Western Stallions “Olympic” rebound to win National Cricket League 50-over Championship by Edward Norfolk

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Ground:	Maple Leaf North-Central Ground, King City
Scorecard:	Pacific Edge v Western Stallions
Event:	Cricket Canada National Cricket League 2012

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DateLine: 7th August 2012

 

Cricket Canada National Cricket League - 50-over championship final
Match played at: Maple Leaf Cricket Club, King City, Ontario on August 5th, 2012
Note: Start delayed due to rain, so match reduced to 26 overs per side.

 

Summary score:
Western Stallions 176 for six wickets (26 overs; Shehzad Bashir 89, Parveen Saroye 38, Satsmiranjit Dhindsa 3 wkts for 35)
Pacific Edge 100 all out (24.4 overs; Gaurav Singh 34)
Result: Western Stallions won by 76 runs.

 

Canada is known more for success in rowing at the Olympic Games than for cricket, so it was fitting that Western Stallions success in the inaugural 50-over Cricket Canada National Cricket League championship followed a rowing-type "repecharge", or second-chance, win after a first game loss. The Stallions lost on Thursday to the Prairie Fire by 49 runs, but gained a second chance, as do some losing crews in rowing competitions, due to a better net run rate then fellow first day losers the Eastern Fury. The second chance was a "repecharge" match on Friday against the Central Shield, Ontario's representatives in this event. The Stallions pulled through to a famous victory by 76 runs and a place in the final.

 

Pacific Edge advanced to Sunday's final thanks to a 27 run win on Friday against the Prairie Fire, then began well on Sunday against the Western Stallions taking four wickets for just 29 runs in 8.2 overs. Satsmiranjit Dhindsa took three of these wickets. Steady batting by the Stallions that became more dynamic began to turn the tide in what, eventually, proved a match winning stand of 120 runs for the fifth wicket. This stand involved Shehzad Bashir, who struck 89 runs from 71 balls (including five fours and five sixes) and Parveen Saroye, who notched 38 runs from 45 balls. The partnership powered the Stallions to a solid tally of 176 for six in 26 overs, the game having started late due to rain, was reduced to 26 overs per side. Farooq Quereshi chipped in 16 not out from seven balls at the end of the innings. He was the only other Stallions batsman to reach double figures. Dhindsa ended with three wickets at a cost of 35 runs from six overs.

 

In the end, the Stallions stormed across the flowing tide to dismiss the Edge for 100 runs, and win the championship game by 76 runs. Khurram Chohan soon bowled opener Umer Nawaz for 2 and then caught Sunny Gainder for 1 off the bowling of Jeremy Gordon. A third wicket stand of 51 followed between captain Jimmy Hansra and Gurpreet Singh, which ended when a powerful throw from Gordon saw Singh run out for 34 runs. Singh's runs came from 40 balls and included a couple of fours and a six. Gordon then hit the stumps from the offside to run out G Grewal for one run. The wickets continued to tumble as Grant Broadhurst bowled Dilpreet Dhillon for a duck, Hansra was run out thanks to fielding by Yasoob Ul Haq and Kurooparan was run out for a duck.

 

In the space of 15 balls, five wickets had fallen for the addition of just four runs. Gurkharan Dhillon made 18 runs from 29 balls and Rashid Masood reached 19 not out from 26 balls, but the game ended when Bashir, the run scoring hero for the Western Stallions, bowled Harmanjit Sangha for a duck.

 

There were four run outs in the Pacific Edge innings. Six bowlers each took a wicket for the Western Stallions.

 

So the 50-over event is over, but the T20 National Cricket League begins on Tuesday morning at 11 am at Maple Leaf Cricket Ground, King City, Ontario.

(Article: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only.
Copyright © 2012 Edward Norfolk)