September 11 proved to be a glorious day for cricket, with blue skies and warm temperatures. The twenty players looking to extend the cricket season were divided into two teams, the Terra Novas, captained by Gurman Khurana, and the Shamrocks, captained by Deep Patel (the Shamrocks and Terra Novas were the premier teams in Newfoundland at the end of the 19th century).
The Shamrocks won the toss and batted first; Taha Sheikh made an early breakthrough for the Terra Novas, bowling Maulik Rahwal, and then having Rahul Roy stumped. Edison had Deep Patel leg before, and then Taha took the critical wicket of Rahul Vashisht, caught in the deep by Ali Malik for 32. Waqas Ali (31) staged a recovery, but then Talha Riaz polished off the innings, taking 3/5. The Shamrocks batted 24.2 overs for their 97.
The Terra Novas lost Taha Sheik early, playing on to a good yorker from Rahul Vashisht, then Zohair Syed was well caught at slip by Ujjaval off Waqas Ali – 8/2. Gurman Khurana (52) and Talha Riaz won the match with a well paced 85 run partnership, only broken by a good catch from Deep Patel. The Terra Novas passed their target with 30 overs to spare.
With the match won, but the weather still perfect for cricket it was decided to change the match to a 2 innings game, with overs limited to a total of 40 for two innings. The Terra Novas carried on batting for another 10 overs, reaching 195/5, led by Talha Riaz’s unbeaten 51, supported by 17 from Sachin Vashist, 13 from Dave Liverman and 22* from Taqrim Ghous.
The Shamrocks went in again with a deficit of 98. Rahul Vashisht smashed 43 from 18 balls, putting on 61 for the first wicket with Waqas Ali (33). Rahul was caught in the deep by Ali Malik for the second time, and then wickets fell quickly. Rahul Roy made 16, but the Shamrocks were bowled out for 117, Taqrim Ghous taking three wickets.
The Terra Novas needed just 21 to win, which they accomplished for the loss of one wicket, Ali Malik finishing the match with a 6. Talha Riaz was named man of the match.
Scorecard