Essequibo franchises Anacondas and Jaguars to contest National T20 League final

The final of the Guyana Cricket Board’s first-ever National T20 League will be contested by the Anacondas and the Jaguars, two franchises that have the county Essequibo attached to their names.

In the semi-finals on Friday at the National Stadium, Providence, Jaguars defeated Berbice Piranhas in a tense low-scoring affair, before Anacondas pulled off a major upset by defeating the powerful Demerara Pitbulls side.

Anacondas and Jaguars will meet in the grand final from 19:00h on Saturday at Providence, while Piranhas and Pitbulls will clash in the third place playoff before.

Caesar, Jawahir steer Jaguars home

SUMMARY: Berbice Piranhas 109 all out from 19.4 overs (Adrian Sukhwa 55, Jonathan Rampersaud 16, Suresh Dhanai 10*; Ashmead Nedd 3-20, Joshua Jones 3-26, Ricardo Adams 2-20, Rajiv Ivan 1-19, Joemal LeFleur 1-24) vs Essequibo Jaguars 110-6 from 19.5 overs (Tomanni Caesar 36*, Kevon Jawahir 21*, Kemol Savory 20; Jonathan Rampersaud 4-10, Veerasammy Permaul 1-17, Kelvin Umroa 1-21)

Tomanni Caesar and Kevon Jawahir led a remarkable recovery to steer Essequibo Jaguars into the final defeating Berbice Piranhas in a low-scoring opening semi-final.

Chasing 110, Jaguars were limping at 55-6 in the 12^th over with Joemal La Fleur, Kanaiya Ramkarran, Kemol Savory, Rajiv Ivan, Zeynul Ramsammy and Ricardo Adams all dismissed.

With the momentum with Piranhas, Caesar and Jawahir dug deep to lift the Jaguars out of deep trouble, sealing victory with an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership of 55 in 8.2 overs.

Player-of-the-Match Caesar made 36* off 38 (2x4s, 1×6) and Jawahir ended on 21* off 27 (2x4s).

Earlier, the parsimonious Ashmead Nedd picked up 3-20 and former national youth seamer Joshua Jones impressed with 3-26 as Jaguars dismissed Piranhas with two balls remaining in the innings.

Opener Adrian Sukhwa, the tournament’s leading runscorer, was the lone player to really put up a fight, scoring 55 off 46 balls (6x4s, 1×6).

Anacondas stop Pitbulls in their tracks

SUMMARY: Essequibo Anacondas 150-8 from 20 overs (Quentin Sampson 47, Kevin Boodie 33; Goolcharran Chulai 2-15, Clinton Pestano 2-34) vs Demerara Pitbulls 101 all out from 15.5 overs (Raymond Perez 21, Joshua Persaud 19; Quentin Sampson 3-6, Keemo Paul 2-21)

In semi-final one, Essequibo Jaguars defeated Berbice Piranhas by four wickets, chasing 110 for victory.

Anacondas pulled off a heist in semi-final two on Friday night, defeating the powerful Christopher Barnwell-led Pitbulls by 49 runs.

Chasing 151, Pitbulls were given a riveting start of 42 in three overs by Joshua Persaud and Raymond Perez, setting the stage for what seemed like a successful run-chase.

However, they were both dismissed in quick succession- Perez for 21 off 11 and Persaud for 19 off eight- and Pitbulls batting went into rapid decline with no other player getting into double figures.

Quentin Sampson took 3-6, Keemo Paul 2-21, while Garfield Phillips, Nial Smith, Antony Adams and Richie Looknauth had one wicket each as Pitbulls were dismissed for 101 in 15.5 overs.

Sampson earlier cracked 47 off 26 to lead Anacondas to the winning total.

The tournament is powered by Bet CAGE Sports.