours and an equal number of sixes, Mercenary achieved the required target with five balls to spare. Skipper Riaz Kadir was also unbeaten on 18 at the end. Daven Parsram finished with two for 17 for the OSCL combination.

Latif easily took the player-of-the-match award on the victorious side while Parsram was voted the MVP on the OSCL team.
Mercenary had earlier defeated Bacchus Ruff Ryders while the OSCL X1 defeated Ramblers Cricket Club in the semi-final encounters.
The round-arm final saw Cambridge Jaguars racing to a daunting 179 for three from their allotment of 10 overs before restricting their opponents Apex Predators to 114 for seven to win by the huge margin of 65 runs.

Keyon Sinclair struck a sparkling 68 which was decorated by three fours and eight huge sixes off a mere 25 balls for the eventual winners. He shared a 125-run second-wicket partnership with Rajkumar Budhram, who slammed a fine unbeaten 60 which included two fours and seven sixes off 27 balls.

Apex Predators were never up to the challenge, losing wickets at regular intervals with only Ameer Badshaw offering token resistance with 60 which included four sixes.
The respective MVPs were Sinclair of Cambridge Jaguars and Badshaw of Apex Predators.

At the presentation ceremony, which followed, the winners, runners-up and four outstanding players were rewarded with trophies and medals.
Guyana Independence Festival Committee Sports Chairman Shiv Persaud thanked all the teams for their participation in the annual event.
All the participating teams were also the recipients of plaques in recognition of their participation. Persaud, who is also the President of the OSCL, showered praise on the several sponsors.
Chairman of the Guyana Independence Festival Committee, Malcolm Cho-Kee also took the opportunity to congratulate the winners and other participating teams and expressed optimism that next year will be even bigger and better.

Businesswoman Kim Sue, who is also vice-president of the committee, lauded the teams and spectators for coming out on Saturday to celebrate Guyana’s Independence anniversary.
Among those on hand was Guyana’s High Commissioner to Canada, His Excellency Keith George who also assisted with the presentation of prizes. (Frederick Halley)