A packed Bush Lot Sports Complex Ground witnessed the Cotton Tree Die Hard team stormed to a championship win in the AJM Mash It Up T20 tournament.
Cotton Tree defeated Achievers ‘A’ in the final by 113 runs. Waqar Hassan claimed 5-14 from four overs while Kevon Jawahir’s all-round heroics of 52 and 4-18 and Fawaz Gaffoor’s blazing 79 set up a crushing victory for Cotton Tree.
In the tall chase of 223 runs, Achievers never got going despite Leon Andrews pulling Leon Swamy out of the ground, first ball of the chase.
Wickets fell at regular intervals as Achievers folded for 109 all out from 20 overs. Shamal Angel made 31 but he lacked support throughout. The left-arm spin of Hassan and the leg-spin of Jawahir combined to take nine wickets for Cotton Tree.
Earlier, in the grand final which was played under lights, Cotton Tree won the toss and opted to bat first. Nick Ramsaroop was dismissed early caught at the wicket. Swamy and Fawaz Gaffoor capitalized on the poor fielding and made merry, scoring 64-1 in the power play.
Swamy held out to deep point for 31 to give Shamal Angel his first wicket, at 76-2. The runs kept flowing off the bat of Gaffoor as he went past 50.
The right-hander, Gaffoor ended his superb innings on 79, an innings laced with seven fours and six sixes. Gaffoor featured in a 71-run second wicket stand with Jawahir.
Jawahir was innovative in his strokeplay as he smashed 52, a crafty innings decorated with six fours and three sixes.
Cotton Tree went past 200 and the packed Bush Lot round was rocking away. The defending champions, Cotton Tree ended on 222-5 from 20 overs. Abdul Subhan made an entertaining 27. Pacer Derick McCalmont had 2-40 for Achievers.
The West Berbice-based side, Cotton Tree walked away with trophies, a cash prize of one million dollars for the one-day event.
In match one, Achievers ‘A’ defeated Bush Lot Sports Club by six wickets. Bush Lot were restricted to 100 all out in 19.4 overs. Brian Nurse was the pick of the bowlers with 3-18 from 3.4 overs. He was supported by Kwesi Mickle who had 3-32.
In reply, Achievers reached their target of 101 in 18.4 overs. Opener Leon Andrews led the charge with his 38, while Quacey McPherson made 24 to send Bush Lot packing.
In match two Cotton Tree defeated D’ Edwards by ten runs in a thriller. Swamy stole the show with his powerful unbeaten 87. He struck six four and six sixes to propel Cotton Tree to 176-5 from 20 overs. Cotton Tree innings featured three run outs.
In response, D’ Edwards managed 166-9 from their alloted 20 overs. Javed Karim top-scored for D’ Edwards with 42 in a losing cause. Nashed Gaffur was the most successful of the Cotton Tree bowlers with 3-37 from four overs in match two.
AJM Enterprise aims to develop cricket in the West Berbice area and provide quality entertainment to the cricket-loving population.
The tournament was filled with a lot of side attractions, including cheerleaders, big screen view, live streaming and a lucky fan walked away with $G50,000 for a one-hand catch.
This event was sponsored by AJM Enterprise and Jumbo Jet and is powered by Banks DIH Limited.
According to the sponsors, plans are already in place to make this tournament a country-wide event.
Brief scores of AJM T20 final: Cotton Tree 222-5 from 20 overs. Fawaz Gaffoor 79, Kevin Jawahir 52, Leon Swamy 31, Abdul Subhan 27. Derick McCalmont 2-40.
Achievers ‘A’ 109 all out from 20 overs. Shamal Angel 31. Waqar Hassan 5-14, Kevin Jawahir 4-18, Arif Khan 1-23. Cotton Tree won by 113 runs.