Play-off action- a big six

Valley Park Middle School won the Toronto Middle School’s CIBC Trophy in 2013 but in the absence of any Middle School entries in the three other cities involved in the broadened scope of the CIMA Mayor’s School Cricket Championship there had been no GTA championship game.. Participation in Toronto’s Middle School competition increased and Toronto East Division winners JS Woodsworth beat Toronto West Division winners Smithfield to become the 2014 Toronto Middle Schools champion.

This year, in addition to a Toronto Middle Schools championship, there were three entrants in Mississauga from which Erin Centre Middle School emerged as city champions and two entrants in Brampton where Beryl Ford Public School beat Cheyne Middle School to become Brampton City champions.

So Saturday May 31, 2014 saw the first CIMA GTA Boys Middle Schools championship. It was played on a round-robin basis between the three city champions from Toronto, Mississauga and Brampton. So the 2015 CIMA schools cricket tournament has the potential to include the first GTA Middle Schools championship final as this CIMA event moves forward, and Canadian cricket takes a further step towards winning a cricket world cup.

Saturday’s Round-Robin Action

Saturday’s GTA Middle Schools round robin began with Toronto’s JS Woodsworth hitting 119 for five wickets from ten overs against Mississauga’s Erin Centre on the north ground. Runs flowed from openers Bavindu Adhihetty and Dhariya Desai, both made 28, and number four bat Nimit Vediya scored 28. Arham Ajmi took four wickets for 29 from three overs for Erin Centre.

Nimit Vediya struck two early blows when Erin Centre batted, bowling Arham Ajmi and Ahmed Hassan for ducks. Bavindu Adhihetty captured three wickets for just one run in an over to leave Erin Centre in serious trouble chasing 120 to win. His wickets included Raif Rehman, leg-before wicket for 9. Dhariya Desai chipped in with two wickets for just one run as the challenge became overpowering for the batters. Erin Centre’s innings ended after 9.4 overs, all out for 34. Opening bat Kamil Haris made 14 of those 34 runs.

Ahmed Hassan’s bat came to life with six sixes in an innings of 36 opening the innings for Erin Centre against Brampton’s Beryl Ford. Arham Ajmi made 13 as two first game ugly ducks transformed into leading swans in Erin Centre’s flight to 89 for five from ten overs. Ankush Gogna made 12 before being caught by Ahmed hassan off Raif Rehman’s bowling. Rehman took three for 25 from three overs. Reyad Khan was caught for 11 but while there were knocks between 4 and 8 from several others, Beryl Ford was unable to overtake the Erin Centre score, Beryl Ford’s innings closed after ten overs on 77 for seven. Erin Centre won by 12 runs.

Ankush Gogna scored 13 and Harkaran Mann 12 at the top of the batting order for Beryl Ford against JS Woodsworth. Number six bat Sanzir Anarbaev was run out for 17 but some steady bowling restricted Beryl Ford to 65 for nine from ten overs. Bavindu Adhihetty bowled Gogna and went on to capture four wickets for 14 from three overs. Nimit Vediya picked up four wickets for just 9 runs from three overs.

JS Woodsworth powered to a match win, and with it the CIMA GTA Middle Schools championship, posting 66 for one after 5.3 overs. Bavindu Adhihetty struck four sixes in his 30 not out and opening partner Dhariya Desai made 19 in the charge to the championship and the CIBC Trophy.

Congratulations and Thanks

So congratulations to J.S. Woodsworth on adding the 2014 GTA CIBC Trophy to the 2014 City of Toronto CIBC Trophy, to Erin Centre as Mississauga’s 2014 CIBC Trophy winners and to Beryl Ford as 2014 Brampton CIBC Trophy winners. Best wishes go to all the teams, the teachers who coached them and the family and friends who supported their participation in the 2014 city and GTA tournament playoffs in Brampton. May all return in 2015 in the Middle Schools or the High Schools competitions.

Thanks also to the umpires, scorers, schedulers, on-the-ground contacts, especially Vinod Sharma, and to lead organizing volunteers at CIMA Canada, particularly Ranil Mendis and the CIMA Canada Board plus the various Mayors, city staff, school boards and school athletic boards.

Eddie Norfolk