It was a match that was hyped to be exciting, competitive, and passionate and it sure did live up to those expectations.
Last Friday, Scotiabank turned up in Team GBTI’s territory like a sea of red with players, supporters and even a cheerleading squad, only to be countered by the ocean of blue; Team GBTI and its supporters.
The game kicked off at approximately 18:30h at the GBTI Sports Club with Captain Mohan Balram winning the toss and opting to take advantage of home conditions by batting first.
Team GBTI seemed distracted on familiar conditions as the batsmen showed signs of intimidation by the raucous supporters from Scotiabank, resulting in three run outs within the first four overs.
Despite wickets falling at the other end, opening batsman Ramesh Sookram stayed firm as he was joined by Balram, who came in and settled the ‘Red’ bowlers as the pair counter-attacked with knocks of 14 (2x4s) and 16 (2x4s, 1×6) runs respectively.
The wickets of Balram and Sookram then brought David Mohamed to the crease, and he struck an attacking 14 (2x6s) to keep the runs flowing. Team GBTI eventually ended with 54 runs from the allotted 12 overs. The standout bowler for Scotiabank was Parmeshwar ‘Andy’ Budhu, who took 3-9.
The Scotiabank team, after a morale boosting jig from their cheerleaders, seemed poised to overhaul Team GBTI’s score. Unfortunately, they were greeted with some hostile fast bowling from Mohamed, who had the batsmen hopping about the crease.
The top order was further derailed by two excellent run outs from Bhesham Persaud and specialist wicketkeeper Devon Powley. A late surge from Binsaud Baksh and Ravi De Souza threatened to take the game away, but in the end Team GBTI’s bowling proved to be too hot to handle as Scotiabank ended with 41 runs from the allotted 12 overs.
Baksh was the star batsman for Scotiabank and top scored with 23 runs (2x4s, 1×6). Balram was adjudicated as the Player-of-the-Match for his score of 16 runs and bowling figures of 1-2.
Team GBTI extended special thanks to all supporters who came out and rallied with the teams.
“We look forward to the continued support as we continue to build our team. Special thanks to Guest Umpire and Scorer – Akash Persaud and Asif Subhan. Rally on team GBTI!” the bank said in a statement.
