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Sky won by 1 wicket
Goodmayes won the toss and elected to bat
Goodmayes 131 - 5 (16 overs)
Abdul 23
Rizwan Siddiqui 4 - 0 -18 -2
Safraz Ahmed 4 - 0 -21- 1
Ayaz 3 - 0 - 26 - 1
Shakeel 4 - 0 - 30 - 1
Sky 132 - 6 (15.1 overs)
Aleem Hussain 52 not out
Sky win thriller to complete the League and Cup double
By Rizwan Siddiqui of Sky
Sky, despite their best efforts to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory,
managed to complete their second 'double' by securing a 1 wicket victory in
the Victoria Park CCL Cup Final.
Goodmayes, having won the toss, elected to bat on a bright and warm summer's
evening and following a Harmisonesque first over from Hasan (9 wides), they
got off to a flier with 12 on the board.
Rizwan, however, found a good length and appreciable swing with the
new ball to put the brakes on Goodmayes innings picking up a wicket in his
first over. Safraz, who had unsurprisingly replaced Hasan, also located 'the
right areas' and as the runs dried up, risks were taken and at the end of
Rizwan and Safraz's spell, Goodmayes had inched their way to 58-3 after 9
overs.
Shakeel and Ayaz were now entrusted with the ball and due to some
lethargic fielding they could not quite maintain the shackles on the
Goodmayes middle order who batted well to finish on 131-5 after 16 overs
with extras by far the top scorer on 36.
On the wide open savannah that is Pitch 3, 132 represents a challenging
total and Sky were soon in deep trouble on 8 -2 with opener Safraz and No 3,
Shakeel back in the hutch without troubling the scorers.
The Yellowstone national park in Arizona may well have the 'old
faithful geyser' but Victoria Park in Tower Hamlets has its very own version
of a 'young faithful geezer' in Aleem Hussain who again erupted on time and
produced a sublime innings of immaculate footwork and breathtaking
strokeplay to bring up his 7th half century of the season.
With Javed Soomro also providing good support to Aleem, Sky looked set
for a comfortable victory but the excitement was just about to begin.
First Aleem retired having reached his 50 bringing Hasan to the crease,
Javed and Hasan chipped away with 1s and 2s and the odd boundary. Hasan then
pulled a short ball into the gap and called for 3 runs, having taken two he
and Javed set off for a third, inexplicably Hasan changed his mind and
whilst he and Javed discussed the merits of the yes/no/maybe technique of
run calling in the middle of the pitch the bails were whipped off and Javed
was sent packing.
Enter Imran Khan who with Hasan reduced the target further which was
now below 40 with 4 wickets and plenty of overs in hand. Hasan, after
playing well was then deceived by a slower one and soon after with only 14
needed of 4 overs and 3 wickets in hand, Imran Khan tried to launch the ball
into the International Space station but only succeeded in finding
Goodmayes's mid off.
Sky, with skipper Rizwan and No 8 Ayaz at the crease now had to contend with
a resurgent Goodmayes who needed but two wickets to secure a most improbable
victory.
The impressive Umair now had ball in hand and in he charged for the
14th over and after 3 dot balls clean bowled Ayaz with the fourth and
finished off with two singles to leave Sky requiring 12 off 12 and Goodmayes
1 wicket for the Cup.
Rizwan was now joined by Aleem (not happy at being forced out of
retirement) and they were all that stood between Goodmayes and the Cup, the
15th over produced a boundary from Rizwan and four singles, therefore 4 was
needed off the last over. The first ball of the 16th over was on leg stump
and Rizwan duly flicked it to the boundary and completed a victory for Sky
and the double 'double'.
Thanks to Pete Hollman and Steve Hill for umpiring and to Goodmayes for a
great match.
Once again well done to my team, which as of last night is no longer mine as
I have decided to pass on the armband to our youth, so to Imran Khan
(captain) and Aleem Hussain (vice captain), I wish you all the best.
Report submitted by: Sky |