THE third edition of the Vice-President T20 Softball Cup swings into gear today with the women’s category taking centre stage at four separate venues around Georgetown.
Matches, which will be contested over 15 overs, will see Namebrand/Corriverton opposing Bacchus X1 at the Muslim Youth Organisation (MYO) with Patrick Edwards being the umpire, Number 64 Knight Riders versus Banakari Warriors at Gandhi Youth Organisation (GYO), with Ava Baker doing the officiating. Panthers will battle 4R Lioness at Transport Sports Club with A. Hope in charge and Supreme Stars will take on Invaders at GNIC with M. Ernest calling play. These knockout matches get underway at 9:30hrs.
The semi-finals, featuring the winners of match one and two and victors of three and four are set for 13:30hrs at MYO and GNIC respectively.
Meanwhile, the three men’s categories – Open All Class, Masters Over-40 and Legends Over-50 will get cracking tomorrow with the morning matches beginning at 9:30hrs and the afternoon matches starting at 13:30hrs.
Following are the fixtures for the Open All Class: Friday morning – Namebrand/Corriverton vs Success All Stars at Eve Leary Number 1, GLC All Stars vs Hyde Park All Stars at Eve Leary Number 2 and Regal All Stars vs Ariel/Speedboat at Eve Leary Number 3.
Afternoon – Regal All Stars vs Success All Stars at Eve Leary 1, GLC All Stars vs Ariel/Speedboat at Eve Leary 2 and Namebrand/Corriverton vs Hyde Park at Eve Leary 3.
Saturday morning at 9:30hrs – Namebrand/Corriverton vs Ariel/Speedboat at Eve Leary 1, GLC All Stars vs Success All Stars at Eve Leary 2 and Regal All Stars vs Hyde Park All Stars at Eve Leary 3.
The semi-finals, set for 13:30hrs, will see the top team from the two groups battling with the fourth placed team and the second opposing the third.
The three teams, competing in the Masters Over-40 category, will play all their matches at the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) ground, Queenstown.
On Friday morning, commencing at 9:30hrs, Ariel/Trophy Stall Masters will take on Avengers while the afternoon game at 1:30 pm features Regal Masters and Avengers. On Saturday morning Regal Masters and Trophy Stall Masters will battle. The top two teams will contest the final at the same venue on Sunday.
Six teams are vying for supremacy in the Legends Over-50 category and following are the fixtures: Friday at 9:30hrs – Bliss Basters vs Fisherman Legends at MYO, Jai Hind Legends vs Trophy Stall Lions at GNIC and Parika Legends vs Regal Legends at GYO.
Friday afternoon at 13:30hrs – Bliss Basters vs Trophy Stall Lions at MYO, Jai Hind Legends vs Regal Legends at GYO and Parika Defenders vs Fisherman Legends at GNIC.
Saturday morning at 9:30hrs – Bliss Basters vs Regal Legends at GYO. Jai Hind Legends vs Fisherman Legends at MYO and Parika Defenders vs Trophy Stall Lions at GNIC.
Over $6,000,000 in cash and incentive prizes, the largest ever for any softball tournament in Guyana, will be up for grabs.
All the finals are set for DCC ground on Sunday, commencing at 8:30hrs and ending under lights.
The winners of both the Open All Class and Legends Over-50 categories will waltz away with whopping one million dollars in prizes and winning trophies while the runners-up will take home $200,000 and trophies. The Most Valuable Players (MVPs) in each category will ride away with motorcycles while the man-of-the-match in each final gets a trophy.
The women’s category will see the winners pocketing $300,000 and a trophy and the runners-up $100,000 and a trophy. The MVP gets and electric motorcycle.
In addition, players with the most wickets in each category will receive a water dispenser, most runs – a Milexus refrigerator, five-wicket hauls – executive chairs and players registering centuries – air-fryers.
The Masters Over-40 winners will take home $400,000 and the runners-up $100,000 while the player of the final gets a trophy.
All the trophies for the tournament are being donated through the kind courtesy of Ramesh Sunich of Trophy Stall fame. (Frederick Halley)
