Gonsalves All-Stars win Courtney Gonsalves first memorial 15-over match

Nov 17, 2023 Sports

Kaieteur Sports – Gonsalves All-Stars defeated Invaders Masters by six wickets to win the the inaugural Courtney Gonsalves 15-overs fixture at the Reliance Sports Club ground, Essequibo Coast, Region 2, recently.

Needing 145 for victory, All-Stars reached the target in the final over thanks to Narendra Madholall, who stroked 53 while Carlos Yhap contributed a vital 23 and 22 from former Guyana youth player Yogeshwar Lall.

Another ex-Guyana youth cricketer Beesham Seepersaud grabbed 2-17 from two tidy overs, including the last one in which All-Stars needed six runs to win.

Earlier, Invaders Masters won the toss and opted to take first strike. Barry Alphonso led the way with 43 while Ramesh Narine and Dharmendra Lackhan made 28 and 24 respectively.

Lall was the star-bowler for the All-Stars combination by snatching 3-24 from his maximum three overs.

The left-handed Madholall, who struck six fours and a solitary six, was named player-of-the-match.

The victorious Gonsalves All-Stars team.

Meanwhile, preceding this encounter, Reliance Hustlers Sports Club got the better of Richmond Team in a 15-overs exhibition game by a comprehensive 58 runs.

Hustlers rattled up a sufficient 148-5 from the 15-overs while Richmond Team only responded with 90 all out in the penultimate over.

Richmond Team’s innings never suggested permanence after pacer Ryan Lall tormented them with five wickets for 14 runs from his allotted three overs. Ravindra Doodnauth was resilient though with an impressive 53. Yhap assisted Lall with 2-16.

Earlier, Yhap proved his all-round capability by slamming a top-score of 44 to pilot Hustlers’ total. He received solid support from former Guyana under-19 batsman Nathan Persaud with 37 while Mark Austin scored 22 and 21 from skipper Trevis Simon. Ryan Lall was chosen as the player-of-the-match. He and Madholall collected a trophy each while the winning teams were also recipient of trophies along with the runners-up sides.

At the post-match presentation, Gonsalves, who represented Essequibo and Guyana at the senior level, was remembered for his invaluable contributions to Essequibo’s cricket for a lengthy period before his migration to Canada.

He died 2013 at the age 60 owing to illness. He coached Essequibo at different levels and served Guyana’s cricket as a national youth selector. Founder of the Devon Ramnauth Youth Cricket League stated that he was excited to run off the one-day event. He expressed his gratitude to all the teams for their participation and all who would have contributed in various ways to make the event a success.

Speaking also at the presentation was ex-Essequibo senior Inter-County skipper Elroy Stephney who reminisced on Gonsalves’ cricketing life. He acknowledged Gonsalves’ unparalleled commitment during his days in the Cinderella County. He mentioned it was truly an amazing effort by Ramnauth too, another Essequibo and Guyana youth player, to organise and sponsor the two games.

Leslie Gonsalves, the sister of Courtney Gonsalves also shared her great memories about Courtney commenting that he was a die-hard cricketer and no doubt his contribution was certainly recognised on this historical day.

Special mentions were made to Ramcharran Singh, Sahadeo Hardiaow, Mandolall family and Simon, Roy Gonsalves (son) and others for their support.

Ramnauth informed that the memorial matches will be played annually.

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Mandolall family, Ramcharran Singh, Ravindra Doodnauth, Richmond Team, Sahadeo Hardiaow

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