Albion Masters, Untouchables and Tropical Masters were early winners when the Wolf’s Memorial Challenge Cup organized by the Guyana Floodlight Softball Cricket Association (GFSCA) got cracking last Sunday at various venues.
Top Berbice side Albion Masters produced the biggest upset of the opening round, eking out a narrow six run win over the much vaunted Floodlights side in a high-scoring and thrilling encounter.
Batting first Albion Masters rattled up 218-4 off their allotted 20 overs with V. Moonsammy hitting an unbeaten century.
Moonsammy struck 105 not out and received support from John Somar who made 66.
Bowling for Floodlights Masters, Ricky Deonarain was virtually unplayable bagging 3-6.
Floodlights Masters in reply reached 212-2 off their 20 overs with Wayne Jones 46 not out, Yunis Yusuf 41, Imtiaz Mohamed 34 and Richard Persaud 20 not out the principal scorers.
Moonsammy returned with the ball to capture 2-18.
There was none of the drama in the second encounter as Untouchables lived up to their name in crushing Princess Hotel by nine wickets.
Batting first Princess Hotel scored 115 all out with Andy Ramcharran top scoring with 26. Roshan Ali 3-18, Q. Yusuf 3-20 and M. Alexander 2-20 were the main wicket takers.
In reply, Untouchables cruised to 116-1 with Raul Reid slamming an unbeaten 80 and Alexander supporting with 26.
The euphoria of their upset win had hardly faded when Albion Masters were brought crashing back down to earth losing by 14 runs to the little fancied Tropical Springs.
Batting first, Tropical Springs scored 143 all out with Leon Sankar 32, Benedict Felix, 29 not out and Lalta Gainda, 23, the principal scorers.
- Da Silva 3-7, A. Khadero 2-13 and S. Mohabir 2-22 were the main wicket takers for Albion Masters, who, in reply were dismissed for 129 with R. Mangru 34 and Lall Beharry 28, the top scorers.
- Ramnauth took 4-11 and Rahaman Khan 3-9.
In the final men’s game, Speed Boat defeated Wolf’s Warriors by 58 runs. Speed Boat, batting first, scored 215-9 off their 20 overs with Lennox Marks 77 and G. Singh, 34, the top scorers.
- Ramnauth 3-19, Azaz Azeez 3-13 and V. Dhaniram 2-7 were the main wicket takers for Wolf’s Warriors who fell for 158 off 16 overs. V. Dhaniram scored 41 while G. Singh grabbed 2-23.
In other results, there were wins for Wellwoman, Trophy Stall Angels and Blue Divas.
Wellwoman defeated Savage Masters by five wickets as Savage Masters batting first scored 130 all out in 19.1 overs. T. Ramsaywack was the topscorer with 55 while E. Lovell grabbed 4-20 and G. De Franca 2-10.
Wellwoman, in reply, reached 134-6 off 15 overs with D. Vivekanand 37 the top scorer.
Next up was Trophy Stall Angels who made light work of 4R Lioness winning by eight wickets.
Batting first, 4R Lioness made 92 all out in 12.2 overs with Gangadai Singh, 32 and Matana Cambridge, 25, the top scorers.
Alicia Allen 3-4 and Amanda Roberts 2-5 were the main wicket takers for Trophy Stall Angels who reached 95-2 in reply with Rovanne De Monick 45 not out and A. Roberts 17 not out.
In the final game, Blue Divas defeated Enterprise Divas by seven wickets. Enterprise Divas 144-8 off 15 overs with Ashley Mohan, 48 and V. Persaud 26. Blue Divas 146-3 off 12.3 overs with Aisga Cambridge 67, and Sangeeta Sawh 37.
The competition continues tomorrow.
Fixtures: At Carifesta Sports Complex: Pitch (1) 9:30am- Floodlights vs. Superior Woods. 12:30pm- Wellmen vs Wolf Warriors Masters.
Pitch (2) 10:30am-4R Lioness vs Enterprise Divas.12:30pm- Wellwoman vs Blue Divas.
Pitch (3) 9:30am- Savage Masters vs HS Masters. 12:30pm- Tropical Springs vs Enterprise Legends.
At Cyril Potter College Ground: Pitch (1) 9:30am- Wolf Warriors vs Untouchables. 12:30pm- Speedboat vs Regal. Pitch (2) 9:30am- Princess Hotel vs LoL Woodworking. 12:30pm- Regal Masters vs Parika Defenders.
At Jailing Cricket Ground (Albion): 11:00am- Albion Masters vs Fisherman Masters.
