Eccles All-Stars emerged champions from among eight teams who competed in the inaugural Culture T10 tapeball blast at the tarmac of the National Stadium, Providence, at the weekend.
Eccles All-Stars were quite the superior outfit as they had arguably the hardest path to the final.
Firstly, they toppled the formidable Village Rams in their opening contest then got the better of Tarmac XI in the semi-final. They defeated Airport XI by 27 runs in the final.
The final was reduced to eight overs per side due to fading light and Eccles racked up 98-4, led by Alex Rodrigues’ 23-ball 48, which included five sixes and two fours, while Beepal Bandoo cracked 39 from 16 balls (5x6s, 1×4).
Noel Evlin took 1-10 in his lone over, while Mark Jeffers had 1-33 from his allotted two.
Airport XI did not get the early urgency needed and reached 71-6 when their overs expired.
Elvin offered some fight with 22 (1×4; 2x6s) from 21 balls, while Jeffers made 12 and Avinash Mohabir got 11.
Bandoo returned and took 2-7 from two overs, while Deon Thomas (2-16) and Devon Paul (2-32) did the damage as well. Airport XI had defeated Diamond Gunners in their semi-final clash.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr., applauded all teams for a valiant effort and commended organiser, Keon Blades, for a well-organised event. He also pledged the Ministry’s support going forward in potentially making it an annual event.
Eccles’ captain, Akeem Vieira, who hammered a century during the opening match against the Rams, was deemed the tournament’s best batsman, while Bandoo got the best bowler and Rodrigues the Most Valuable Player of the final.
Eccles won $130,000 for their first-place finish and both finalists received medals.
