Berbice crushed Demerara by six wickets at the Rose Hall Community Centre ground in East Canje last Sunday to win the Basil Butcher/Deryck Murray 20/20 trophy.
Playing in the game which was organized by the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTYSC) under the club’s Tribute to Heroes programme and sponsored by Ansa Mc Al Limited, Demerara were asked to take first strike and were held to 91-9 from their 20 overs to which Berbice replied with 94-4 from 18.5 overs.
It was excitement from the first ball for those gathered as the Berbicians never allowed their opponents to settle and took wickets at regular intervals to reduce them to 61-6 and then 76-9 before they crawled to their eventual total.
National opener Krishna Arjune, who struck two fours in his unbeaten top score of 26, received support from Orin Forde (16; 2×4) and Travis Blyden 13 (1×4) as national leg spinner and Man of the Match Devendra Bishoo took 3-12 whilst Balram Samaroo (2-14) and Kwesi Maltay (2-19) offered support.
Berbice in their reply, were off to a good start with openers Richard Ramdeen 32 (2×4, 1×6) and Delbert Hicks (11) posting 48 runs for the first wicket from 11 overs before Hicks was dismissed. The hosts then lost three quick wickets and were 77-3, still needing a further 16 runs from 18 deliveries for victory.
When Devon Clements (14) was stumped in the 18th over, both teams were fancying their chances of a victory but Rajendra Lachigadoo joined his captain and national all-rounder Esaun Crandon and in spectacular fashion, hoisted national off spinner Zaheer Mohammed over midwicket for six to seal the win for the Berbicians.
For their victory, Berbice received the Butcher/Murray trophy along with $100,000 in cash and a further $120,000 in hygiene and educational kits while Demerara received $50,000 and $120,000 in hygiene and educational kits.
After the game, both Butcher in whose honour a trust fund was launched earlier in the day, and Murray expressed their gratitude to be a part of such an occasion. They also expressed the hope that more clubs and organizations can follow in the footsteps of RHTYSC, in organizing similar activities.
They both rolled back the years by facing six deliveries each prior to the start of the Demerara/Berbice.