In a bittersweet end to the Berbice Cricket Board-organised (BCB) Beacon Foundation T20 tournament, Rose Hall Town Gizmos and Gadgets were crowned champions after defeating Albion by five wickets Sunday at the Albion Community Centre ground.
According to the BCB, the national players for the three participating teams were barred from participating at the last minute.
In the final, the home team won the toss and elected to bat first, posting 112-8 from their allotted overs.
Watched by a large crowd, Rose Hall Town reached 114-5 with 11 balls to spare.
Albion’s batting was centered around Sharaz Ramcharran who top scored with 38, Adrian Sukwah, 16, and Antonio February with 18 not out.
Left-arm spinner, Keith Simpson, grabbed 3-10, and was named Man of the Match.
Off-spinner, Jonathan Rampersaud supported with 2-11.
In the chase, Delbert Drakes. 30, and Junior Sinclair, 18, shared in a 35-run opening stand which was broken when Sinclair was trapped leg before wicket to Gourav Ramesh. Jason Sinclair and Surendra Kissoonlall made 10 runs each while Simpson blasted two boundaries in his unbeaten 23-run cameo to steer Rose Hall Town to the title.
Earlier, Albion drew a bye to the final while Rose Hall Town defeated Young Warriors by two wickets.
Young Warriors posted 103-8 from their allotted overs after winning the toss and opting to bat while Rose Hall Town scampered to 104-8 with two balls to spare.
Linden Austin led the Young Warriors’ charge with 30 while Seon Hetmyer scored 16.
There were 14 extras.
Rampersaud took 3-10 while his captain, Shawn Pereira took 2-13 with his leg spin.
In reply, Jason Sinclair made 16 while Pereira was left on 12 not out to see their team surviving a scare from Austin who took 4-23 and Hetmyer with 2-21.
Rose Hall Town won the $100,000 first prize and Albion $50,000 as runners up.
Both teams immediately presented their winnings to the foundation to aid in the fight against Cancer.
BCB President Hilbert Foster stated that the board was pleased to be associated with the fight against Cancer and pledged his cooperation in the future.
He also congratulated the Beacon Foundation for the outstanding work it was doing across Berbice to assist persons suffering from Cancer.
The Chairman of Beacon Foundation, Patrick De Groot, praised the great cooperation his organisation received from the BCB and sponsors such as Poonai’s Pharmacy, BK International, Ansa Mcal, Jus Water, Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club and Guysuco among others.
