Floodlights XI cruised to an easy eight wicket win over Fisherman’s XI while Speedboat upset Regal in last evening’s finals of the Guyana Softball Cup 6 played at the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) Ground.
Floodlights proved why they are touted as possibly the best Masters team in Guyana, after winning the toss and inserting their opponents to have first strike in front of a sold out crowd.
It was the trio of Ramo Malone (2-8), Manoj Arjune (2-13) and Ramesh Narine (2-20) who restricted the Fishermen to 116-8 in their 20 overs.
Satrohan Seeraj hit four fours in his top-score of 26, while Lionel Persaud 18 (1×6, 1×4), Hackim Majeed 14 (2×4) and Jagdesh Persaud 13 (1×4, 1×6) failed to convert their good starts. The Floodlights Masters then made light work of their target, breezing to 119-2 in 17.5 overs with Ricky Deonarine leading from the front with an unbeaten 39, which featured two fours and a six.
After keeping their opponents to a modest total, Floodlights began their chase with an aggressive 27 from opener Uniss Yusuf who set the tone with his four fours and one six. Seeraj, after carrying his bat earlier, returned with ball in hand to bag 2-19, including the important wickets of Yusuf, and Ramesh Narine who struck a pair of fours in his 12.
However, stability from Deonarine, and Malone who cracked three fours during his undefeated innings of 24, provided all that was required by Floodlights, who got to their target with overs and wickets to spare.
In the open category, Speedboat XI beat defending champions Regal All-Stars by five wickets, as they too created another upset in the competition.
Batting first Regal All-Stars compiled 172 in 19.5 overs, with Sachin Singh (31), Patrick Rooplall (33) and Safraz Esau (20), making useful contributions.
Man of the match Wazir Hussain, hit five sixes in his top-score of 45, and shared a 73-run partnership with Travis Drakes, who scored an unbeaten 37, which featured two sixes and two fours, to guide their team to 173-5.
At the presentation ceremony, Speedboat XI walked away with the $800,000 first prize, while Floodlights carted off $600,000 along with two trophies.
