Demerara Pitbulls won the first-ever Guyana T10 Blast, defeating Essequibo Jaguars by two wickets in rapidly fading light on Monday at the Enmore Community Centre ground, East Coast Demerara.
Chasing a target of 97 for championship honours, Pitbulls raced to 45-0 in the fourth over, but then endured a middle-order collapse that saw them reach 92-8 before winning with three balls to spare.
Junior Sinclair and Sachin Singh gave the Pitbulls a flying start, threatening to make the contest a one-sided affair.
However, Guyana Harpy Eagles’ fast bowler Nial Smith made a telling double blow, removing Sinclair for a sparkling 36 off 15 (3x4s, 3x6s) and skipper Christopher Barnwell without scoring in the space of three deliveries.
Singh (13 off 13) and Damian Vantull, who made 22 off 10 (3x6s), put on 28 for the third wicket, but the Jaguars stormed back, picking up wickets at regular intervals to leave Pitbulls needing five for victory in the final over with just two wickets standing.
In almost darkness, Floy Joseph, the brother of West Indies Test bowler Shamar Joseph, smashed Jaguars skipper Kemol Savory off the third ball of the last over for a six to seal the deal for Pitbulls.
Joseph ended on seven off two balls, with Keon Sinclair his partner on 10* off four (1×6). During the collapse, Pitbulls lost Jeremiah Scott (1), Malcolm Hubbard (0), Leon Swamy (4) and Jonathan Rampersaud (2) cheaply, as Smith took 2-13, Ashmead Nedd 2-19 and Dwain Dick 2-27.
Earlier, Jaguars sank to 13-4 in the third over with Joemal La Fleur (5), Mavindra Dindyal (2), Shemroy Barrington (6) and Savory (1) failing to make an impact.
It took a partnership of 46 between Blairmont Blazers’ pair Kevon Jawahir and Seon Glasgow to repair the early damage, before Jawahir and Dick put together 37 unbroken for the seventh wicket to finish off the innings.
Jawahir and Dick made identical scores of 29 not out off 16 (1×4, 2x6s), while Glasgow scored 21 off 13 (1×4, 2x6s).
Leon Swamy was brilliant up front with 2-5 off two overs, while Keon Sinclair bagged 2-21.
In the semi-finals earlier in the day, Essequibo Jaguars defeated Essequibo Anacondas by seven wickets in a rain-affected match reduced to six-overs-a-side, and Demerara Pitbulls defeated Berbice Caimans by three wickets.
Below are the summarised scores from those games
SEMI-FINAL ONE: Essequibo Jaguars defeated Essequibo Anacondas by seven wickets
SUMMARY: Essequibo Anacondas 41-4 from six overs (Thaddeus Lovell 19; Dwain Dick 1-6, Carlos La Rose 1-12) vs Essequibo Jaguars 42-7 from six overs (Kemol Savory 8, Nial Smith 8; Qumar Torrington 2-8, Antony Adams 2-14)
SEMI-FINAL TWO: Demerara Pitbulls defeated Berbice Caimans by three wickets
SUMMARY: Berbice Caimans 80-7 from 10 overs (Anthony Bramble 20, Alex Algoo 16, Jonathan Van Lange 15; Floy Joseph 2-16) vs Demerara Pitbulls 81-7 from 9.5 overs (Christopher Barnwell 20, Jeremiah Scott 19*, Damian Vantull 19; Jonathan Van Lange 3-9, Kevlon Anderson 2-18)
Individual Awards
Man-of-the-Match (Final): Junior Sinclair (36 off 15)
Man-of-the-Match (Semi-final One): Antony Adams (2-14)
Man-of-the-Match (Semi-final Two): Christopher Barnwell (1-11 and 20)
Most Valuable Player: Christopher Barnwell (170 runs, 11 wickets)
Most Runs: Quentin Sampson (234)
Most Wickets: Ashmead Nedd and Veerasammy Permaul (13 each).
Nedd received the award for having a better economy rate and average
Top batters (100 runs or more)
Quentin Sampson (Berbice Piranhas)- 234
Alex Algoo (Berbice Caimans)- 203
Damian Vantull (Demerara Pitbulls)- 190
Akshaya Persaud (Demerara Hawks)- 179
Christopher Barnwell (Demerara Pitbulls)- 170
Rajiv Ivan (Berbice Piranhas)- 140
Junior Sinclair (Demerara Pitbulls)- 139
Sachin Singh (Demerara Pitbulls)- 137
Raymond Perez (Essequibo Anacondas)- 129
Kemol Savory (Essequibo Jaguars)- 129
Chandrapaul Hemraj (Essequibo Jaguars)- 126
Ushardeva Balgobin (Essequibo Anacondas)- 122
Tagenarine Chanderpaul (Berbice Piranhas)- 116
Shemory Barrington (Essequibo Jaguars)- 111
Dwain Dick (Essequibo Jaguars)- 101
Kevin Sinclair (Berbice Caimans)- 101
Top bowlers (10 or more wickets)
Ashmead Nedd (Essequibo Jaguars)- 13
Veerasammy Permaul (Berbice Piranhas)- 13
Christopher Barnwell (Demerara Pitbulls)- 11
Keon Sinclair (Demerara Pitbulls)- 11
Garfield Phillips (Berbice Piranhas)- 10
In 50 innings in the tournament, a total of 4,512 runs were scored and 287 wickets taken. There were 300 sixes and 269 fours, with 10 half-centuries scored. There were 20 fifty-plus partnership, while three maidens were bowled in the competition.
Quentin Sampson made the highest individual score of 83*, and left-arm spinners Devon Lord of Berbice Caimans and Ashmead Nedd of Essequibo Jaguars had the best bowling figures of 4-6.