What can I say but what a weekend to finish off the season at the Cannington Tigers Cricket Club. On Saturday the 18th March 2023 in the clubs history from my memory we started off with 4 teams in there 1st ever grand final with the club with 7th Grade, One Day C, One Day E and One Day G. With the four teams in the grand finals we had 2 teams playing at Coker Park and 2 teams away at Thornlie and Cockburn. All the teams had support where ever they went whether home or away which was fantastic. But when the 19th March was coming to a close the club finished off with 3 out of 4 teams finishing on a high. As the same expression has been stated in previous wraps from true gentleman that writes these up the Tigers showed their True Grit through out the finals series where ever they played.
Congratulations to all the Grades that won the Grand Final and our hearts go out to One Day G for that close finish but just missed out.
A big Thank You also goes out to Supporters that attended the games.
7th Grade was away playing Cockburn at Enright Reserve which was our only 2 day format team reaching the grand final and with top of the ladder leaders Cockburn from the eye of the outside world as form favourites and the Cannington team finishing 4th on the ladder this game was going to be good. The day started with Cannington winning the toss and electing to bat. Big hopes with openers A Reddy and M Kiradi to get us off to a good start which unfortunately did not happen as by the 10th over we were 4 for 30. What we needed was some belief and a partnership to happen which came in the form of DN Canakapalli and RK Madamshetti putting on a partnership of 83 runs until RK Madamshetti was caught and ending with 34. With time still to play for to not go out and field DN Canakapalli was the last of the batsman given out lbw top scoring with 75. With change in place and our boys needing a wicket or 2 before the close of play we got succeeded with cockburn on the first day 1 for 11.
Day 2 the boys felt confident after getting Cockburn 2 for 18 but with the emotions of the first session going through their minds Cockburn were on cruise control at 2 for 74 by tea. Wickets needed when the 3rd session was to begin RK Madamsheeti struck with score 3 for 7. Pressure was needed from our bowlers to keep the runs trickling along or the fall of wickets which happened after the 37th over with B Kumar claiming one of the important wickets of Bottrell who top scored for Cockburn and team score at 4 for 89. Pressure started to mount by the boys as runs started to really slow to singles or not at all. Next wicket didn’t fall until near the end of the 50th over with the score 5/101. Runs still hard to come by our boys started to feel it was in their grasp and after the DN Canakapalli struck for the teams 6th wicket at 6 for 112 the boys could taste the finish line but still needed to finish them off. After another 12 runs to the tally and the score at 10 for 124 Man of the Match DN Canakapalli sealed the win.
One Day C’s played at Coker Park (A) home ground advantage v Piara Waters. Cannington won the toss and elected to bat first which within the first 10 overs some thought was it a good idea to bat first. After 8 overs the Tigers had already lost 4 wickets for 9 runs and with the thoughts going to we need a partnership to get us to steady a small partnership came with 38 runs between VS Suneeth and V Pattappilly until VS Suneeth was caught. Next partnership came from Pattappilly and V Varghese of 30 runs. The best partnership came from V Menon and N Radhakrishna getting the score from 7 for 82 to a respectable 8 for 152. With that partnership there was some big hitting coming from the middle down to the lower order with 14 fours and 8 sixes which VS Suneeth and N Radhakrishna both hitting 3 sixes a piece. Thanks to the big hitting and with the mind set to control what they did the boys falling 5 balls short of the full 35 overs ending with 10 for 165. A score that was defendable in a grand final as most know that chasing the score is always hard.
Our boys started well defending as by the 10th over we had Piara Waters 4 for 17 with J Khan claiming 3 of the wickets. The boys were keeping it tight and trying to strangle the opposition from scoring freely which was working a treat. With the mounted pressure being applied and the bowling kept tight the score go to 5 for 51 by the 20th over. Our boys had so much energy they looked like they were on cruise control and nothing was going to stop them with bowlers at the 30 over started to share the wickets around and 7 for 80. It was just a matter of time as the pressure of our bowling was too much and with the best of the bowling finishing the game off V Menon 4 for 13. Watching the boys field on how they fielded they had it under control from the start. What a great win for the boys.
