NSCA media release:-
Nova Scotia has won the Eastern Canada T20 Championship for a record 6th time, defeating arch rival Quebec by 28 runs in the Final on July 23.
Losing the toss and being invited to bat first, Nova Scotia were in serious trouble at 4/22 and later 7/77, but vice-captain Dinesh Gaddam (71 n.o off 42 balls) and Touseef Mahmood Fahim (32 off 24) put on a quickfire 66 run partnership for the 8th wicket to take the team to a competitive 8/162 off their 20 overs. In reply, the strong Quebec top order started steadily reaching 44 for no loss in the 7th over, when Arun Nag Anupindi (3/26), struck twice to put Nova Scotia on top. From there, Quebec never managed to get on top, losing regular wickets in the face of superb bowling from the entire Nova Scotia attack, ending up all out from the final ball of the 20th over for 134.
Nova Scotia’s path to the final was a rocky one, with both Day 1 victories over PEI and New Brunswick being closer than pundits expected. Day 2 started with a loss to Quebec, turning the 4th and final match against Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) into a straight shootout for the right to meet Quebec in the Final. NL’s batsmen came out strong and didn’t stop, posting a mammoth 4/215 off their 20 overs. Nova Scotia started strongly scoring at the required pace, but lost regular wickets to be 8/136 in the 15th over still requiring 80 runs to win. Amazingly, Arun Nag Anupindi (51 off 21 balls), with the help of Satya Donavalli, brought Nova Scotia back into the contest before ensuring a great fighting win. Requiring only 4 off the last over, the runs were were scored with 2 balls to spare despite the loss of Arun with the scores tied.
The overall quality and depth of the Nova Scotia squad was shown by the fact that none of the Nova Scotia players won any of the individual tournament awards, yet the team were still able to win the tournament. It was a great team victory with all players contributing when the need required.
Nova Scotia Cricket Association (NSCA) President Amit Joshi was delighted in the team’s success. “This win at Eastern T20 shows the commitment of all players who trained so hard to be the best in the region. To say that I am ecstatic is an understatement, but this win really belongs to all the committed cricketers and volunteers in the NSCA. It’s an absolute honour and privilege to not only play with the boys, but also lead an organization that is committed to develop the sport in the region. We are actually having a strong year both on and off the pitch. We trained. We played. We partied. We got it done….and we still have much to celebrate!”
NSCA Director of High Performance Andrew Irving was impressed with the overall quality on display. “The fact that traditional lower ranked teams in PEI and New Brunswick were regularly able to score 150+ in this tournament shows that the overall standard of cricket in Eastern Canada is rising fast. In addition, Newfoundland’s significant improvement in the last 12 months will ensure that the run of 6 successive Quebec-Nova Scotia finals will surely be coming to an end sooner rather than later. This victory at a tournament of such a high standard was a great achievement for the Nova Scotia team, and captain Daksh Talwar and his team should be extremely proud of their accomplishment. However, we will not be able to rest on our laurels for long, as the other provinces will be working hard to overtake us in future years, and have shown glimpses of the talent that will enable it.” He also gave credit to first year coach Reeze Telling. “Reeze’s hard work since his appointment in November, designing and implementing a skills and fitness program that has seen the team training hard since January, has no doubt been a significant factor in the team rising from being runners-up in 2016 to champions in 2017. The experience he brings from his previous professional playing and coaching career in South Africa has been a great asset for the NSCA.”
The 2017 edition was held in St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, the first time Cricket Newfoundland (CNL) have hosted the tournament and the first time since 1898 that CNL has hosted another Canadian province for cricket. The CNL organizing committee put on a great event that all players, officials and spectators enjoyed, with their new field being a perfect venue to encourage good positive cricket.