Pepper spray affects the players (EN photo)

Centurions Vs Vikings Finals Marred by Spectator Disturbance off Field.
A beautiful day of cricket was ruined by a section of the spectators when a brawl broke out; someone in the crowd used a substance (pepper spray) against another spectator. This affected a batsman in the middle (the wind took a little spray in to the eyes of Srimnatha but he was not in danger) and due to this the final was abandoned around 4.15 pm.
Update: the match will be replayed on Sunday October 1st at King City, 11 am start

The day started with 30+ degrees with blue skies and players enjoying what it could be called tropical weather with Vikings acting captain Ramdass winning the toss and asking Centurions to field. Vikings lost their first wicket at 29 when Ramdass was brilliantly caught behind by keeper Srimantha. A 30 run partnership between Thomas and Small ended when Small was stumped at the score of 59. Then two quick wickets fell (Thomas & Shah) and the score read 69/4. Skipper Crandon and young Pooran, both overseas players, put on a 49 runs for the 5th wicket before Jade Padmore removed Crandon for 18 (118/5). Another two wickets went down (Pooran & Lawrence) and Vikings were 139/7 and it looked like Centurions were going for the kill. But Vikings had different ideas with another 42 run stand between Mujtabah and Nanaan and then it was 181/8 when Mooshi was removed by C. Pervez. The last two players added only a few runs and Vikings were all out for 190. Highest scorer for Vikings was K. Pooran with 32, followed by Raj Nanaan 31. Pick of the bowlers for Centurions were Asgar Hotak 3/42, Cecil Pervez 2/32, Sajiid 2/28 but the best bowling analysis came from Raymond Byone 10-2-22-1 (Av.2.2). Wijeyeratne had a good day behind the stumps with 5 victims.
Lunch was taken at 2.30 pm and the second session resumed around 3.10 pm, the wicket was there for a 250+ run chase though Centurions were looking at the “Super-9” Championship with only 191 to win. Ideal weather prevailed with apparently plenty of ‘cold-beer’ being consumed by the spectators. As usual Centurions opened with ther left and right hand combination of Ruvindu and Srimantha before Ruvindu was unfortunately ruled out lbw when the score was 15. In the absence of all-rounder Sheahan Kamaleen who pulled a hamstring in the semi final and was ruled out for the finals, veteran Balaji Rao came in to join the skipper. Wijeyeratne(8*) and Rao(32*) did not take any spare time in wacking the Viking bowlers all round the field with boundaries and taking the Centurions to a strong position at 57/1. The partnership yielded 42 runs when the unfortunate incident occured, much to the disappointment of all true cricket lovers who were there to see a good and entertaining finish to the 2017 season.
It was not clear as to why Vikings did not want to continue the game when the brawl did not involve any players on or off the field. Police and para-medics were called in and they attended to the rest of the scene and the crowds settled in. Centurion’s skipper Wijeyeratne gave his consent to continue the game but Vikings objected to it citing security concerns.

Now we all are waiting to hear some good news from the Executive Committee of the T&D to see whether a re-play will take place; if so it will be played next weekend, hopefully again good weather prevailing.

Once again I, as the writer appeal to all you cricketers and cricket loving fans of Ontario to respect this beautiful game and to cherish and enjoy the results whether your team loses or wins. The outcome is the Better team of the Day, come out – VICTORIOUS ………….!!!! S.Wijeyeratne