Ontario West Region Women beat Ontario East Region Women by 25 runs in the second game of the 2020 Cricket Ontario T20 Women’s Regional Championship at Centennial Park, Etobicoke (Toronto) on Tuesday. The win repeated West’s success in Monday’s opening game that West won by 33 runs. The series continues with two games scheduled for Maple Leaf CC on Wednesday and Thursday.
Suboor Khan and Kainat Qazi clocked up 48 runs before Qazi was stumped for 17 runs (19 balls) off the bowling of East captain Kamna Mirchandani to end the seventh over at 48/1. West captain Terisha Lavia was caught at the wicket by Maliha Baig in Mirchandani’s next over. Lavia scored 3 on Tuesday after making a vital 48 in Monday’s opening game.
Opener Suboor Khan was the next to be dismissed in the West innings, stumped by Maliha Baig for 36 runs (40 balls, 4 boundaries) five overs after Terisha Lavia’s dismissal. East had restricted West to just 9 runs in those 5 overs. Heeba Bader, batting at number four, scored 16 (19 balls) and was the only other West batter to reach double figures. Bader fell lbw to Achini Perara to leave West on 90/5 after 15 overs. Number ten batter Krista Roopnaraine managed 9* from 7 balls in an unbroken ninth wicket stand with Mahwish Khan (8* from 6 balls) when the 20 over limit was reached. West had tallied 116/8, some 8 runs short of West’s Monday game total of 124/6.
East captain Kamna Mirchandani ended with 4 wickets at a cost of 26 runs from her 4 overs. Achini Perera took 2/26 from 4 overs. Maliha Baig made three stumpings, the last came with the dismissal of Amanjit Virk for 3 runs which left West on 104/8 after 18.3 overs.
East opening bats Miryam Khokhar and Achini Perera posted an opening stand of 54 that ended with Khokhar being bowled by West captain Terisha Lavia for 37 runs (36 balls) after 8.5 overs. Chuntel Martin bowled Achini Perera for 10 just 3 balls later with the East run total stuck on 54.
East captain Kamna Mirchandani was the only other batter to reach double figures in the remainder of the innings. Mirchandani was bowled by Suboor Khan for 11 with half the East team out for 73 runs and a further 44 runs needed from 7.1 overs. East added 18 more runs before being bowled out for 91 after 18.1 overs. Terisha Lavia took 2/12 from 4 overs and Chuntell Martin took 1/18 from 4 overs.
So East did slightly better on Tuesday than on Monday but there were two run out opportunities that went in East’s favour during the opening partnership. Something seemed missing in a photo I took of the first chance when Chuntell Martin, the bowler, followed up and under-armed the ball onto the stumps after a defensive shot by Miryam Khohkar. Her outstretched bat was in the picture but the pitch markings seemed missing, possibly lost in the rays of the setting sun I then thought. But on the next appeal for a run out, it became clearer: there were no crease markings on the new looking artificial turf wicket. The game may have been livestreamed, so it might be interesting to hear what the game commentator or commentators had to say about those possible run outs.
I only arrived at the ground in time for the start of the East innings and left soon after the fall of the first or second wicket, after making a brief look at the nearby ski hill and the new artificial turf wicket on the other cricket ground at Centennial Park. It had no crease markings.