Scorecard: United 221; St John’s 190.
United Cricket Club emerged victorious on Sunday over St. John’s CC in the Calgary T20 playoffs at Inland Cricket Park in northwest Calgary.
United won the toss and elected to bat first on a pleasant afternoon blessed with blue skies and blazing sunshine. The openers fell quickly and cheaply, but skipper Manzoor Chaudhary and Canadian national player Hamza Tariq began to set the tempo for the rest of the innings by methodically carving fours and sixes in each over all over the ground.
Mazoor, who had scored an authoritative 81 in the morning semi-final v Cavaliers, managed a whirlwind 20 off 14 balls before he was caught deep on the boundary attempting another maximum.
Tariq’s 58 was a masterful and magnificent innings, coming off only 29 balls. But the star of United’s innings was Asim Gondal who blasted a sizzling unbeaten 79.
In reply, St. John’s, the oldest extant club in the Calgary league, now more than one hundred years in existence, gave it a valiant effort but fell short by 33 runs in pursuit of a breathtaking target of 222. On any other day, 190 would have been enough to secure a win. Anuraj Gupta, who had starred in the mid-afternoon’s other semi-final against Crown with a score just shy of a ton, top-scored again with a brilliant 43.
It was entertaining cricket, in every sense of the word, and those in attendance got full value for their money.
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