Chris Patadin of Majestics.
Come see how the Big Boys do it!!
In their Zonal finals played last Sunday at Whitestone Park, Strikers easily defeated Demolition. In the other Zonal finals played at Cunningham Park, 73rd Avenue, it was a different story altogether as National took on Majestics on the latter’s home-turf.
What a game of cricket! One that seesawed all the way until the end.
National won the toss and batted first to rack up 227 runs in 35 overs for the loss of 7 wickets. Star batsman Syed Sreejon made a brutal unbeaten 53 and his supporting cast included Saleh Amin with a brilliant half-century, Shorov Khan 36, Farhan Ali 29 and skipper Shabazz Najam, 22.
Syed Sreejon of National.
Chris Patadin got two wickets, and Derrick Narine, Timal and Lalsa took one wicket each.
Majestics replied with 221 runs. So near and yet so far. Their star left-hander Derrick Narine clobbered a well-made 42 until he was out caught hooking at a short one.
But the star of the Majestics inning was the man-in-form, Christopher Patadin who struck a brilliant 63. No doubt, this guy is one of the best players on the cricketing circuit at the moment. Additional support came from Steve who made 41.
Shourov Khan took 2 wickets for 37 runs, Saif Azad 2 for 39, Syed Sreejon 2 for 34, and
Tifur Rahman 3 for 37.
Time for the Juggernauts to roll on to the Finals.
Strikers CC will be licking their chops in anticipation of this game, and are brimming with confidence. After a rocky start to the season, Captain Irfan Malik has molded his team to become match-winners in every sense of the word.
Irfan has set high standards for the team himself, by taking more than 30 wickets this season including six against a tough Combined Warriors team. Their squad includes the stellar opener Shahid Shahzad who keeps getting better with age. When he gets going replacement balls need to be flown in.
Strikers skipper Irfan Malik.
Mohammed Nadir cannot be stopped even though he carried a slight injury all season long. This mercurial batsman has scored 321 runs for Strikers this year and will be a force to be reckoned with in the final.
Irfan is fortunate to have at his disposal, four amazing all-rounders in Sarrmad Khan, Lisan Choudhary, Robin Das and Waqas Ali. With 411 runs, including 145 against Royal Knights, Waqas is in the top bracket of first-division players this year.
The rest of the team includes Raju Ahmed who took 32 wickets, Mohammed Habib the hard-hitting batsman, Mohsin Riaz, Ryan Raj Mangal, Ashfaq Mohammed and Gazi Ahmed.
One Strikers player has contributed enormously to their winning ways and that is the most superlative of batsmen, Zamal Khan. Zamal reminds us of Lawrence Rowe. He’s a dependable batsman, but not a fussy showman. Before you know it, he is on 30, then 40, and going past his half-century. He’s solid as a rock.
Youth! That’s what will be on display. A real final played by cricketers of the future.
