The inaugural Berbice Cricket Board/West Berbice Cricket Association/Faizal Jafferally T20 tournament was off to a blazing start yesterday across two venues.
At the miniature but picturesque Cotton Tree Cricket Ground, home team, Cotton Tree Die Hard, registered a seven-wicket win over Bush Lot Sports Club in the first match of the tournament.
Cotton Tree won the toss and inserted Bush Lot who were kept quiet, eventually finishing on 131 for nine when their 20-over allotment ended.
In reply, the hosts raced to 132 for three winning with 27 balls to spare.
Bush Lot got off to a positive start with Alex Mohabir and Kamesh Alli adding 55 for the opening partnership. However, after that runs became hard to come by.
Mohabir made a 20-ball 26, laced with four boundaries while Alli stroked three fours and one six on his way to 24 from 21 balls. Hemraj Darana made a patient 26 which came from 36 balls while Christopher Bisson chipped in with a 10-ball 17.
Left-arm spinner, Pooran Persaud was the principal wicket taker for Cotton Tree, taking four wickets for just 19 runs in two overs and was complemented by Narshad Gaffoor who took two wickets for 13 runs.
Leonardo Seetayah, Waqar Hassan and Roshan Gaffoor all picked up a wicket a piece.
The chase was piloted by Narshad Gaffoor who returned to smash seven sixes and three fours on his way to a 30-ball 56. He added 60 for the second wicket with Nick Ramsaroop (13) after losing his brother, Fawaz for a first ball duck.
When Narshad Gaffoor was bowled by Bissoon, Abdool Subhan and Persaud sealed the victory with unbeaten cameos of 27 and 25 respectively as they shared in an unbroken partnership of 45.
In the second encounter at the venue, D’Edward handed Police an 86-run defeat. D’Edward won the toss and opted to bat, posting 189 for nine from their allotted overs. They then restricted Police to 103 all out in 15.3 overs.
Keith Fraser led the charge for D’Edward with a boundary-riddled 45 not out late in the innings. Batting at number seven, the rooftops of the surrounding houses were not spared as Fraser worked the mid-wicket region for five sixes and two fours.
He was supported by Kevon Jawahir who blistered five fours and one six on his way to 31 while Kaipaul Heeralall (26), Dinnauth Persaud (22) and Heeralall Bridgelall (21) lent support.
Kurt Griffith and Dwayne McPherson picked up two wickets each for 17 and 33 runs respectively.
Police, in their first match after almost a year away from the game showed their rustiness, especially to military-medium paced seamer, Rickey Moore (3-37) and left-arm spinner, Hemraj Harrilall (4-22). Griffith top scored with 35, decorated with four fours and one six while McPherson fought valiantly for his 28.
Over at Paradise Ground, Bath Sports Club pulled off a three-wicket win in the final over to stun Achievers. Achievers posted 106 for six in the 15-over affair, which was reduced due to rain with Collis Noble (29) and Shamal Angel (16) being the principal scorers. Kapildev Armagon and Hemchand Singh picked up two wickets each for Bath. Bath then reached 107 for seven with two balls to spare.
