If someone had landed from the moon, on Sunday 22nd September and disembarked at the Hardtimes recreation grounds, that person may have easily be fooled into thinking that he or she had landed at Berbice in Guyana. One truckload of Guyanese nationals had arrived at the grounds, not to mention, the carloads of family members. The locals from Rawlins and other surrounding areas were not easily outdone either. It was bumper crowd, with everyone waiting anxiously for the start of the much-advertised KEVIN’S BIG BASH.
It was a day that Kevin of KEVIN’S CONSTRUCTION had put all of $2,200.00 on the line, for a one-off clash between the Rawlins King’s X1 and the GT United or Guyanese team.
Skipper Anand for the GT United won the toss and immediately decided to send the home team in to bat. They could not have gotten off to a worse start.
Rakeesh, with his left arm swing bowling, got the ball to move prodigiously in the air and suddenly the King’s X1 was reeling at 13 for 4. Even their diehard fans settled for a disappointing early afternoon.
But wait! Skipper Jelani Manners, after a watchful start, suddenly cranked up the ante, playing out of his skin, hitting some superlative shots, all around the grounds, much to the joy of the home fans. Aided in no small measure by partnerships with Patrick Newton and later Warden, they pulled the target to a more respectable 125 all out in the final over.
Still, they knew that they had to bowl superbly in order to restrict the aggressive Guyanese. It was Rakeesh again who led the fury. Within the first three overs, they had rattled up to 34 for no loss. Even the wickets of Anand and Alvin, did not slow down Rakeesh and he was there at the end, to hit the winning run, to give his team a comprehensive victory.
At the presentation ceremony which followed, Kevin presented the winning team, with the promised $1,000.00 and the losing team, gratefully collected the consolation $500.00.
The remainder of the money was split between the DJ, umpires and organizers.
Summarized scores:
Rawlins King’s X1 125 all out in 19.3 overs:
Jelani Manners 68
Patrick Newton 18
Warden 11
Rakeesh 4 for 13
Alvin 2 for 38
Azeem and Anand 1 wicket each
GT United 126 for 4 in 16 overs:
Rakeesh 69*
Alvin 23
Anand 11
GT United won by 6 wickets
Man of the match –Rakeesh