Kings XI Punjab wins the first ethnic cricket tournament in Chch
The final of the first-ever ethnic T20 cricket tournament in Christchurch was played on Sunday between the Kings XI Punjab and T20 Blues, with the former easily stamping their authority over the latter with a winning margin of a whopping 136 runs.
Batting first, Kings XI scored a massive 250 runs at the loss of eight wickets. The highest score was Navi's 67, closely followed by their captain Pavneet Nagra's 62. Not yet done, Navi – arguably the tournament’s best all-rounder and man of the match for the finals – returned with a devastating spell of five wickets for 19 runs to restrict T20 Blues for 114 runs at the loss of seven wickets. Interestingly, this (250) was not the Kings XI's highest score. In an earlier league game, they made 268 runs (tournament’s highest score) at the loss of four wickets in just 20 overs.
The final team standings were Kings Punjab XI (1), T20 Blues (2), Maharaja Kings (3), Nepal (4), Tamil Pasanga (5), and the Rebels (6).
As reported earlier by IWK, the tournament was organised by the Christchurch Metro Cricket Association (CMCA) – the organisation that looks after the adult club and youth Cricket in the city – and supported by Christchurch Multicultural Council (CMC).
President of CMC Surinder Tandon said, “This year proved that such an initiative is very popular among ethnic communities. As such the tournament is likely to grow even more next year, involving 10 or more teams mainly with players originating from the Indian subcontinent.”
Meanwhile, Rajiv Biala, the main organiser of the Maharaja Kings team, which stood third in the tournament, described the experience as "real good". "We will be returning next year for sure, and maybe win the trophy in 2018," he said.
The final word belonged to Mike Harvey, General Manager of CMCA, who gave his concluding remarks, “Our cricket festival has been a great success, with much colour and plenty of bit hits. It was fantastic to see many individuals involved with the tournament who have not played any formal cricket in New Zealand, and we wish to provide opportunities for them to take that step.
“The cricket was played in a hard but fair manner, and it was encouraging to see players congratulating opponents on milestone achievements. We thank the Christchurch Multicultural Council for their support and endorsement of the competition and to the umpires who were involved. We were promoted to offer the tournament after speaking with a number of different people from within the ethnic community and the enthusiasm with which it was met. We aim to spread the word and involved more teams in the 2018 competition.”
The final of the first-ever ethnic T20 cricket tournament in Christchurch was played on Sunday between the Kings XI Punjab and T20 Blues, with the former easily stamping their authority over the latter with a winning margin of a whopping 136 runs.
Batting first, Kings XI scored a massive 250 runs...
The final of the first-ever ethnic T20 cricket tournament in Christchurch was played on Sunday between the Kings XI Punjab and T20 Blues, with the former easily stamping their authority over the latter with a winning margin of a whopping 136 runs.
Batting first, Kings XI scored a massive 250 runs at the loss of eight wickets. The highest score was Navi's 67, closely followed by their captain Pavneet Nagra's 62. Not yet done, Navi – arguably the tournament’s best all-rounder and man of the match for the finals – returned with a devastating spell of five wickets for 19 runs to restrict T20 Blues for 114 runs at the loss of seven wickets. Interestingly, this (250) was not the Kings XI's highest score. In an earlier league game, they made 268 runs (tournament’s highest score) at the loss of four wickets in just 20 overs.
The final team standings were Kings Punjab XI (1), T20 Blues (2), Maharaja Kings (3), Nepal (4), Tamil Pasanga (5), and the Rebels (6).
As reported earlier by IWK, the tournament was organised by the Christchurch Metro Cricket Association (CMCA) – the organisation that looks after the adult club and youth Cricket in the city – and supported by Christchurch Multicultural Council (CMC).
President of CMC Surinder Tandon said, “This year proved that such an initiative is very popular among ethnic communities. As such the tournament is likely to grow even more next year, involving 10 or more teams mainly with players originating from the Indian subcontinent.”
Meanwhile, Rajiv Biala, the main organiser of the Maharaja Kings team, which stood third in the tournament, described the experience as "real good". "We will be returning next year for sure, and maybe win the trophy in 2018," he said.
The final word belonged to Mike Harvey, General Manager of CMCA, who gave his concluding remarks, “Our cricket festival has been a great success, with much colour and plenty of bit hits. It was fantastic to see many individuals involved with the tournament who have not played any formal cricket in New Zealand, and we wish to provide opportunities for them to take that step.
“The cricket was played in a hard but fair manner, and it was encouraging to see players congratulating opponents on milestone achievements. We thank the Christchurch Multicultural Council for their support and endorsement of the competition and to the umpires who were involved. We were promoted to offer the tournament after speaking with a number of different people from within the ethnic community and the enthusiasm with which it was met. We aim to spread the word and involved more teams in the 2018 competition.”
Leave a Comment