One Day E’s v Thornlie at Thornlie Oval. After 2 tosses of the coin Thornlie won the toss and elected to bat. Thornlie started off well with the bat scoring at will through the first 10 overs the score was 2 for 32 with only R Mathew and RR Nair claiming the first 2 wickets. With the bowling still not as tight the score was ticking over nicely against us reaching 5 for 60. The good thing going in our way was S Thomas claiming 3 wickets to slow the run rate down with his bowling. With the bowling starting to come good and the fielding starting to tighten up 3 more wickets fell as P Sabu claimed a wicket and S Valappil taking 2 making the score 8 for 101 after 30 overs. 2 quick wickets would be nice to they could get back into the change rooms and not be out there for the full 35 and that is what they did. P Sabu claimed the last 2 wickets having got Thornlie all out for 105. Great effort to keep the score to 105 and even tho it was a grand final nothing would be handed to them.
Again Thornlie started off well again causing a scare within the first 2 overs with S Ali and Y Kuriakose getting out for ducks. Not the start we were looking for and with a quick 20 run partnership between A Matthew / S Sharif until they to lost there wickets in the 7th and 8th over respectfully with the score 4 for 25 after 8 overs. What we needed as we all say when things like this happens is partnerships are needed and in stepped S Valappil and R Mathew. With the score not looking so good Valappil (42*) and Mathew (29*) stood up when it counted when it really mattered reaching the score of 106 on the first ball into the 31st over. Another great win at the end of the season when it counted.
One Day G’s were up against Maddington at Coker Park (B). With the toss taken Maddington won and elected to field first which was good for us as batting first in theory was the better option in grand finals. With I Fernando and AH Nanayakkara opening they got us on a good start until the score reached 26 where Nanayakkara was caught in the 5th over. With Fernando playing some glorious shots with 6 4’s and 1 six he wasn’t able to continue on when he lost his wicket making a quick 32 during the 7th over. Runs still flowed through the overs until the start of the 12th over where we lost SH Vedage for 5. Two overs later MA Zainudeen played a shot and caught making a quick 11 off 13 balls amd the score 4 for 54. Runs still ticked over with the VA Silva playing a supportive roll alongside BK Buthpitelkamalage who was playing some beautiful shots. With a 40 run partnership and reaching the 20th over VA Silva was caught while the score got to 5 for 94. With BK Buthpitelkamalage reaching 35 off 27 balls which consisted 7 fours Maddington had claimed his wicket leaving us 6 for 100 there was still just over 12 overs to go. Runs were needed to defend in the grand final which could be defended which with a mixture of runs from L Madushanka 14, IU Ranathunga 7, S Widanangamage 2 and M Rajakaruna 6 but all losing their wickets leaving AB Welgama not out on 3 the boys were all out for 137 after 32 overs with the assistance of sundries from the opposition. The score looked defendable and games have been won with a score like that but time will tell.
We needed openers VA Silva and S Widanangamage to control the tempo with tight bowling and it looked like it was going to work after the 1st over VA Silva got the 1st wicket with the score 1 for 2. Things just did not seem to go our way until we reached the end of the 10th over where getting another wicket at 2 for 65. Wicket yes runs against us was not what we needed or wanted as we needed the drinks break to refresh and reassess our goals. After returning from drinks the boys had the energy and felt something was going to happen until we started the 19th over it felt it was. Wickets fell quickly between the 19th over score 3 for 97 and 23rd over 7 for 105 causing a middle order wicket spree. Unfortunately with the ease Maddington played some shots our boys dropping too many catches the game had got away from with the 8th wicket stand of Maddington seeing them to the finish line with only 5 balls remaining of the 35 overs.
The boys fought hard throughout the day and they had a great season but could not come home with the win.
Pick of the Bowlers:
AB Welgama 7 overs 2 for 35
BK Buthpitelkamalage 4 overs 2 for 18
Pick of the Batters:
BK Buthpitelkamalage 35 off 27 balls
I Fernando 32 off 24 balls
Photos Below from the weekend 18.3 & 19.3.2023
Cannington Tigers Cricket Club 