Saturday
Division 4 vs Hfx-Titans CC - batting first upon winning the toss, openers Grant Whitcombe and Steve Smith combined for a Cannons record Div 4 partnership of 109 before Steve fell off the final ball of the 14th over for 33. Grant followed soon after for 63 off 45 (6x4, 4x6), the first fifty by a Cannon in Div 4. Skipper Ashwin Srinivasan (24 off 14) and Jayachandran Perumalsamy (16 off 11) carried on from where Steve and Grant left off, guiding us to a final total of 5/160 off our 20. Easily our highest ever Div 4 total, exceeding the 127 we made just last game in a sign our batting is turning around.
Mohammed Junaid Hussain struck 3 times with the ball, and another via run out, to reduce Titans to 4/52 in the 7th over. Titans kept their scoring at close to the required rate, but Ashwin dominated the middle overs, taking 4/27 off his 4 overs to cap a fine all round game by the skipper. With 17 needed from the last, Paul Chan Chow was given the responsibility to close the game out, a task he managed with ease conceding only 3 runs while picking up our 9th wicket. Titans ended at 9/147 off 20, a 13 run win that keeps us within touching distance of the top 3. Scorecard
Division 1 vs NS Avengers CC - our openers got off to a steady start adding 41, but we found scoring freely a tough ask. The middle order couldn't get going at all, and all of a sudden we were 6/78 in the 16th. Priyank Shah (32 off 32) was the standout from our top order. Enter Ajay Kumar, who has made the most of greater batting opportunity in recent games, and did so again today with 31 from only 19 balls to lift us to 9/122 from our 20. Under par, but something to defend.
Avengers' opener took 18 off the first over and by the time he was dismissed by Ajay, he had advanced their score to 44 before the 4th over was done. Arif Hussen (2/13 off 3) gave us some increased hope with 2 wickets shortly after, but ultimately we didn't have enough runs on the board as Avengers cruised past our score with 6 wickets and 13 balls to spare. Scorecard
Monday
Division 3 vs Hfx-Titans CC - new skipper Ravi Kiran Revu won the toss and didn't hesitate to bat first on another warm summer afternoon. The captaincy didn't harm his batting at all, leading from the front with 56 from 58 balls as he anchored the innings. Opening up with him was Nisarg Patel, who showed no signs of rust after a long injury layoff as he smacked 37 from only 24 balls, as part of an 83 run opening stand within the first 9.4 overs. Unfortunately the second half of the innings would yield only a further 64 runs, our middle and lower order finding scoring harder, however we still finished with a competitive 7/147 off 20.
Anbarasu Vijayan and Tanmay Rajput were at their best early on, both striking once as Titans fell to 2/9 after 4. It would be another 96 runs until our next breakthrough, Ravi striking to leave Titans needing 43 runs from 34 balls with 7 wickets in hand. At which point the ground booking had expired, and another sport took over the ground. Another in the long line of examples why Halifax needs dedicated cricket grounds. At the time of writing, the result of the game is still up in the air, with NSCA to decide whether DLS shall apply, a draw be declared, or the game to be continued at some later date. Scorecard
Top Performers
- Grant Whitcombe 63 off 45 (Div 4)
- Ravi Kiran Revu 56 off 58 (Div 3)
- Nisarg Patel 37 off 24 (Div 3)
- Steve Smith 33 off 45 (Div 4)
- Priyank Shah 32 off 32 (Div 1)
- Ajay Kumar 31 off 19 (Div 1)
- Mohammed Junaid Hussain 3/15 off 3 (Div 4)
Milestones Reached
- Steve Smith and Grant Whitcombe - highest Div 4 partnership for any wicket - 109 for the 1st wicket.