By Ravi Madholall in Toronto
Vikings Cricket Club continued their dominance in the 2018 Toronto and District Cricket Association Super9 50-over competition after recording two contrasting victories last weekend at King City. They now have three wins from as many matches. On Saturday, Vikings defeated Victoria Park Cricket Club by three wickets while the following day, they brushed aside JB Masters by 72 runs.
Royston Crandon
In the first game, Victoria Park tallied up a challenging 174 all out off 46 overs while Vikings replied with 175-7 in the 37th over. Rachad Fordee top-scored for Victoria with 45 as Khyber Khan and Royston Crandon grabbed 3-29 (10) and 3-41 (7.2) overs respectively.
When Vikings batted, former Guyana and West Indies player Crandon returned to hit 46 and was well supported by Paul Rudolph who made 36.
On Sunday, the contest was anticipated to be intriguing, but Vikings once again churned out some good all-round performances to humble their rivals JB Masters. Vikings took first strike and were able to accumulate a victory target of 181 all out in 49.1 overs while Masters could only respond with a disappointing 109 off 33.1 overs.
Rodrigo Thomas led the way for Vikings with 46 while ex-Guyana youth cricketer Raj Nannan chipped in with 33 as Dillon Heyliger snatched 3-33 from ten medium pace overs. Heyliger also represented Guyana at both the under-15 and 19 levels. Nikhil Dutta and Mahadeo Moonasar delivered with success too to claim two wickets apiece. In JB Masters’ innings, Bhavindu Adhihetty made 23. Crandon captured 4-31 from his maximum ten overs while Guyana first-class pacer Jeremy Gordon also in the wickets’ column by picking up 2-31 in 6 overs. The defending champions Vikings will be back in action on Saturday when they lock horns with OCDA at Mavis venue.
Speaking with Crandon just after the game, the Berbician stated that he and his team played to their true potential and are eager to be unstoppable throughout the competition which will complete in mid-August. Crandon, who made 90 and snared four wickets in the initial game against Toronto Cricket Club, spearheaded that victory. He mentioned the guys, started off the season with the right momentum and they are highly confident of continuing in the same manner as the competition progresses.