By Michaelangelo Jacobus
Even rain could not put a damper on the well-attended final of the second edition of the Kares T10 Tapeball competition at the Providence National Stadium, East Bank Demerara on Saturday night.
By the time the dust settled, it was the aptly named Titans All-Stars who powered their way to the $1.5 million first place prize to go nicely with the trophy, defeating the Montra Jaguars by 69 runs in the final, courtesy of a Quentin Sampson special.
Sampson showed his strength with the bat in hand and delivered a match-winning performance after skipper Leon Johnson had won the toss and elected to bat. The Essequibian was in a hurry, scoring a blistering 86 runs off just 30 balls which included 9 sixes and 4 fours, powering his team to a mammoth 151/4 from their allotted 10 overs.
The burly allrounder had combined brilliantly with another Essequibian, Kemo Paul who chipped in with 40 from 19 balls (4sx7, 6sx1), as the duo took their side from a troubling 21/3 in the third over to 130 by the time Paul fell in the 9th over.
Earlier, openers Sachin SIngh and Shemroy Barrington failed to get going and were both dismissed caught, Singh falling to Kevlon Anderson while Barrington was snapped up by Parmesh Parsotam for a first ball duck and the first casualty of the Titans’ innings. After Sachin Singh fell for 9, Kemol Savory also came and went briskly, caught behind off the bowling of Anderson to leave the Titans struggling at 23/3 midway through the third over.
But it was Sampson’s time to shine and that he did, playing fearlessly and while he had some streaky boundaries, he was at top form, particularly harsh on short bowling, punishing the Montra Jaguars attack with 9 beastly sixes. By the time Paul was run out, the duo had done the damage and Sampson stepped up in the final over to push his side above 150.
Set 152 for victory, the Montra Jaguars run-chase never got going and save for Ramnaresh Sarwan’s 11-ball 21 along with 20 (9 balls) from Raymond Perez, the entire batting line-up folded meekly as Nial Smith’s fiery pace kept them in check while Ronaldo Ali-Mohamed was accurate to keep the other end tight.
In fact, Sampson’s stellar final continued with the ball in hand as he gleefully completed a return catch to send an ominous looking Sarwan along his way, the Jaguars losing their first wicket with the score at 28 in the third over.
Sarwan’s dismissal opened the floodgates and with Kevlon Anderson (7), Anthony Bramble (6) and Jonathan Foo (0) all falling cheaply, one sensed a victory was out of their reach at 37/4 in the fifth over.
It was only Perez’s 20 which included three fours and a solitary six, that added some respectability to the Montra Jaguars innings. When Perez fell caught by Sampson off the bowling of Christopher Barnwell with the score at 75/5, it was all over and the Jaguars lost a further three wickets, limping to 82/8 when their 10 overs expired to lose by 69 runs.
Earlier in the day, rain had threatened to derail the evening’s proceedings, briefly interrupting the second semi-final between the Titans All-Stars and the Diamond Gunners. However, the clouds dissipated and cricket was cleared to resume with the Titans booking their spot in the final with a 6-wicket win over the Gunners. After bowling out the Gunners for 51 in 9.5 overs, the Titans chased the target down in 5.5 overs to end on 54/4 as Sampson led the way with a 7-ball 15.
In semi-final one a bit earlier, the Montra Jaguars had a close 9-run win over Mahdia (Movements Family).
On that occasion, the Jaguars batted first and amassed 118/2 off their allotted 10 overs, Kevlon Anderson top scoring with 69 from 26 balls which included six massive sixes and four fours.
He got support from Anthony Bramble (36 from 28) while Suresh Dhanai and Ershad Ali had a wicket apiece.
In search of 119 for victory, Mahdia made a brave effort but fell short by 9 runs as the Jaguars bowlers held their nerve in the end. Ricardo Adams belted a 12-ball 28 at the top of the innings while Nizam Khan got to 27 runs off 16 balls, but their efforts were in vain.
The Montra Jaguars pocketed $500,000 for their campaign.
