Tigers and Titans to clash in next Tuesday’s final
UNIVERSAL DVD Titans and Universal Solutions Tigers will clash in the final of the Universal DVD and Universal Solutions’ seventh anniversary T20 championship, after they both chalked up comfortable semifinal victories at the Blairmont Community Centre ground yesterday. In the first semifinal, Tigers who were led by Shawn Pereira, defeated the Steven Latcha-led East Berbice Warriors by six wickets thanks to the bowling of Michael Newland who took 5 for 17 and Pereira with 3 for 14, followed by the batting of Delbert Hicks who struck an unbeaten 47.
In the second fixture, the Titans who were led by Rajiv Ivan overcame Sherwyn McPherson’s West Berbice All Stars by five wickets, despite some brilliant fast bowling from former Guyana and West Indies Under-19 fast bowler Keon Joseph who took 3 for 12 from his four overs.
A fair-sized crowd turned up at the venue to witness the day’s action which had players of the calibre of discarded West Indies leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo along with Richard Ramdeen, Jonathan Foo, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Royston Crandon and Brandon Bess making appearances for their respective teams.
Winning the toss and opting to bat first in the first encounter, East Berbice Warriors whom Foo represented were bowled out for a meagre 79 in 18 overs, with Veerapen Permaul, the younger brother of national left-arm orthodox skipper Veerasammy Permaul top-scoring with 29 (36 balls, 2×4).
Troy Matheison made 16 (11 balls, 1×4) in support to Permaul but no other batsman reached double figures, as Newland who bowled with pace and aggression, ripped through the opposition batting lineup, with Foo being one of his victims, bowled for 1.
Vishal Mohabir supported Newland and Pereira by taking 2 for 3 for the Tigers, who scored 80 for 4 from 15 overs in reply, thanks to Hicks’ feat with the bat along with Harrinarine Chattergoon who made 21 (2×4), as they added 40 for the second wicket after their team lost Richard Ramdeen, dismissed without scoring off the second delivery of the innings off Mark Lionel (2-16).
Hicks kept his cool while his teammates lost theirs at the other end to see his team home with two boundaries in the 15th over, as the pace/spin combination that was in operation for the Warriors, brought success with Crandon being dismissed by Foo (1-16) also without scoring.
West Berbice All Stars won the toss and took first strike in the second semifinal wherein they scored 113 before being dismissed off the third delivery of the final over.
They owed a debt of gratitude to the left-handed Keith Fraser, who disdainfully dispatched national Under-19 medium fast bowler Clinton Pestano twice over the midwicket fence for six, followed by another back over the head of Eon Hooper.
However, it was Hooper who engineered Warriors’ early batting demise, removing their top order batsmen on his way to 4 for 18 from four overs of gentle off-spin, while Ivan (2-22) and Gudakesh Motie (2-24) offered support.
Karamdat Bissoondyal struck three fours and one six in his 32 in support to Fraser’s feats, after the latter was given a life at long on by Bishoo off Pestano, before the West Indies leggie had him adjudged lbw, as he looked to reverse-sweep a googly.
When the Titans began their reply, they lost Sewnarine Chattergoon who was caught off Joseph in the first over without scoring, followed by the quick demise of Kandasammy Surujnarine and Linden Austin who both fell cheaply.
Ivan 19 (2×4, 1×6) and Kevin Ramdeen (10) repaired the damage before they were both dismissed by Joseph, who had seen Bess (1-36 from 1.5 overs), struggle to maintain a tidy line and length and pulled out of the attack for dangerous bowling.
Jason Sinclair made a composed unbeaten 32 that was decorated with four fours, to steer the Titans home and set up an exciting finale against the Tigers next Tuesday at the same venue, while Warriors and West Berbice All Stars will do battle for the third place position.
In a strange twist of things, the match was officiated by unofficial umpires on the agreement of all the teams involved, as no official umpire attached to the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB), showed up to render their services.
According to Secretary of the BCB Angela Haniff and the BCB’s Competitions Committee Chairman Carl Moore, the Berbice Cricket Umpires Council (BCUC) which is headed by Roshan Moakan, requested more money than what is normally paid as their match fees, to officiate in the matches and the BCB refused to encourage such an action.