Skipper Anil Beharry of New York Enforcers, right, receives the winning trophy from Emma Sunich, daughter of Ramesh Sunich, who sponsored all the trophies.
By Ravendra Madholall in Toronto
This is not an assumption, but New York Enforcers would have received lavish accolades for some sterling batting, bowling and fielding performances at the epic Toronto Cup 1 white ball softball tournament which concluded last Sunday at the University of Toronto ground, Scarborough Campus.
They proved their invincibility from the commencement of the three-day mega softball event winning three preliminary round matches, a semi-final and then humbled Canada’s top team Dant Cricket Club in the final.
Victorious skipper Anil Beharry spoke enthusiastically of his team’s feverish preparations for the Canadian trip and attributed the success to hard work and commitments by his players and all summed up when they emerged with an emphatic seven-wicket win to spark wild celebrations.
In the Masters category, another team with great reputation came to the fore, Our Own Sports Club defeated Guyana Floodlights ‘A’ side by five wickets also at the same venue, which preceded the Open final.
Captain Mahendranauth Parasnauth had the luxury of hitting the winning run with a superbly pulled shot to mid-wicket boundary and he commented that the entire was elated with such a triumph on home soil.
It was a brilliant inauguration after all 13 participating teams in both categories assembled at Ellesmere facility, Scarborough Friday morning for the opening ceremony and President of the hosts Ontario Masters Softball Cricket Clubs (OMSCC), Jai Singh, expressed gratitude to them and welcomed everyone involved in such a historical cricket competition.
New York Enforcers immediately stamped their authority beating their fellow Americans (New York All-Stars) by a handsome 9-wicket margin while in the next round they got the better of rivals Dant by 2 wickets.
In their last match of that segment, they disposed of Caribbean Sensation X1 by 6 wickets before their semi-final encounter with New York All-Stars ended in no-result.
What had transpired in the final Sunday afternoon was a manifestation of New York Enforcers extreme buoyancy and the great degree of confidence the combination featured in this tournament with.
After Beharry won the toss and inserted Dant to take first strike that epitomised their optimism of early intimidation. Dant only could have mustered 86 all out in the 18th over, courtesy of an incisive bowling display.
Beharry himself started off things nicely sending back Hemnarine Chattergoon first ball. Dant never really suggested permanence as they folded meekly with skipper Looknauth Ramsuchit offering some amount of resistance though with 21 while Shaun Deonandan and Omar Mohamed chipped with 16 each to give the score respectability.
Beharry snared three wickets for five runs from his terrific 4-over spell while Vickey Sugrim supported admirably with 2-17 off 4 overs.
In New York Enforcers’ innings, Vice-captain Vickey Subkaran led the way with an undefeated 35 while the consistent Nyal Singh scored 15 not out. Anil Mahadeo finished with 2-20 from his four overs.
Our Own Sports Club, like New York Enforcers, dominated the first period of the tournament whipping OMSCC side by 63 runs in the opener while they beat New York Muslims Organisation by 6 wickets but engaged in a tight tussle with Guyana Floodlights ‘B’.
At the championship contest, the visitors took first knock and only set up an insufficient 128-8 at the expiration of the 20-overs while Our Own Sports Club safely reached 133-5 with five balls to spare.
Former Guyana Under-19 batsman Troy Gobin hit a responsible, unbeaten 43 laced with three sixes and two fours. Ex-Canadian international player Desmond Chumney stroke 36 to play a pivotal role after Our Own lost three of their key batsmen cheaply, inclusive of Sunil Dhaniram.
In Guyana Floodlights ‘A’ innings, skipper and stalwart batsman Ricky Deonarine top-scored with a watchful 43 and opener Uniss Yusuf weighed in with 20 to be the principal scorers.
Parasnauth and Mohan Singh claimed two wickets apiece delivering for the winners.
At the presentation which took place after the game, Singh told the large gathering that he and his fellow executives and all who had played a part to make the tournament a success, were delighted to run off such a huge softball tournament.
He thanked all the sponsors as well and the touring teams for accepting the invitation.
Gobin was named man-of-the-match for his batting effort while Beharry captured the Open final man-of-the-match trophy. Richard Driffield of Caribbean Sensation Masters took home the Most Valuable Player trophy having scored 178 runs inclusive of two half-centuries while Sookram took the opening category one having tallied up 156 runs with a highest score of 49. They all received a gold bracelet each, compliments of Jay’s Jewellery. Kris Jagdeo of Tri-State Master, the America side, was the only batsman to have registered a century and he received a trophy, courtesy of Trophy Stall of Guyana. All trophies were sponsored by Ramesh Sunich of Trophy while the four finalists received medals, thanks to the OMSCC.
The other teams that took part in the Open were: GM Sports (Cricketers Cove/Masters) and in the Masters was New York Softball Cricket League Legends.
Meanwhile, Manager of New York Enforcers Sureain Sawh stated that he was happy to be involved in the tournament and thanked everyone that supported the FOOD DRIVE which is helping Orphanages in Guyana. He acknowledged the support of the Torontonians and at the same time thanked his team’s main sponsor FLAT RATE REALTY as well. Enforcers collected US$3, 000 and Our Own Sports Club pocketed US$2, 500.