They said that they were not going to do ‘a Guyana’-that is, win all of their preliminary matches and then lose in the finals.
So, on the evening of Thursday 7th November, the Rawlins team faced off with GT United in the grand finals of the 2019 edition of the tape ball Cricket tournament, hosted by the Sports Department and sponsored by the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis. There was a full house at the ETW, as busloads of people came in from Rawlins and surrounding areas in Gingerland and the Guyanese contingent will never be outdone.
Rawlins won the toss and elected to send the GT United team in to bat first. Outside of a brisk start by Captain Anand and Hardyall, the batting generally struggled and they were restricted to 77 for 8 from their allotted 10 overs.
However, ‘runs on the board’ will forever be RUNS ON THE BOARD.
Carlon Smithen was due for failure. After all, he had scored freely in every single game, to take his team to a win in every match, leading up to the finals. He proved he is the only man. He went really early this time around and the Rawlins supporters literally held their breaths.
However, on the night, Jacel Allen put up his hand as the ultimate hero and his 38 not out, was sufficient to take his team across the bridge and grab a hold of the grand trophy and significant prize money.
Summarized scores:
GT United 77 for 8 in 10 overs
Hardyall 28; Bhim 13; Elroy David 11*
Reon Solomon 2 for 21; Jevon Manners 1 for 17 and Carlon Smithen 1 for 16
Rawlins 79 for 4 in 9 overs:
Jacel Allen 32
Bhim, Harminjet and Elroy David 1 wicket each
Meanwhile, in the first match of that same evening, to determine the third spot in the tournament, Calypso engaged the All-stars team. On the night, Calypso looked a totally different team and barely limped to 53 for 7 in their 10 overs.
The All-stars team, finished it off in a hurry, as Jalarni Tyson and Saeed Williams batted as if they had a plane to catch.
Summarized scores:
Calypso 53 for 7
All stars 59 for no loss in 4.2 overs
All-stars winning by 10 wickets