Eddie Norfolk
Kaisoca Ladies 104 (30 overs) beat Superstars Ladies 33 (18 overs) by 71 runs
Played at: Sunnybrook Park, Toronto on September 5, 2011
The inaugural final of the Toronto and District Cricket Association Women’s championship saw Kaisoca Ladies comfortably beat Superstars Ladies by 71 runs on a cool afternoon at Sunnybrook Park. It seemed that Kaisoca was being made to battle for runs in this 35-overs a side game with few boundaries. However, hindsight gives Kaisoca opening bat Durriya Shabbir 34 precious runs, which was one more run than the Superstars ultimately registered.
There seemed to be some pressure on the Kaisoca batting as runs from the bat required work, although ultimately some 26 wides came as welcome gifts. The early innings pressure translated into in two of the first three wickets being run outs, and after Mahwish Khan was run out for 15, the innings subsided with six wickets falling for the addition of just 26 runs. Jenny Tinanayake, the sixth bowler used by the Superstars, took three wickets for 19 and Vindi Varawais took three for 20 as the innings wrapped up with some five overs unused.
Opening bat , notched two runs in the opening over. A wide took the score to three but then Lorraine Kenton closed the second over by bowling batters. Mahwish Khan took three wickets in the fifth over, which inspired Kenton to add a couple more wickets in the sixth over. Wickets lost stood at seven with runs scored a mere six.
A stand of 23 for the eighth wicket averted a complete batting disaster, although a couple of catches were missed during this partnership. Nicole Gallagher made 10 and Yvette Singh was left 9 not out when the innings stumbled to a conclusion in the 18th over. It seemed the game had ended with a confident appeal for a one-handed catch on the offside, but this was turned down. Two balls later, the batter opted to leave the ball alone, rather than risk an aggressive shot to cover or point, and the ball struck middle stump to conclude the game.
The opening bowlers for Kaisoca bowled quite tidily. Lorraine Kenton bowled a slowish medium left-arm from around the wicket to righthanders. Mahwish Khan, bowling right-handed medium pace, wobbled the ball a bit. So the batters had to play most of the balls and also think how to make runs.
Kenton was named as the player-of-the game for taking five wickets for 14 runs in her seven overs. Mahwish Khan took three wickets for 10 in seven overs, as well as making 15 runs with the bat.
Overall, a milestone has been passed with this first women’s TDCA final. There are expectations of more women’s teams in the league next season. This is certainly what is needed so that more players can develop, and some can go on to play at a higher level as local competition improves. In the short-term, reasonable line and length bowling, supported by reasonable fielding, can be a key to success at the local level. But bowlers need to face higher quality batting in order to improve bowling skills.
It might sound, to some, as if I am advocating some kind of proper developmental plans for cricket to build the game. Not just in Toronto’s backyard, because the same principles apply elsewhere in Canada. And, as the game advances, so must the cricket playing infrastructure, which brings a need for generating substantial funding, which has not been a strength in Canadian cricketing circles in recent history.