Nova Scotia’s provincial cricket team continued their dominance in the Eastern region by defeating New Brunswick 3-0 in the recently concluded Maritime Championship played on August 26 and 27 in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. This represents the 9th consecutive win in the annual series dating back to 2008, with no series played in 2014.
Saturday August 26 had Fredericton’s Loyalist Ground host two T20s. The first game saw Nova Scotia bat first after winning the toss, and a 112 run opening stand between Matt Lee (75 off 42) and Arslan Khan (35 off 31) set the platform for a mammoth 7/187 off 20, with Touseef Mahmood Fahim contributing 40 off 20 balls at the end. In reply, New Brunswick scored at a competitive rate, but Nova Scotia’s bowlers were able to take regular wickets to stay on top and end up winning by 28 runs, Vivek Reddy Peddamail leading the way with 3/33 off 4.
The second game followed a similar script, with Matt Lee (77 off 49) again getting Nova Scotia off to a great start, this time partnered by Reeze Telling (63 off 27) in a 102 run 2nd wicket stand. Captain Dinesh Gaddam added 39 off 22 to take Nova Scotia to 4/200 off 18 overs in a reduced game. New Brunswick replied with 9/152, 48 runs adrift, with Arun Nag Anupindi and Saqib Shahzad taking 2 wickets each.
Sunday saw inter-provincial cricket in Saint John for the first time, with a 40 over match to complete the series. Again winning the toss and batting first, Nova Scotia compiled a huge 296 all out in 40 overs, led by Arun Nag Anupindi’s 66 with support from the rest of the middle order. A solid bowling and fielding effort restricted New Brunswick’s response to 139 all out in 27.5 overs, Arun capping off a great all- round performance with 4/19 off 7.
Detailed scorecards can be found on our Website
This victory completes a great season for the team having won every series played, with previous wins against Prince Edward Island and in the Eastern T20. All of the hard work and dedication displayed since the start of the Development Squad program in January has paid off, and players will look forward to continuing their good form over the final month of the Halifax Cricket League, reaching a crescendo with the T20 playoffs commencing September 23. NSCA President Amit Joshi remarked “The planning, training and performance of the provincial team was a top priority for the NSCA board and the hiring of dedicated coach Reeze Telling was well rewarded. Congratulations to all players, team leadership and administrators for their commitment towards the team, which will be looking to prepare even harder for another exciting provincial season in store next year.”