Ed Burn T20 Tournament – Premier Division

Oakville bowlers set up an easy win in their first T20 game.

Facing off against the Mississauga Ramblers side, Oakville bowled beautifully to have them all out for only 80, and even with a slight hiccup by the top order, hung on and won comfortably with 5 wickets in hand with 57 balls to spare.

Oakville were asked to bowl first, and the opening bowlers Christian Flook and Darren Kimberley were on fire, taking 3 quick wickets in the first few overs and putting the pressure on Mississauga.  Shuaib Zaidi held the innings together, but with a few partnerships along the way, threatened to post a total past 100, but some tight bowling, and good fielding helped Oakville dismiss the side for only 80 runs.  Ayaaz Ali, Christian and Darren took 2 wickets each.

In reply, Oakville had a weak start, losing the openers back to back, and then two more wickets fell soon, leaving Oakville with the total of 37/4.  Niaz Paracha hit two big sixes, but was dismissed immediately after.  Mohsin Iqbal and Darren Kimberley rebuilt the innings, Darren was watchful, and Mohsin was merciless.  They got the remaining runs in no time thanks to some powerful hitting by Mohsin, and crossed the finish line, giving Oakville their first win.  Hussain Zaidi was the most successful bowler for Mississauga with his 2 wickets.

Oakville batsmen disappoint, costing Oakville a win.

Oakville bowled well, but lost their top and lower order cheaply while chasing 150.  A good fight by the middle order seemed like Oakville would easily cross the finish line, but some good bowling by Niagara and some weak batting by Oakville denied them their second win, losing by 20 runs.

Oakville were put in to field first and started well, dismissing the openers cheaply.  Niagara batted sensibly and rebuilt their innings, and accumulated runs with ease.  A few wickets were taken, but Niagara was on course to scoring a big total.  Qasim Yaqoob top scored with 39 runs, and Ali Hafeez had 31.  Tawab Ikram came in the death overs and played a blinder, scoring 23 runs to take the total to 149.  The two spinners, Mairaj Hoda and Arsalan Pervaiz took 2 wickets each.

Oakville started off weak in their chase of 150, losing three wickets in no time – all credit to some excellent bowling by Tawab Ikram.  Zaid Rehman and Saad Zafar took the attack back to them, scoring some quick runs.  Saad hit 3 monster sixes in his 29.  Niaz Paracha batted sensibly too, but was dismissed on 33.  The lower order couldn’t hang on to finish the game, and Oakville were bundled out for 129.  Tawab was the pick of the bowlers with his 4 wickets and Mahmood Ahmad claimed 3 wickets for himself too.

Oakville batsmen disappoint once again.

Yet another poor batting performance by Oakville’s middle and lower order hand Oakville their second loss.

Oakville won the toss and elected to bat first.  The openers, Saad Zafar and Ayaaz Ali got to a good start, attacking the bowling and hitting some beautiful boundaries.  After hitting two powerful sixes, Saad was the first go get out trying to go for another one.  Niaz Paracha came in, and kept the attack going with Ayaaz, scoring at a good pace, and taking the score up to 48 before losing Ayaaz.  Majid Mahmood joined Niaz and kept the scoreboard ticking.  The boundaries kept coming, but Majid got out with 93 runs on the board.  Mohsin Iqbal joined Niaz, but both these batsmen fell to back to back balls, leaving Oakville at 104/5.  The last few batsmen managed to take the score to 141, and got all out with 11 balls to spare.  Niaz top scored with 35 runs.  Aman Haque was the best bowler by far, picking up 4 important wickets.

Chasing 142, Hamilton openers came out strong and scored runs at a quick pace.  Ayaaz Ali sent the openers back, but not before they lay a solid foundation.  Rikin Christian came in and kept the momentum going.  Oakville got a few wickets of the middle order, but the damage was already done, and Hamilton jogged to the finish line with 5 wickets in hand and 13 balls to spare.  Rikin missed out on a half century, getting out on 49.  Ayaaz Ali was the pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets to his name.

Oakville bowlers and Zaid Rehman’s unbeaten 53 sets up an easy win for Oakville.

Oakville bowled first against Stoney Creek, and Christian Flook took a wicket on the third ball of the game.  Darren Kimberley kept the pressure from the other end, and dried up the runs.  Stoney Creek just couldn’t get a partnership going, because Oakville kept taking timely wickets.  Vishal Chhabra tried to put up  a fight, but the bowlers had the upper hand, and managed to restrict them to 109 in their 20 overs.  Aizaz Paracha was the most successful bowler with his 3 wickets, Imran Mohammed and Arsalan Pervaiz took 2 wickets each.  Vishal top scored with his 24 runs.

Oakville got off to a slow start, with Saad Zafar and Ayaaz Ali batting watchfully and trying to score runs sensibly.  Ayaaz was the first to go, and Niaz Paracha and Saad lost their wickets quickly after, leaving Oakville at 31/3.  In walked Zaid Rehman and Majid Mahmood, and Zaid showed no mercy to the bowling, taking them on and hitting them all over the park.  He hit 3 fours and 6 massive sixes on his way to 53 not out, and taking Oakville past the finish line with a beautiful six to bring up his first 50 for the Premier side.  Oakville won comfortably in the end, with 7 wickets in hand and 23 balls to spare, thanks to a remarkable display of batting by Zaid and an some good support by Majid.  Vishal Chhabra and Balraj heer were the most successful bowlers, with 1 wicket each.

