Eddie Norfolk
Maritimes 40-over Championship Final at The Commons, Halifax, Nova Scotia – September 1st, 2012
Nova Scotia 299 for four wickets (40 overs; Harikrishnan Raguhuraman 84, Tyson Joyce 72*, Shiv Sadhu 50)
New Brunswick 84 all out (26.4 overs ; Amit Joshi 4 wickets for 27)
Result: Nova Scotia won by 215 runs
The re-building, restoration and re-vitalization of cricket in Nova Scotia continued with a 215 run win against New Brunswick in the Final of the Maritimes 40-over championship on Saturday (September 1st). Nova Scotia won the toss, elected to bat and powered to a mighty total of 299 for four wickets. This put huge pressure on New Brunswick who struggled to make runs in the early going, reaching 27 for two wickets from ten overs, and going on to reach 84 all out in the twenty-seventh over.
It was, apparently, the fifth consecutive success in this three provinces Maritimes 40 over Championship for Nova Scotia. New Brunswick qualified as a result of two wins against Prince Edward Island (PEI) on August 25th and 26th, following a rain-out of the originally scheduled New Brunswick home game against PEI. Nova Scotia had won all four games in the regular season schedule against the other two provinces.
PEI re-emerged on the Canadian cricket scene during 2008, but the emergence and development of the Tea Hill Park ground in Stratford should help cricket development on that island, Canada’s smallest province. Annual matches between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have taken place each year since 1987 in the more modern era, if not eras, of Canadian cricket.
Nova Scotia began with an opening partnership of 88 that ended in the seventeenth over when Shreyas Dhond was bowled for 23 by Naveed Javed. Shiv Sadhu, the other opening batsman, was out next, bowled for exactly 50 by Dunu Eliaba with the total on 107. A stand of 142 runs in 15 overs, less one ball, between Tyson Joyce (72 not out) and Harikrishnan Raghuraman (84) carried the total to 249. One wicket fell cheaply, but this allowed Amit Joshi a brief chance at the crease. He made 21 not out from ten balls, including three fours, and Nova Scotia had 299 runs in the forty overs for the loss of just four wickets.
Raghuraman, the Nova Scotia captain, powered his 84 runs from 45 balls, including four fours and seven sixes. Tyson Joyce made his 72 not out from 65 balls (6×4’s, 1×6’s) and Shiv Sadhu’s 50 came from 77 balls (5×4’s, 2×6’s).
New Brunswick’s Akram Khan took two wickets for 41 runs in his eight overs. Fellow opening bowler Jason Pinto bowled, in the context of the innings, an economical spell of four overs for sixteen runs, including the only maiden over. Sameer Patel was also relatively economical, bowling five overs for twenty six runs. Overall, New Brunswick captain Dunu Eliaba used nine bowlers, including himself.
Nova Scotia’s opening bowlers then applied pressure, conceding few runs per over in the early going, and making an initial breakthrough when Mark Outar was caught for six runs in the sixth over with 15 runs on the board. Fellow opening bat Jason Pinto battled away to score seven runs from twenty balls, before being caught off Shreyas Dhond at the end of the tenth over. Dhond’s performances in the Atlantic T20 tournament earlier this summer earned him call-ups to the Ontario Premier League staged at Malton CC in Mississauga (Ontario), and for the Eastern Fury in the National Cricket League.
Aditya Aggarwal and Sameer Patel then added 13 runs in 3.4 overs before Patel was run out for 7 (15 balls). Matt Webb then bowled Dunu Eliaba for a duck, which was a key blow as Eliaba is a key player for his side, as demonstrated in the 2012 Atlantic T20. So in the psychological mix, if you can make runs off his bowling your team gains an edge, and if you can bowl him out for not many runs that is also an edge to the opposition, given the current development phase of New Brunswick cricket. Eliaba was bowled to end the fifteenth over, then Aggarwal was caught by the wicketkeeper two balls later for 13 off Dhond’s bowling. Half the side was out, in terms of five wickets lost, for 41 runs. It would certainly be interesting to see Nova Scotia play some of the ‘larger, traditional cricketing provinces’, but that does involve some significant costs, time and planning.
Still, Nova Scotia at present has AIL Satti as a provincial sponsor and the New Brunswick men’s provincial team gained a main sponsorship deal with Picaroon‘s Traditional Ales. But I am sure both provinces, as well as PEI and the neighbouring Newfoundland and Labrador would welcome cricketing sponsors. Money from different layers of Government had helped the development of the ground at Tea Hill Park, PEI. Now if there were, for example, two full-time regional development officers in Eastern Canada to assist with infrastructure, playing, promotional and publicity efforts for cricket that could greatly assist cricket’s cause.
But, for now, at least these provinces are working together and doing their best, as evidenced by the visit of the Sportsnet Cricket Central team for last Saturday’s Final in Halifax. Cricket New Brunswick’s resources in the Fredericton area, for example, are involved in Tuesday night men’s practices, supporting Wednesday night women’s cricket, Thursday night T20, Saturday morning kids programs (during the summer) and the Saturday 40 over league. Development events in other parts of the province have also taken place and a six-a-side event as part of “Cricket in Parks” was introduced in 2011. Then there are these regional T20 and 40 over provincial championships.
However, a situation of 41 for five wickets after 15.2 overs chasing 300 to win was a steep wall to climb for New Brunswick in Saturday’s final. There may have been a plan to bat for as many overs as possible – many a time “bat long” is shouted out across cricket fields in the Toronto area to almost no effect – but it looks like a bit of temptation bowling was added to the mix. The basis would be Amit Joshi’s bowling figures of four wickets for 27 runs in 4.4 overs. The last five batsmen were all caught, with captain Raghuraman taking one for eleven in five overs.
Amar Bharwaj made four runs in 21 balls before he was caught off Joshi, Akram Khan made two from 11 balls but also fell caught off Joshi. Zeeshan Ashlam made one run from eight balls but fell to a catch off Raghuraman. Three batsman who, based on the numbers, looked to be trying to bat out some overs. Then, after Bharwaj became the eighth dismissal (or, out, for baseball followers) of the innings with 54 runs on the board, the last three batsmen produced the best ‘strike rates’. It needed rather more than Rohan Bandekar’s eight from 12 balls, or Hassan Syed’s seven from nine balls, especially as both were caught off Joshi’s bowling after reaching those scores. Syed fell to the fourth ball of the twenty-seventh over, leaving Naveed Javed twelve not out from nine balls. He hit two balls to the boundary for fours. Aditya Aggarwal struck the only other boundary during his innings of 13.
So New Brunswick was all out for 84 runs and lost by quite a lot of runs, but should be encouraged to keep on trying to bring in people to cricket from all backgrounds, as they are trying to do. As indeed, the other provinces in the Maritimes area triangle, plus Newfoundland and Labrador are trying to do. Finally, thanks to Matt Lane of the Nova Scotia Cricket Association for providing scoring details on the Final, and to all those working to build cricket in eastern Canada.