Rain Forest Rangers' Navin Gonzalo Stewart dominated from ball one of the tournament and in the end, he was able to take a group of young cricketers to the inaugural Chief Secretary Bago T10 title at Roxborough, Tobago on Friday night.
Stewart manhandled the Buccoo Reef Divers scoring 55 out of the 81 required for victory to take away the $20,000 first prize, winning by four wickets. The right-hand batsman ended the tournament with 343 runs and was voted the player of the series.
Chasing 81 runs for victory, Stewart tore into the Divers bowling and struck one of the biggest sixes ever seen at the ground. He struck a mighty blow that ended up in the drain in the car park that carries away the water from the artesian well, located there.
However, when he left with 12 runs required off two overs, panic set in and the match went right down to the last ball with the scores levelled. Thirteen-year-old Jaden Kent was left to get a single off the final ball and heaved it over mid-on to spark off wild celebrations. Stewart earlier scored his fourth half-century of the series off 32 balls with four sixes and a four.
When the Divers batted, they found the going tough against the Shaffique Shepperd who claimed three wickets for nine runs in his two overs. Three batsmen got starts but could not carry on. Skipper Jahron Alfred made 20, Antonio Providence 20 and Ako George 22 not out.
Earlier, there was an exhibition match and West Indies players Nicolas Pooran and Kieron Pollard showed their batting prowess. Pooran and West Indies women's player Stacy Ann King took the fight to Little Tobago Islanders as they added 66 runs for the first wicket off just five overs.
Pooran was unstoppable until he decided to retire four runs short of his half-century. His 46 not out came off 17 balls and included five sixes and three fours. King made 11 and Pollard came in to give an exhibition of clean hitting. He made 30 off 12 balls with two sixes and two fours before being run out.
When Little Tobago Islanders replied, they lost two wickets to Dwayne Bravo's first over and never recovered finishing on 102/5 off their 10 overs. Deems Baird made 36 off 21 balls with three sixes and a four, while Damian Ramsey scored 29 off 20 with two sixes and two fours.
BAGO T10 BLAST SCORES
Final: Buccoo Reef Divers vs Rain Forest Rangers
Divers 80/5 (Jahron Alfred 20, Antonio Providence 20, Ako George 22; Shaffique Shepperd 3/9) vs Rain Forest Rangers 84/6 (Navin Stewart 55; Quinton Brooks 2/4) - Rain Forest Rangers won by 4 wkts.
Exhibition match: Chief Secretary XI vs Little Tobago Islanders
Chief Secretary XI: 137/4 (10) (Nicholas Pooran 46 rt, Kieron Pollard 30, Marcus Daniel 14, Stacy King 11) vs Islanders 102/5 (Deems Baird 36, Damian Ramsey 29, Jason Persaud 13no, Dwayne Bravo 2/9, Cyd Gray 2/4) - Chief Secretary XI won by 35 runs.