A devastating 83 from power hitter Romeno Deane headlined a commanding Quarter Final performance for Liberty Sports Club over Gladiators Cricket Club. Playing in the Eastern American Cricket Association’s T20 competition the GMA Enterprise and Royal Empress Banquet Hall sponsored men in blue turned in an 8 wicket victory, chasing down the 140 required with 5.4 overs remaining at the Baisley Cage.
Gladiators CC skipper, Imtiaz Hassan, won the toss and elected to bat first. LSC’s bowlers did not hit their mark right off the start and allowed GCC to run off to 26 without loss in the after the 3rd over. Kirton would pull things back off of a sharp stumping by Anthonio Chan to remove the first batsman.
Trinson Carmichael taking up the attack, running in from the Foch Boulevard end restricted the free scoring of Andy Harricharan and Shafeek Shah. The pressure resulted in the run out of Shah for 16. Harricharran would hit 2 fours and a 6 before he was bowled by a smart delivery which turned a long way by Leon Mohabir.
Three quick wickets followed while Sumit Bhola tried to keep things together. He found a partner in Shines Beepat. The two pushed the score to on before Bhola was bowled for 29 by Hemendra Ramdihal. Beepat finished unbeaten on 25 while Jason Rooney ended with 5 not out when the inning wrapped up at 139 for 7.
Bowling for LSC Ramdihal led the way with 2 for 11. Mohabir 1 for 16, Kriton 1 for 20 , Carmichael 1 for 23 and Henry 1 for 27 were the other wicket takers.
Opening the batting for #TheBlueNation Deane and Chan kicked the chase into overdrive. The duo raced LSC past 50 in the 6th over. Chan who has gained in momentum after joining LSC late in the season partnered the hard hitting Deane hitting 2 fours and a 6 in his 33. It was Deane who was exceptionally brutal on GCC bowlers.
The imposing left hander, Deane, was particularly dismissive to anything pitched up but did not miss out on the attempted short balls. Deane and Chan put on 90 for the first wicket inside 10 overs. Deane raced to his 50 inside and went on to hit five 4’s and seven 6’s finishing on 83. A couple of catches including sharp diving catch at long on by Altaaf Habibulla removed the opening pair.
Deane’s 83 now sits as the current club record for the highest individual T20 inning total, passing the unbeaten 67 posted by Andre Kirton 2 weeks earlier. The 90 runs opening partnership between Deane and Chan is not also the new club record for T20.
Trevor Henry & Trinson Carmichael finished up the chase with Henry finishing on 18 not out.
Bowling for Gladiators CC Andy Harricharan was the lone wicket taker with 2 for 27 off his four overs.
The men in blue with take on the Red Squad, NY Centurions in the semi-final match this Sunday (October 11th) at the Baisley Cage starting 10 AM. The tournament’s final will follow in the afternoon with the winner taking on the winner of the 2nd Semi-Final between Everest/ACS and Galaxy CC. Start time for the final is expected to be at 2:30 PM.