Meten-Meer-Zorg are Barakat Brothers 20/20 champions

Jan 04, 2010 Sports

Singh lead NL Cavaliers to victory against Barakat All stars

By Sean Devers

A large crowd provided a kaleidoscope of colour beyond the boundary as Meten-Meer-Zorg ‘A’ crushed Leguan side Satro SC by 8 wickets at the Uitvlugt ground in yesterday’s final of the Barakat Brothers 20/20 cricket competition.

Gajanand Singh

The vocal crowd which included former Guyana Cricket Board executives Bish Panday and Alvin Johnson along with Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) President Alfred Mentore and Regional Chairman Julius Faeiber, watched as Man-of-the-Match Mahendra Nandkishore hit 2 fours and a six in 34 and Shawn McKay smash 4 fours in an unbeaten 38 as Meten-Meer-Zorg reached 92-2 in 31.3 overs for an emphatic victory on a slow track in sweltering heat. They were replying to the 92 all out in 19.3 overs made by the Islanders.

Brian Roopchand (28) was the only Satro batsman to reach double figures as extras contributed 17.

Former Guyana under-19 leg-spinner Rakesh Goberdhan took 3-14 from 4 overs while ex-National under-19 left-arm spinner Avinash Shardananda (2-18) and National First Class selectee Trevor Benn (2-11) bowled well for Meten-Meer-Zorg. Meten-Meer-Zorg collected $200,000 and a trophy for their victory while Satro SC had to settle for the $50,000 2nd prize and a trophy.

Nandkishore took home a trophy and $10,000 for his Man-of-the-Match performance while the Meten-Meer-Zorg ‘B’ pair of Troy Khan and Atree Singh received trophies for scoring the highest individual total and taking the most wickets respectively in the competition which attracted teams from West Demerara, East Bank Essequibo and the Essequibo Islands. Meten-Meer-Zorg West received a special prize after being adjudged the best venue in the competition while Samuel Fredericks (65) and Hemraj Persaud (4-5) also collected special prizes for making the highest score in the competition and registering the best bowling figures respectively.

And in the feature match between a Barakat All Star line-up and New Line Cavaliers, the Cavaliers continued to show the benefits of being the only professional 1st division team in Demerara competitions as they won by 3 wickets with 2 balls to spare in an exciting climax to a highly entertaining day of cricket.

The large number of females and children at the packed venue were entertained by the Spontaneous Sound system and kept informed by the live commentary at the ground.

The Barakat All Sars were bowled out for 133 in 19.4 overs after they galloped to 86-4 in the first 10 overs with Amit Jairam (37), Mahendra Balgobin (25), Vickash Dhaniram (18) and Goberdhan (12) being the only batsmen to reach double figures against a team which showed plenty of commitment and energy in the field.

The Cavaliers stumbled somewhat in their run-chase after losing Andrew Lyght Junior for a first ball duck to Benn before reaching 135-7 in 19.4 overs with First-Class opener Shemroy Barrington stroking 4 fours in a run-a-ball 40. The left-handed Singh, a former West Indies under-19 player, made 34 and added 80 for the 2nd wicket with Barrington while former Guyana 20/20 player Orin Forde made 20 and Gittens 12.

Jairam had 3-29 and Shawn Jairaj 2-17 in a losing effort for the Barakat All Stars.

Although Jairam and Balgobin staged a recovery after pacer Chien Gittens had removed the openers to leave the score on 31-2, the combined side were never allowed to break free in the final overs as former West Indies leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo proved almost unplayable to finish with 2-6 from his 4 overs.

Man-of-the-Match Gajanand Singh had 3-21 while Gittens, whose 3rd and final over went for 16, had 2-31 as the top order launched a vicious attack on the new ball bowler.

Former Guyana 20/20 Keeper Tyrell Tull was brilliant behind the stumps for the Cavaliers and his stumping of David Alert brought the entire crowd to its feet.

Showing lightening hand speed, the burly Tull collected a ball from off-spinner Singh which beat the bat and suggested that the ball had passed him only to quickly take off the bails as the far from alert Alert was totally deceived and stepped out of his crease exploring the possibility of a bye only to have his bails removed.

Nagamootoo was adjudged the best bowler while Barrington collected the prize for the best batsman in the feature game.

The Cavaliers side, whose players are employed to play cricket, donated $50,000 of their $100,000 first prize to the losers who collected $100,000 in all for their efforts as the Cavaliers set-up continue to contribute to the development of cricket in Guyana.

New Line Cavaliers owner, businessman Salim Azeez said he hoped more local players could stay at home instead of traveling overs to play professionally since he feels this is a major reason why the standard of local cricket is falling.

Azeez said that his sponsorship of the team which is currently leading the Demerara First Division 3-day competition will include financially compensating the players who usually play in Trinidad so that they can be available for the entire local season. The aim of the Cavaliers is to also win the National 20/20 title and qualify for the WIPA 20/20 tournament in Trinidad and their victory yesterday followed a loss on Saturday to DCC as they focus on playing as many pre-tournament warm-up games as most of the other teams remain inactive until the official season commences.