Shimron Hetemyer’s brutal 74 helped script a two-wicket win for Memorex XI against Regal XI in a nail-biting finish to the Georgetown Softball Cricket League (GSCL) 12/12 tournament on Sunday at the Everest Sports Club ground.
Earlier, Memorex XI defeated Trophy Stall by 10 runs in their semi-final clash.
Batting first, Memorex XI rattled up 136 for 4 off their 12 overs.
They were propelled to their total by Farouk Hussein who smashed five sixes in 57 while Joshua Garnett ended on 25 not out.
Waheid Edwards chipped in with 17.
Narine Bailey 2 for 17 was the pick of the bowlers.
Chasing 137 for a spot in the final, Trophy Stall lost their way managing only 126 for 7 in reply. Vishnu Tamechandra (32), Devindra Deosaran ((22) not out and Surujpaul Deosarran (16) were the principal scorers.
Roy Jafferally with 3 for 27 was the main wicket taker.
In the other semi-final Regal XI booked their place in the final after trouncing Speedboat XI by eight wickets.
Chasing 98 in their allotted overs, Regal reached 99 for 2 in 8.5 overs thanks to solid batting from Patrick Rooplall who top scored with 35 an innings which included three sixes and three fours. He received support from Chien Gittens (20) and Richard Latiff (18).
Diaram Persaud and Imran Hamid picked up one wicket each.
Earlier Speedboat slumped to 98 for the loss of 7 wickets. David George (32) was the top scorer, while Anand Bharat (27) and Greg Singh (11) were also among the runs. Tyron Sanasie, skipper Troy Kippins and Balram Roopnarine shared the wickets.
The win by Regal XI set up a cracker of a final between themselves and Memorex XI.
Batting first Regal scored 132 for 2 in their 12 overs. Experienced opener Latiff slammed three sixes and five fours in his top score of 63 not out. He found support from Rooplall (38) and Safraz Esau 22 not out which helped set up a challenging total.
Regal fell behind in the latter part of the innings. At one stage they were 51 without loss after five overs with Latiff and Rooplall going well. Jaferally 1 for 33 and Vishal Phillips 1 for 34 were the only bowlers to make breakthroughs.
Memorex, in their reply, got over the line scoring a boundary off the last ball. Berbice U19 opener Hetemyer stroked and aggressive 74 which included six huge sixes and three boundaries. Waheid Edwards (16) and Vishal Phillips (10) added to their team’s total.
Balram Roopnarine 3 for 27 and Esau who was a bit expensive going for 48 runs but picked up 2 wickets in the process, help to pull the stops on the opposition’s batting.
Memorex, who at one stage thanks to Hetemyer seemed to be crusing, had a brief period of shakiness. Needing 41 to get off 18 balls, Memorex lost two quick wickets in the tenth over.
This did not stop Hetemyer from continuing his assault. Needing nine runs from six balls Hetemyer lost his wicket trying to repeat the shot that brought him maximums throughout his innings, the straight hit over the bowlers head. He was caught in the same fashion by Easu on the long off boundary off the bowling of Roopnarine.
With his team needing 8 from 3, Vishal Da Silva smoked a six in the last over to bring the deficit to 2 from 2. After taking a single and needing one run from one ball, Oliver Giddings was the hero hitting a four of the last ball and taking his team to victory.
Hetemyer carted off the awards for Man of the Series, Man of the Match and Best batsman in the final while Regal’s Tyron Sanasie was named best bowler.
Winners Memorex XI carted off a trophy and the cheque for a whopping six hundred thousand dollars while second place Regal XI received their trophy and a cheque for two hundred thousand dollars.
