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September 11, 2005 The 2nd Annual Damian Mills Memorial Match would prove to be one of the best days and certainly the best match of the year thus far in Manitoba as the WJCC Honorary XI took on the MCA XI. As opposed to last year, this Sunday afternoon would be dry, hot and sunny with almost no breeze and not a cloud in the sky. This gorgeous day started off with the opening ceremony and the unveiling of a commemorative park bench in Damian's name. The MCA XI won the toss and sent WJCC XI to field, at which point Damian's father, Dr. Barry Mills bowled the opening ball. Once the match got underway, MCA XI showed that they wanted to win just as much as WJCC XI, with opening bats Kamta Singh (35) and Indad Ali getting their team off to a torrid start of 85 after the first 15 overs. Singh and Ali were finding all the gaps and continually frustrating skipper Juniors skipper Joe Lovelace and the WJCC bowlers. With the exception of young opening bowler Ihsan Khan (8 overs, 29 runs), WJCC's pace attack was proving ineffective. After a remarkable 91 run opening stand, the prowess of spinner R Singh was due. R Singh managed to get this year's two top batsmen, Suresh Jayaraman and Inderjit Sodha out for only 15 runs total, giving WJCC some life. However, Ali continued to score relentlessly before retiring with a game high 103 runs, including eight 4's and three 6's. Ali's innings helped carry MCA XI to a whopping 248 runs from their allotted 45 overs. With the daunting task of having to make 249 against many of the league's top bowlers, WJCC XI sent in aggressive openers Tommy Jilani and Harinder Warring. After getting off to a solid start, Warring left temporarily due to injury. Number three batsman Keith Deonaraine picked up right where Warring left off, with Jilani (19) and Deonaraine scoring at a solid pace of just above 4 an over. After Deonaraine (25) was dismissed by Qamar Zaman (3 wickets for 33 runs), Lovelace would come in at the four spot under the advice of Deonaraine. After originally planning at coming in number seven, Lovelace and returnee Warring would carry the score from 69 to 111. After Manjit Sra took his 2nd catch of the game off the bat of Warring (24), Lovelace and new batsman Ihsan Khan (37) immediately started to pressure the fielders with their lightning speed between the wickets. The WJCC bats also managed to hit many enormous 6's (9 in total) led by Lovelace's five effortless boundary clearances. After putting up a 59 run partnership, WJCC XI were now at 170, needing 78 runs off the final 72 balls. With Lovelace now serving as the cornerstone for WJCC XI's innings, he and Justin Holz managed to string together another key 46 run partnership in just 7 overs, bringing the score to 216. With less than 4 overs to go, WJCC XI still needed 26 runs to win. Despite having the maximum number of fielders on the boundary, Lovelace (87 runs, 73 balls) and tail end batsman Abdullah Khan (21 runs, 11 balls) still managed to smash 29 runs in under 3 overs! Abdullah Khan hit the winning boundary in the 44th over, giving WJCC Honorary XI the amazing come from behind victory! Remarkable batting by Lovelace who played a captain's innings but just as impressive batting by the rest of the team who faced 18 of the final 30 overs. It was an unbelievably exciting match between two great squads that had everyone around the park in a buzz. This gave WJCC Honorary XI their 2nd straight win in the event and surely would've made Damian proud, not just because of the win but because of the competitiveness and sportsmanship with which the game was played. |
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© 2005 Winnipeg Juniors Cricket Club |
