Avengers – champions of the far east of Canada
A best of three match series determined the fate of the Atul Ahuja Cup. The Cup was presented by former Cricket Canada CEO Atul Ahuja, and is contested between the 1st and 2nd place teams in the regular season, the Avengers and Eagles (tied on points with the Avengers placing first on net run rate). The Avengers took the series 2-0 in the best of three series.
Fahad Ijaz was named Cup MVP, making 97 runs for once out in the two games.
The Avengers won the opening match by 41 runs. The Avengers batted first and made 135/3 from 20 overs, led by opener Fahad Ijaz who batted through the 20 overs making 62. Rahul Roy (21) helped him put on 58 for the first wicket, and another 40 run partnership with Rahul Vashisht took them to a good total. Taha Sheikh took 2 of the three wickets to fall. Deep Patel bowled a strong opening spell, and the Eagles were in trouble early at 17/3 – Deep took 3/11 from 4 overs. Khurram Shazaad (14), Saeed Khan (12) and Najaf Raza Kazmi (26) made useful contributions, but the Eagles were unable to keep up with the run rate, ending up on 94/9.
The second match was played the following day, in autumnal conditions- temperatures in single digits at the start. The Eagles won the toss and batted first. The Avengers bowling attack exploited the conditions well, and danger man Taha Sheik fell to a good catch at slip with the score on 7. Zohair Syed and Nadeem Saqlain (16) played patiently, putting on 27. Najaf Raza Kazmi made an excellent 47 from 30 bals with three sixes. Unfortunately Asim Razman had to retire hurt after being struck in the face and was unable to bowl later. The Eagles made 102/4 from their 20 overs. The comparatively low total is to the credit of excellent bowling from all the Avengers bowlers, who gave very little away. Gurman Khurana (35) and Fahad Ijaz (27) put together an opening partnership of 77 and by the time they were out the game was as good as won. The Avengers eventually won by 6 wickets, with 4 overs to spare.
The Herringshaw Cup was contested between the MH WirthStallions (3rd place) and Rising Stars (4th place). The cup is named after Liam Herringshaw, the driving force behind the founding of the organization five years ago. The Rising Stars upset the odds (having won only once in the regular season) with a 45 run win. The Rising Stars batted first and made 113/5 from their twenty overs. Harish Kanna’s 41 was well supported by Adeel Illyas (13) and Taqrim Ghous (14*). Talha Riaz had two wickets for the Stallions and Amit Sundly conceded just 7 runs in 4 overs. The Stallions lost wickets early, and apart from a stand of 30 between Ayaz Ghani (15) and Rakesh Negi (14) never looked like reaching their target. They were bowled out for 68 in 13.3 overs, with Sajawal Usto taking 3/13, Adeel Illyas 3/19 and Harish Kanna 3/14.
The Summer League awards were also presented:-
Most Valuable Player – Rahul Vashishta
Best batsmen- Umair Khan
Best bowler- Sarvanna Kumar
Best fielder- Adeel Illyas
Most passionate – Chithran Vasudev
Most spirited player – Harish Kanna
Emerging player- Asim Razman