The day was beautiful with excellent cricketing weather. As the TV commentators would say, "Sunny with some clouds, and a soft breeze to cool things down".
If the Gods meant to smile on and give their blessings to the Jackson Memorial Quadrangular series, in honour of the late Mr. Norman Jackson, this day would have been a perfect example and endorsement of it.
The teams were all excited and so were the officials and spectators. The B-EDCL President, Mr. Praim Persaud, welcomed both teams and shared a few words on the Quadrangular series. Later, a minute of silence was observed by all present to reflect back in the memory of our dear departed "Jacko" (as Mr. Jackson was lovingly called). Following this, the series was officially declared open.
The two captains, Jamil Nasir for T&DCA and Chirag Patel for B-EDCL, made their way out on the field for the toss. T&DCA won the toss and elected to bat first. On a true surface, but a very sluggish and heavy outfield, the B-EDCL bowlers made a rousing start getting the T&DCA opener of the first valid ball of the innings (2 wides preceded this ball), captain Chirag taking a very low catch in the 2nd slip of the bowling of Bilal Khanzada. Bilal was ably supported by Mahjuj Sourav from the other end. After this, B-EDCL bowlers were really charged up and bowled some probing line and getting rewarded with wickets. The bowlers were supported by some excellent catching, some of them plucked out of thin air. T&DCA were soon 33 for 5 in the 9th over, when skipper Jamil Nasir and Durrand Sorraine started the rebuilding process. Sorraine struck some lusty blows, before being dismissed of a stupendous catch for 29 runs. Score - 76 for 6. In walked Aiyub Matadar, and he showed some intent and aggression, taking over from Sorraine. The B-EDCL bowlers kept at it and chipped away, but not before Aiyub had helped T&DCA to 153, being the last man out for 48 runs. The only other significant contribution was from skipper Jamil, 17 runs.
For B-EDCL, Bilal Khanzada, Mahjuj Sourav, Fayez Qamar, Zaheer Allard all chipped in with 2 wickets, with Priyank Chohan and Adil Hussain taking a wicket each. B-EDCL skipper took 4 catches, and Zaheer Allard took 3. In response, B-EDCL batsmen started off slow, trying to keep wickets intact. They did succeed, but the run-rate kept climbing up against some accurate and probing bowling by the T&DCA bowler. Khyber Khan drew first blood by forcing Kevin Singh to go after the bowling and skying a catch to covers. Krishna Patel joined Reyaz Prahalad. Krishna looked in good touch, scoring singles and hitting the odd big shot when there to be taken. As consolidation was beginning, a misunderstanding, and some smart fielding by the T&DCA, resulted in Reyaz being run-out. After that, the B-EDCL batting just was not allowed to settle by the T&DCA bowlers, getting wickets at regular and short intervals. From 41 to 3, B-EDCL slipped to 66 for 8, Krishna Patel being the only batsman with any reasonable score, that of 30 runs. Fayez Qamar tried some resistance, but was last run out and the B-EDCL innings folded for 85.
T&DCA won by 68 runs. Zamal Khan for T&DCA was the most successful bowler, grabbing 4 for 17 runs. With 3 run outs, the T&DCA fielders very ably supported their bowlers. The umpiring by Mr. Ummar Babary and Mr. Asif Quraishi, was very professional and of high standards. The match was played in a friendly and sporting manner by both teams, displaying an example to all on how a good and fair game should be played between two teams, accepting every decision of the umpires and keeping the banter to low or none. Congratulations to T&DCA for winning the opening game. All the best to both teams for their future games.
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Scorecard:
S.Shah c C.Patel b B.Khanzada 00
L.Ramsuchit c Z.Allard b S.Mahjuj 02
S.Nazar c Z.Allard b B.Khanzada 08
Z.Khan c Z.Allard b S.Mahjuj 09
H.Rashid c K.Singh b F.Qamar 03
J.Nasir st R.Prahalad b P.Chohan 17
D.Sorraine c C.Patel b A.Hussain 29
A.Matadar c F.Qamar b Z.Allard 48
V.Sehdev c C.Patel b F.Qamar 07
K.Khan c C.Patel b Z.Allard 01
V.Sharma Not Out 01*
No-balls: 3 Wides: 21 Extras: 28
Byes: 2 LByes: 2 Total: 153
FOW: 1/2 (2), 2/11 (2), 3/21 (3), 4/30 (4), 5/33 (5)
6/76 (7), 7/106 (6), 8/140 (8), 9/147 (9), 10/153 (8)
B.Khanzada 4-0-13-2 (3w)
M.Sourav 6-1-20-2 (9w)
F.Qamar 6-0-32-2 (1w, 1n)
A.Hussain 7-0-23-1 (3w, 1n)
P.Chohan 10-2-25-1
Z.Allard 8.1-0-26-2 (4w, 1n)
J.Kalsi 2-0-10-0 (1w)
R.Prahalad Run Out 11
K.Singh c R.Hassan b K.Khan 04
K.Patel b Z.Khan 30
C.Patel c D.Sorraine b V.Sharma 02
J.Kalsi Run out 03
P.Chohan c S.Nazar b.Z.Khan 00
Z.Allard c b Z.Khan 04
F.Qamar Run Out 13
B.Khanzada b Z.Khan 02
M.Sourav Not Out 03*
A.Hussain (Absent)
No-balls: 2 Wides: 11 Extras: 13
Byes: 0 LByes: 0 Total: 85
FOW: 1/10 (2), 2/34 (1), 3/41 (4), 4/48 (5), 5/53 (6)
6/58 (7), 7/64 (3), 8/66 (9), 9/85 (8)
K.Khan 8-2-14-1 (3w, 1n)
D.Sorraine 6-1-10-0
J.Nasir 7.3-4-13-0 (1w)
V.Sharma 7-0-15-1 (3w, 1n)
S.Nazar 6-0-16-0 (1w)
Z.Khan 7-0-17-4 (3w)
