Cannons entered the weekend with both our Div 1 and Div 2 teams in the finals against Halifax Titans CC, looking to win our first cups of the season.
Division 2 were up first on Saturday, and were sent into bat upon losing the toss, a call we were more than happy with after our bat first win in the semi final. Skipper Tushar Seghal made the first big move of the game right at the start, moving himself to the opening role, and it paid off as he played the fastest scoring innings of the game, hitting 30 off 20 as he combined to put on a 64 run opening partnership in 8.3 overs with Andrew Irving. Our middle order couldn't kick on today, and we fought our way to 8/125 off 20 overs, Andrew top scoring with 48.
Tushar would go with this gut instincts again when we bowled, bringing on spinner Hiren Patel for the 2nd over, and again it paid off as Hiren bowled their dangerous opener with his first ball. Mohammed Tanweer would then get their other opener next over, and we had put ourselves in a great position. Mohammed would bowl his 4 overs straight, being rewarded for a great spell with our 3rd wicket in the 7th over, and then Revant Sharan struck again in the 8th over, claiming their most experienced bat to have them reeling at 4/28 in the 8th. From here, Titans middle order recovered, putting on 71 for the 5th wicket, but importantly for us, they could only score at a run a ball despite needing 8 runs an over. Hiren would finally make the breakthrough on the last ball of the 18th over, a great catch from Tushar in the deep, Titans needing 27 off 2.Tushar would bowl the 19th, and with the wind favoring the batsmen from this end, conceding only 10 runs while picking up a wicket and a run out. So it would be up to Revant to defend 17 off the last, and first ball he took a great sharp one handed catch off his own bowling to claim their set bat. He followed this with a dot and then another wicket, a smart stumping from Saravana Chandran standing up, a fine finish to a great season from our gloveman. 17 needed off 3 balls, and three singles later the game was over, and the Div 2 cup would have Halifax Cricket Club engraved on it for the first time! An awesome effort from the team all year, never losing successive matches, but qualifying 3rd in a tight race, we did it the hard way with two very close wins in the playoffs. Scorecard
Div 1 would play their first final straight off the back of this win, bowling first and keeping it tight early on, with Titans 4/73 after 13.2, and a score of 130 or less being on the cards. Their middle order bat Sukh had other ideas, hitting 71 not out off only 29 balls to take them to 5/161 off 20. Zeeshan Ansari with 1/7 off 2 overs, and Ajay Deb (1/24 off 4) were our only wicket takers and had the best economy rates for us, while we also had 3 run outs.
Antony Roche (42) was pushed up to open and along with Arslan Khan (28) put on 69 inside the first 10 overs to set us up well for the chase. Daksh Talwar hit a quickfire 20 off 12 to continue the charge, but the rest of the order couldn't find the boundary, and we fell 31 runs short, all out 130 in the last over. 0-1 down and we would have to bounce back Sunday in the rest of the series. Scorecard
We needed a good start to the second final on Sunday, and we didn't get it, falling to 3/29 off the first 6. Antony continued his fine form with 65 off 49 balls (one four, four sixes), but other than a cameo from Zeeshan (19 off 9), we again struggled to lift the scoring and could only manage 8/134 off our 20.
A great spell from Daksh (3/15 off 4) gave us a chance, with Titans at 5/96 off 14, needing 39 off the last six overs. A couple of quick wickets at this stage would put us right on top, but it wasn't to be, their lower middle order taking them to the target with 4 balls and 4 wickets to spare to wrap up the series. Scorecard.
Not the result our Div 1 team wanted, but the boys can all be proud of a season where we managed to make the finals in an attempt to defend our 2022 crown. Congrats to Titans on their first Div 1 championship, and a great season all round where they captured Div 3 and the Deo Cup, and were only a few runs short of both the Div 2 and 40 over titles.
Thanks to all our sponsors for helping us achieve these results in 2023. These weekly recaps are made possible by Steele Hyundai & Genesis Halifax. If you need a new or used vehicle, head into one of their dealerships or visit their website.
