SUBMITTED BY THOM BARKER
The Yorkton Yorkers won their first game in
the Saskatchewan Cricket League (SCL) One Day Provincial (ODP) competition May
25.
Following a close call against the Jaguars
in the shorter format T-20 competition the previous week, the Yorkers were full
of confidence heading to Regina Saturday for a rematch.
The Jaguars won the coin toss and chose to
bat first. Taking the field, the Yorkers made short work of the first three
Jaguars’ batsmen taking their wickets within the first five overs for only 13
runs.
The home team fought back establishing a
partnership between Yasir Ali and Fasih Fawad who ultimately accounted for 79
runs between them. At the mid-innings break (20 overs) the Jaguars were at 103
runs for only four wickets lost.
After the break, Ali’s wicket fell quickly with
the Jaguars on 109 runs and the Yorkers rapidly took wicket after wicket until
the Regina team was all out for 151 runs after 33 overs and 3 balls (33.3
overs) out of 40 overs.
During lunch, team captain Faisal Anwar
cautioned Yorkers batsmen to remain patient and the 152
runs they needed to win would come.
The Jaguars also got off to a good start
with their turn at bowling, retiring the first three Yorkers batsmen for just
14 runs. That brought up Tinku Sharma, Yorkton’s man of the match from the
previous outing against the Jaguars, and Mandeep Singh.
Both men defended their wickets well and
the runs started to come for Singh. Unfortunately for Sharma, he would not
repeat his half century (50 runs) performance from the week previous. After
facing 28 balls, the star striker had managed only six runs and gave up his
wicket on a ticked ball caught by the Jaguar’s skip.
Replacing Sharma at the crease, Anwar would
be the last batsman the Yorkers needed. Singh continued to pile up runs
smashing a total of 10 boundaries (four runs) alternating with the precision of
the captain, who wound up with five boundaries of his own plus one maximum (six
runs).
After 29 overs, with 11 to play, the
Yorkers were just four runs away from chasing down and surpassing the Jaguars’
total to secure the match. Anwar needed just one ball to put it away. The
Jaguars bowler, Fawad, delivered the ball and the captain precisely directed it
to the boundary in the gap between backward point and cover for the win by six
wickets and 10.5 overs.
Between them, Singh (57) and Anwar (45)
accounted for 102 of the Yorkers 152 total, as well as, five Jaguars wickets
(Anwar three and Singh two) making the man of the match call a draw.
The
Yorkers next game is Sunday, June 2 against the Cavaliers in Regina.
