Great first weekend of 2023 for the Cannons with Div 1 and Div 2 both getting good wins over Hfx-Titans Cricket Club on Sunday.
Div 2 took to the field first and skipper Tushar Sehgal decided Titans could bat first. There may have been a few doubts as they reached 41 within the first 4 overs, but the introduction of spin turned the tide, Hiren Patel clean bowling their opener for out first. Nihar Shah would be next to strike, before Kevin Tuvar then stole the show with 4 of the next 5 wickets, finishing with 4/11 off 3, Hiren's second wicket sandwiched into this spell. 0/41 had become 7/80. As they always do, Titans lower order fought back, stretching their score to 9/133 off 20. Sujaan Singh had a good first outing with a late wicket after a couple of very good outfield catches.
Our opening pair of Andrew Irving (36 off 28) and Nisarg Patel (15 off 18) knocked off almost half of the total between them by putting on 60 in 7 overs. However, both were lost amid a six ball collapse of 4 wickets for 1 run. Dhruv Mohta steadied the ship with a run a ball 17, but his dismissal had us still needing 44 with only 4 wickets left. Tushar played a captains knock, targeting his strengths with 3 huge sixes in his unbeaten 25 from only 13 balls, Hiren playing a smart knock at the other end finishing unbeaten on 14. A lovely straight six from Hiren wrapped up a win with 21 balls and 4 wickets to spare. Great to get a win over Titans after failing to do so in Div 2 last year, but it is also exciting that we have a lot of improvement left in us. Scorecard
Next up, Div 1 were sent in to bat by the Titans skipper, and apart from a couple of strong blows from Rudesh Audikesavalu (18 off 14), had a poor start falling to 4/36 after 5. The experienced duo of Antony Roche (18) and Daksh Talwar (31 off 28) rebuilt the innings putting on 45, and then debutant Satnam took over with a quickfire 35 from 24 balls including 4 sixes to boost us to 8/139 off 20. Jaideep Singh's last ball six the icing on the cake.
Skipper Sagar Mandan struck in his first over, but Titans top order got away from us reaching 1/68 midway through the 10th over. Daksh then took the first of his 3 wickets in successive overs, and with Priyank Trivedi taking 2 at the other end, 1/68 had become 6/98 in a hurry. 42 off 30 balls was still anyone's game, but Vikas Salaria and Shadab Ahmed closed out the game brilliantly, keeping the scoring to singles only, before the last 4 wickets all fell with the score on 111. A 28 run win is a great start to the season, and good to see our new players Satnam and Vikas both make important contributions to it. Scorecard
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.
