Chandrapaul Hemraj once again showed his class with an unbeaten 58 which powered Rutherford Renegades to a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Hetmyer Hurricanes in the Golden Republic T20 Bash at the National Stadium, Providence, Friday evening.
Hemraj smashed three fours and three sixes in his 45-ball innings which initially played second fiddle to an innings out of character from Tevin Imlach.
Imlach, more known for his grafting and gutsy approach, played some expansive shots in his 29-ball 42 (6x4s; 2x6s); the duo added 63 for the opening stand in 7.1 overs which was the base for the blazing chase which was completed in 17.1 overs.
Raymon Reifer with 21 (2x4s; 1×6) from 15 balls added the final touches after Leon Johnson fell for 17.
Earlier, experienced campaigner Rayad Emrit snapped up 4-25 which stymied any gainful progression by the powerful batting unit of the Hurricanes. At one point the Trinidadian was on a hat-trick when he uprooted the stumps of both Gudakesh Motie and Ashmead Nedd.
Lendl Simmons and Kevlon Anderson had the biggest partnership, 37, for their team as wickets kept tumbling.
Anderson stroked it well for his 19 but when he was bowled by Emrit and Antony Adams got the better of Simmons, the batting faded. Shimron Hetmyer offered some hope but he Quintin Sampson got the prized scalp for 24.
Renegades took home the prize money of $1M and Hemraj was voted Man-of-the match. In the softball match, Regal All-stars defeated Ariel Speedboat by 14 runs to cop $200,000.
Keith Fraser top scored for Regal with 85, which along with Seewchand Budhu (55) took them to 186-3. Richard Latiff took 2-25 for Speedboat who responded with 172-9.
Wazir Hussain (39) and Greg Singh (36) offered resistance as Fazad Rayak and Roy Persaud had two wickets each.
The event was organised by the Ministry of the Presidency’s Department of Social Cohesion with responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sport in collaboration with the Guyana Cricket Board.