SUN­RISE/FL - USA: At­lanta Param Veers with great per­for­mances from West In­di­ans John­son Charles and Chris Gayle won the 2020 edi­tion of the US Open T20 tour­na­ment at the Cen­tral Broward Re­gion­al Park in Fort Laud­erdale, USA on Sun­day.

The Param Veers team miss­ing skip­per Rayad Em­rit, Akeal Ho­sein, Khary Pierre, and Kissoon­dath Ma­gram fought well and got over 22 Yards by 10 runs to lift their first-ever US Open ti­tle. Gayle's 49 and John­son's 70 paced At­lanta to 182/6 off their al­lot­ted 20 overs and 22 Yards re­spond­ed with 172/7.

Chas­ing a healthy tar­get on a slow track was al­ways go­ing to be dif­fi­cult for 22 Yards but whilst open­er Trevon Grif­fith was at the crease there was hope. He slammed the Param Veers open­ing at­tack around the park and af­ter five overs, 22 Yards were 52 with­out loss.

It took the Uni­verse boss Gayle to make the break­through send­ing back Ahad Malek for 28 and wick­ets fol­lowed. Grif­fith per­ished for 42 off 33 balls with two six­es and two fours. For­mer West In­dies all-rounder Chris Barn­well breathed life back in­to the 22 Yards team with a breezy 35 off 20 balls but he was run out in the last over with 20 runs need­ed off five balls.

For their ef­forts, At­lanta Param Veers walked away with a win­ning purse of US$50,000.

Ear­li­er, the West In­dies duo of Gayle and John­son formed the back­bone of the At­lanta bat­ting ef­fort through­out the one week tour­na­ment. John­son who opened the in­nings was bru­tal on any­thing short or of­fline, while Gayle who came in at num­ber three played a more pa­tient in­nings as he bid­ed his time and ex­plod­ed when nec­es­sary, al­low­ing Charles to at­tack.

The two added 107 runs for the sec­ond wick­et off 12.3 overs in which Gayle, who scored 65 in the semis, fell for 49. He cracked three six­es and four fours in his 36-ball spe­cial. Charles mo­tored on to clob­ber 70 off balls with one six and nine fours.

To­wards the end of the in­nings South Africa's Wayne Par­nell who has been hav­ing a great tour­na­ment smacked 27 not out off 12 balls with five fours.

Karachi Kings and Mum­bai In­di­ans all-rounder Shur­fane Ruther­ford was the pick of the bowlers for 22 Yards and fin­ished with four wick­ets for 24 runs.

FI­NAL SCORE:

At­lanta Param Veers 182/6 (20) (John­son Charles 70, Chris Gayle 49, Wayne Par­nell 27 n.o., Shur­fane Ruther­ford 4/24) vs 22 Yards 172/7 (20) (Trevon Grif­fith 42, Chris Barn­well 35, Ahad Malek 28, An­dre Mc­Carthy 22, Wayne Par­nell 2/27) - At­lanta Param Veers won by 10 runs.