Arcadians Walk(er) away with the Cup
Mariakerke, Ghent – Sunday 7 SeptemberThe six sides arriving at the ground for a 10.00 start would have been better equipped with scuba equipment rather than bats and cricket balls. “No chance of an on-time start” muttered Andrew “Scotty” Scott as he and Steve Tovey looked skywards at the unrelenting rain. Soon the umpires ranks swelled - Ashwin, Bill and Richard having little to do but munch on croissants and sip tea. Never has a Sixes Tournament been so well officiated, perhaps the umpiring panel predicted problems, or most likely it was to pay tribute to a retiring veteran after a long and fruitful career.
Eventually, an early lunch was called and play could begin at 13.30. This meant that a re-jigging of the tournament format was necessary whereby the winners of each pool would contest a straight final, thus skipping the second round completely. Therefore, it was vital for teams to get off to a bright start.
Game 1 saw the home Arcadians “A’s” versus the Arcadians “Blues”. Captain Walker elected to rest his internationals for later play and thus Wasantha “Wassie” Medagoda skippered the ‘home’ side which put on 55 runs in its allotted 5 overs; Wassie himself scoring 17 before being caught in the deep by Raju. Rakesh’s Blues fought valiantly to get to 35, but restrictive bowling from Steve Woodbridge (2 wickets for 7) and Khurram Seyd (1 for 7) supported by 3 catches from Gregson was enough to secure victory for the “A’s”.
Game 2 in pool B pitted 12 Stars of Brussels against 2007-winners Ostend. The reigning champions completed an easy victory by 35 runs with Abdul Rehman scoring an unbeaten 30 in a monster total of 79. Credit to 12 Stars who didn’t lose a wicket, but openers Rahul and Amiruddha couldn’t keep up with the tough asking rate.
Back to pool A for the third, where hosts Arcadians “A’s” took on Antwerp. And what a thriller it turned out to be – Colin Walker stroking a last-ball single to see the Arcadians home winning 61 runs to 60. However, the story of the game was the match-winning over from Khurram Seyd. His 4-wicket haul (for 5 runs) was backed up nicely by André Wagener who bludgeoned 30 runs, including three sixes - a shame for the South African that his glove-throwing tantrum at the end marred his beautiful knock. For Antwerp, runs were evenly spread; Manzoor (24) and Zulfiqar (10) the pick of their batsmen. But the hosts had secured a final berth.
In pool B, a mouth-watering encounter awaited for Ostend and Mechelen, the former already well on course following a win in their opening tie. In effect, it was simple, if Ostend won they were into the final. Ostend called the toss correctly and batted first with Bunti Hamed cracking a gorgeous 25* supported by burly Abdul Rehman who scored 21 before being run out. Mechelen were given the task of 64 runs to chase down at 13 runs an over.
Shikkoh quickly lost two partners, running out Farooq and losing Usman, both for ducks. They were in dire straights. However, Tipu’s arrival steadied the ship. Together the pair pushed on to finish on 69 runs, Tipu finishing the game in exuberant fashion with a six. Delight for Tipu (28*) and Shikkoh (25*) who were mobbed by their team mates as the last six settled in the trees. After a rocking start, Mechelen had pulled through and had now given themselves a fighting chance of reaching the final.
This defeat was a real shame for Bunti’s boys, who took the loss in a very professional manner. One wonders if this game wouldn’t have been more appropriate as a semi- or even final. 12 Stars would now need to beat Mechelen for Ostend to have a chance on run-rate.
In another thrilling pool B game, Mechelen put 12 Stars into bat. Mahesh hit 17 before falling to Sami. Amiruddha also contributed with 16 to the final score of 60. So, for the second time in the day, Mechelen needed to chase a score of 60+. Following a clever start by Shikkoh (11) and Farooq (10), Tipu wrapped things up with 16* to take Mechelen to 63 for three. Victory assured, Mechelen and Acradians would contest the 2008 final. Before this, the last pool A game saw Antwerp easily beat Arcadians Blues for the loss of only one wicket.
The Final
Winning the toss, Captain Walker told Khurram and André to pad up. After the first eight-ball over the pair had taken the score to 22 via a mix of boundaries and quick singles. After two overs, the rate had crept up to 39. The pocket-sized Pakistani powerhouse and the Brutusesque South African complementing each other nicely. It was not until the final over that Shikkoh had Khurram play a false short shot nabbing him off his own bowling. A total of 79 runs for 1 was highly respectable – Khurram (20) and André (25*).
Samair “Sam” Zaheel got the Arcadians off to a perfect start bowling Farooq with the third ball of his over. He followed this up with Shikkoh’s scalp to finish with impressive figures of 2 wickets for 7. Mechelen had been in the hole before, and got out of it, but would this be one ask too many? Khurram and André applied even more pressure with the ball, Khurram bowling Sami and André tightening up with an over that cost a mere 9 runs.
And so it came to the fourth over, where Gregson, who is more accustomed to wearing the gloves, was asked to turn his arm. Captain Walker safely instilled himself behind the stumps not wanting a repeat of his bowling performance in 2007. With Gregson lofting up a dolly, Tipu went for a big hit over the bowler only to sky one towards the gleeful Khurram at long-on. Two wickets to get with the Mechelen score on 33. 43 runs would surely be too much of a challenge at this stage? Usman striding to the crease had other ideas. Gregson’s third, fourth, fifth and sixth ball were all peppered for sixes around the ground. How twenty four runs in four balls can change a game. Ball five was zipped in quicker and to the delight of Zimbabwean Warney, Usman’s middle stump was the only sound of wood on ball.
Veteran Wassie had the pressure of bowling the final over. 22 runs were required to win it for Mechelen. The first ball went for four; somehow eluding Sam and Khurram who had gone to sleep at long-on and long-off, respectively. Ball three and Jassa smacks Wassie for six. 13 of the 22 runs had been achieved. This one was getting uncomfortably close. However, the wily old fox pulled through to restrict the last five balls to singles and doubles. In the end Mechelen reached 76, in a truly remarkable final.
After the game, Skipper Colin Walker commented: “This was an exceptional showcase for Sixes cricket. Naturally, I’m delighted to have captained the winning side, but there was a lot of very good cricket played today. I have tremendous respect for the likes of Mechelen, Antwerp, Ostend and 12 Stars. Some of the match-ups were really too close to call. Without the participation of these clubs, not forgetting all of the Arcadians and the umpires, today would not have been possible. Thanks to all and see you next year.”
And then all that there was left to do was present the awards. Beforehand, Belgian cricket paid its tributes to a rock of the umpiring community – Bill Monkou – deciding to pull up the bails after decades of umpiring service in Belgium and the Netherlands. Bill received tributes from the organisers, Richard Eames and Steve Tovey. The latter commenting that he’d hope to see Bill officiate at tournaments in the future, even though he is retired from league cricket duties. A big gap to fill. And we all wish Bill the best in his future pursuits.
Walker picked up the 2008 cup, and then the only thing left to do was unveil the player of the Tournament. In the end, Khurram Syed edged out Usman (Mechelen) and Abdul Rehman (Ostend) to the accolade with a mixture of brilliant batting and bowling. The 4-wicket over to get Arcadians into the final was the deciding feature. Now that Khurram has also won Arcadians Player of the Year, it is highly likely that there will be a lot of trumpet blowing by Sultan Syed concerning his brilliance.
MG2008