Betsy Ground won their maiden title while Young Warriors Cricket Club (YWCC) showed their pedigree as the two sides lifted separate Berbice Cricket Board-organised Shimron Hetmyer-sponsored Grassroots tournaments Sunday.
Persistent rainfall forced play at the Rose Hall Canje Ground to be delayed by nearly two hours and reduce the opening rounds to just 10 overs a side.
In the opening match, hosts Rose Hall Canje defeated Pathfinders Cricket Club while Betsy Ground easily got past Goed Bananen Land to book their place in the final.
In the final, the contest was reduced to a 15-over match up with Betsy Ground winning the toss and batting.
Betsy Ground chalked up 81 for eight from their full quota with Prin Emandin 17, R. Jugister (14), S. Beharry (11) and A. Arjune (10) the principal scorers.
Sasenarine Sukhu took 2-10 while West Indies under-19 fast bowling prospect, Isai Thorne bagged 2-21 for Rose Hall Canje.
Needing 82 runs to win another title, Rose Hall Canje were bowled out for 63 from 11.1 overs.
Only Rocky Bipat 21, laced with two sixes and Sukhu (11) reached double figures.
Jugister took 5-14 while R. Gangaram returned 4-7.
Over at the Cumberland Ground, heavy early morning rainfall also affected the start of play.
In the opening round, Mt. Sinai CC defeated Flying Star of East Bank Berbice to reach their first final in decades while Young Warriors CC got past Tucber Park B.
In the final, YWCC won the toss and batted piling up 171 for two from their 20 overs.
They then dismissed Mt. Sinai for 54 in 10.3 overs.
Trevon Stanislaus led the batting for Young Warriors with a valiant 50 not out and was supported by Ricardo Ramdehol with 39 not out, Mortimer Fraser (34) and Suresh Dhanai (27). K. Chesney and F. Daniels took one wicket a piece for Mt. Sinai.
Kassim Khan and Jermaine Henry rocked the inexperienced batting line up to take four wickets each for 14 and 15 runs respectively as only N. Robeer (11) and J. Austin (10) reached double figures.
BCB President Hilbert Foster along with Secretary, Angela Haniff, both praised the outstanding performances of the two champions.
Foster described the victory by Betsy Ground CC as historic and urged the delighted players to build on the success.
He also hailed the achievement of the Mt. Sinai team and praised the players for reaching the final.
Special thanks was extended to West Indies player Shimron Hetmyer for his continued support of Berbice Cricket.
Foster stated that Hetmyer in 2021, has invested close to two million dollars into the development of cricket in the county.
Both tournaments were played under very strict Covid-19 guidelines as the BCB fulfills its commitment to the national Covid-19 Task Force.
