As the South/Central Essequibo T20 competition continued earlier this week, Parmesh Parsotam stroked an unbeaten half century to see Central Essequibo champions Bacchus Bulls defeat Aurora Knight Riders by six wickets.
Playing on home turf at the immaculate Imam Bacchus Ground, the Essequibo franchise player played a responsible innings with Bulls falling into peril after being 19-3 and 45-4 at different stages of the game. The former national youth player carved nine boundaries on his way to 74. He was supported by Khulraj Persaud, who made 32 not out, including two sixes and three fours as Bulls reached 160-4 in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Aurora Knight Riders won the toss and opted to bat. They posted 157-8 in their allotted overs compliments of Roddy Spencer (35), G. Ramdharie (35) and Quinton Reedon (25). Lallbachan Narine took 3-25.
Also in the round, South Essequibo champions Rising Starts defeated New Opportunity Corps (NOC) by seven wickets at the Pomona Ground. NOC won the toss and took first strike but were dismantled for 89 in 17 overs. Franchise player David Williams top-scored with 25, including two sixes. He was supported by Akinie Adams with 23. Ravindra Narine took 3-12 while Layman Lackan grabbed 2-8.
Rising Stars were reduced to 5-3 before Lackan returned with bat in hand to stroke five fours on his way to 47 and see his side over the line with five overs to spare.
Meantime, Invaders Masters recorded a four-wicket win over Queenstown Sports Club at the Golden Fleece ground. Queenstown decided to bat first after winning the toss. However, they were contained to a paltry 88 in 15.2 overs with Marvin Seymour top-scoring with 41. He hit five sixes in his innings. R. Bishop took 3-9 while Beesham Seepersaud bagged 3-15 and Ricardo Adams snatched 3-28.
In response, Masters raced to 91-6 in 12.1 overs, compliments of Raj Parbattie and Ramesh Narine, who made 31 and 26 respectively.
At the Affiance Ground, the home team scampered to a four-run win over Crown XI. The hosts batted first and posted 159-9 with Sanjay Rajkumar scoring 57 and Eishwar Singh, 41. R. Ragoobar took 4-15 while K. Singh had 2-24.
In the chase, despite contributions from B. Dasrath (41), Shannon Jagmohan (30) and Ragoobar (30), Crown XI were contained to 156-9 when the overs expired. Amit Persaud took 3-35.
At the Reliance Ground, another close win played out as Reliance Hustlers fended off United Warriors in a one-wicket victory. United Warriors were limited to 121-9 in their allotted overs as Pavindra Persaud took 5-15 while Rameez Mohamed scored 36 and S. Dusraj contributed 34.
Reliance Hustlers responded with 122-9, winning off the last ball as Mark Austin (32), Ravindra Persaud (23) and Essequibo Under-17 player Abdool Nadir (17) saw them to victory.