A remarkable all round performance by Oakville helps them storm into the semi-finals with a big 111 run win

Oakville won the toss and elected to bat first against Stoney Creek.  Ali Shah was unlucky to get out in the first over, but Ayaaz Ali and Niaz Paracha stepped up and batted beautifully, scoring lots of runs in singles and doubles and getting the odd boundaries.  A remarkable 80 run partnership came to an end when Ayaaz got out on 25 runs.  Zaid Rehman joined the skipper and scored a quick 16.  Niaz picked up the speed, scored some good boundaries and got a remarkable half century before losing his wicket.  Saad Zafar and Amit Sawh ensured a great total with valuable 20+ runs each.  Oakville finished their 20 overs with 174/6.  Raman Mandar took 3 wickets for his side.  Niaz top scored with 59 runs.

In reply, Oakville went on to a dream start, with Christian Flook and Amit Sawh bowling some beautiful unplayable overs.  Christian got the opener in his first over.  Stoney Creek tried to get a partnership going, but the spinners were introduced, and the rest was history.  Kamran Habib and Aizaz Paracha dried up the runs, and kept taking wickets one after the other, and soon, the batting side found themselves no where in the game, and managed to score only 63 runs before getting all out.  Kamran and Aizaz took 4 wickets each.

Oakville shock their opposition, winning the game with ease and storm into the Finals for the first time in 3 years.

It looked like rain was going to severely affect the game, but luckily, a decent number of overs were allotted – 15 overs a side, and Oakville won the toss and chose to bowl.  Imran Mohammed took the new ball, and started with conceding 2 fours and a wide, and he would go on to concede only 4 runs in his next 16 balls.  Amit Sawh starting from the other end took a wicket in his first over, and Imran followed with taking another wicket for himself right after.  NCC had a partnership going, with Qasim Yaqoob anchoring the inning, and they took the total to 55 before the breakthrough came.  Thanks to some good consistent bowling – NCC went from 79/3 to being 113 all out.  Qasim top scored with 29 runs, and for Oakville, Imran, Amit, Kamran Habib and Aizaz Paracha all took 2 wickets each.

Chasing 114 was not going to be easy against the all-star NCC bowling line up.  Zaid Rehman, the in form batsman, was dismissed in the second over, and Niaz Paracha joined Ayaaz Ali.  These two batsmen got the scoreboard ticking, taking plenty of singles and doubles and scoring a boundary an over.  Niaz scored 29 before he was bowled out.  Saad Zafar went in with still 43 runs to get and turned the game completely around in just two balls – first flicking the ball for a six, and then the very next ball, pulling it for a big six over cow corner.  He was given out LBW to a questionable call, but with only 18 runs to win, in walked Ali Shah.  He took a single to keep strike for the next over, and then hit the remaining 17 runs in the next over, taking Oakville over the finish line and into the playoffs with 18 balls to spare and 7 wickets in hand.  Ayaaz played a remarkable innings, staying not out on 35.  M. Javeed Qureshi was the most successful bowler with his 2 wickets.

Oakville now take on NCA Force One in the Finals.

Motivated, focused, and desperate to win, Oakville rise to the occasion, and destroy their opposition to take the Ed Burn Champions Title.

Oakville were put in to bat in the biggest T20 game of the season.  Zaid Rehman and Ayaaz Ali opened the innings and the pressure was on NCA right away, as Zaid took the attack to the bowlers from the first ball.  Ayaaz was unlucky to miss the fun, losing his wicket early.  Niaz Paracha walked in, and along with Zaid, kept the foot on the gas.  These two were scoring at over 11 an over, hitting some grand sixes all over Mohawk Park.  Zaid missed out on a half century, when he was caught on the boundary on 41.  Ali Shah came in next, wanting to keep the party going.  He hit a four and 2 sixes and was out for 17 in 5 balls.  Majid Mahmood came out and batted freely, trying to keep up with the skipper, and scored two massive sixes as well.  Niaz got to 60 runs before he lost his wicket, and Oakville finished their 20 overs with a mammoth 188/9.  Shivanand Reddy took 4 wickets for NCA, but some great batting by Oakville’s top and middle order put them in the favourites seat to win the championship.

NCA had the worst possible start, losing their powerful opener, Ishpreet Gill on the very first ball of the inning.  Just a few balls later, Christian Flook took his second wicket of the over and in no time – NCA were pushed on the back foot.  Christian and Darren Kimberley bowled beautifully, keeping them starved for runs.  Christian took 2 more important wickets, and Amit Sawh cleaned out the middle order with 3 wickets of his own.  NCA put up a fight and got some runs, but Oakville bowling and the big score proved to be just too much.  Abhijeet Karkhanis and Shiv Reddy scored 32 and 31 runs, but NCA were bowled out for 119 in 18.4 overs, giving Oakville the win by 69 runs, and the Title of Ed Burn Champions.

3 easy wins in the playoffs, beautiful batting and leadership by the young Niaz Paracha, attacking batting by all the top order, and some great bowling by Oakville’s pacers and spinners, and not to mention, some great fielding and catching – all contributed in this first ever title for Oakville’s Premier Team, and a sweet one ofcourse.