Johnson Charles hit a well-composed 70 and Chris Gayle made 49 and claimed one wicket to lead the Atlanta Paramveers to a 10-run victory against the 22 Yards Sultans in the grand final of the USA T20 Open tournament in Florida.
In the pursuit of 183 wins, a full Guyanese 22-yard team ended up on the losing side, falling short at 172-7 when 20 overs were over.
Earlier, he gained 22 yards per throw and picked first bowling. Atlanta Paramveers lost Darpan Patel for two when he was cleaned up by Ashmead Nedd of Guyana at 2-1. Gayle, batting at number three, joined his longtime West Indies partner, Charles, and the duo showed experience, adding 107 runs for the second-wicket partnership.
Gayle, who made fifty in the semi-final, fell one run short of another fifty. The big Jamaican faced 36 balls and scored 49, which was adorned with three sixes and four boundaries. Christopher Barnwell caught the big fish when Trevon Griffith caught a stunning 109-2 catch in 13.3 overs.
Fresh from a man-of-the-match effort in the semi-finals, Sherfane Rutherford proved himself with the ball in hand this time around. Steven Taylor (01) and Param Patel (03) moved. St. Lucian Charles hit a sweet six-pointer and rode his luck after being dropped by Griffith on 52 off Barnwell bowling.
However, Charles was undone by the brilliance of Devendra Bishoo in the field, off Rutherford bowling. Charles’s innings of 70 came off 50 balls and included nine fours and one six. South African Wayne Parnell finished off the posts for Parmaveers, hitting 27 of 12 balls to make the Atlanta team go 182-6 in their 20 overs.
Garth Garvey (17) and Parnell took a liking to Barnwell, hitting 23 runs off his final over. Rutherford had figures of 3-24 while Neath (1-18, three overs), Jasdeep Singh (1-47) and Barnwell (1-49) each had one wicket.
Griffith and Ahad Malek added 64 runs for the first wicket in 7.1 overs to set an early tone. Malek was bowled by Gayle, the first ball to spell. Griffith continued to play his shots, but he played one too many and was caught by Charles off Parnell bowling. The left hander hit two fours and two sixes.
With no run for the taking, Rutherford took the lead and the bowler struck the stumps and was run out at 11 for 111-3 in 12.5 overs. Barnwell played well for his 20-ball 35, but that proved insufficient in the end, when he was run out. Twenty yards needed 20 runs in the final with Sinclair and Barnwell in the middle. It was Evroy Dyer with ball in hand; Barnwell and Sinclair had major miscommunications and that led to the angry Barnwell’s dismissal. Bowling for the Atlanta team, Parnell had 2-27 in his four overs.
