Greg Singh’s ton powers Speedboat XI to semis

Apr 21, 2013 Sports

Trophy Stall through with commanding wins

Greg Singh’s maiden ton in the inaugural Georgetown Softball Cricket League (GSCL) 12/12 tournament being contested at the Everest Cricket Club ground, resulted in Speedboat XI recording a comfortable victory over Farm XI to book a place in next Sunday’s semifinals.

Greg Singh

Also joining them there were Trophy Stall XI, who defeated both Universal DVD Titans and Hillfoot Vipers in their two matches, while the other two semifinalists will be known at the end of today’s preliminary round matches at the same venue.
Playing on pitch number one out of Group B, Speedboat XI first disposed of Recharge XI by 48 runs in their first match, before seeing Farm XI beat the same opponents by 22 runs, setting up an all important final game of that group between the two winners.
Speedboat XI rattled up 154 for 5 from their 12 overs, with Greg Singh hitting six sixes and two fours in his topscore of 51, Shazim Hussain 47 (4×4, 2×6) and Mahendra Singh’s 18 (3×6) offered support. Premnarine Omadat took 3 for 35 and Vicram Kissoon 2 for 22 for Recharge XI, who in reply were limited to 106 for 9. Quincy Jones 30 (3×6, 2×4), Ricardo Adams 26 (2×4, 1×6) and Ganesh Narine 18 (2×4, 1×6) led their batting. Diyaram Persaud took 3 for 20 and Imran Hamid 3 for 23 for Speedboat XI.
In their second encounter against Farm XI, Recharge XI allowed their opponents to score 135 all out of their 12 overs. Ryan Reddy 37 (4×6, 2×4), Aftab Bacchus 29 (2×6, 2×4) and Lennox Marks’ 23 (3×4, 2×6) led Farm’s batting.
Ramdai Samlall took 4 for 10 and Kissoon 3 for 36 for Recharge XI, who were bowled out for 113 from their 12 overs in reply, with Adams hitting for fours and one six in his topscore of 47, Komal Singh made 28 with four sixes.
S. Haniff took 4 for 18 and Lennox Marks 2 for 15 for Farm XI, who in their final preliminary round match in the group, saw Speedboat XI scored an imposing 176 for 5, thanks to Greg Singh’s 126, Hussain 20 and Diaram Persaud 17.
In reply, Farm XI were limited to 118 for 9 from their 12 overs, with A. Sookdeo 37 (6×6) and A. Azeez 15 (3×4) leading their batting even as Hussain 3 for 22 and Hamid 2 for 17 to hand Speedboat XI victory by 58 runs and also cemented their semifinal spot.
On pitch number two, Trophy Stall XI who was competing out of Group C won the toss and opted to bat first in the first encounter against Universal DVD Titans, following which they scored 153 for 5 from their 12 overs, with Wasim Haslim 47 (5×6, 1×4), Shailendra Ramnauth 25 (4×6) and Vishnu Tamchandra 23 (4×4, 1×6) leading their batting.
Chansankar Arjune 3 for 32 and David Roopnauth 2 for 38, led the bowling for Universal DVD Titans, who in reply were restricted to 106 for 6 off their 12 overs, with Balram Samaroo 64 (5×6, 3×4) and Looknauth 13 (2×4) being their leading batsmen as Fazil Rafique took 3 for 17 ti hand Trophy Stall their first win.
In their second game against Hillfoot Vipers, Universal DVD Titans batted first and scored 167 for 6, with Samaroo 73 (6×6, 4×4), Karamdat Bissoondyal 55 (5×6, 3×4) and Looknauth 15 (1×6, 1×4) being their leading batsmen.
In reply, Hillfoot Vipers were limited to 130 for 7 off their 12 overs with L. Hinds 49 (5×6, 3×4), A. Mohabir 28 (4×6) and N. Looknauth 20 (1×6, 1×4) led their batting against Arjune 3 for 25 and D. Looknauth 2 for 41.
In the final game of this group, Trophy Stall XI batted first and scored 166 for 3, thanks to Vishnu Tameschand 65 (8×6, 1×4), Rafique 56 (5×6, 3×4) and Ramnauth 16 with three sixes being their leading batsmen.
Kelvin Orford took 3 for 17 while Rafique returned to take 3 for 19, which helped bowled out Hillfoot Vipers for 61 off 11 overs, with only Chandrika Looknauth’s 21 (2×6) offering resistance to the bowling of the inaugural Guyana Telephone and Telephone nationwide 10/10softball champions.
The action continues today with Memorex playing out of Group A against Herstelling in the opening encounter, with Smith XI taking on the loser of the first encounter, before they tackle the winner in the final match of the group, while in Group C, Bartica Challengers will oppose Regal XI in the first match, with Cotton Field Wild Oats taking on the winner and loser respectively in the second and third matches of the group respectively.
Meanwhile, both Minister of Works Robeson Benn and Deputy Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports Steve Ninvalle, give brief remarks at the opening ceremony which was held earlier in the day, wherein they urged the teams to respect the umpires decisions and let discipline be the watchword.
Also offering congratulatory remarks, were president of the Guyana Softball League Halim Khan and president of the GSCL Seewchan, before the action got underway.