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Team SPROUT springs a surprise

Team SPROUT springs a surprise

The PCC-i T20 Tournament finale organised by SPROUT and Papatoetoe Cricket Club was really grand where SPROUT’s own team “Team SPROUT” won this cup. Nobody expected them to even qualify for the finals and their round robin performance was not impressive. They had a close win in the semi-final over the pre-tournament favorites-Team Xotic.

The PCC-i T20 Tournament finals played on 29th Dec 2010 between Team SPROUT and Greenfresh finished in great style. It was a perfect finish to two days of incredible and entertaining T20 cricket with a clear objective – promoting cricket at grassroots.

This event was a good opportunity for many Indian business owners to giveback something to community to get into action and sweat it out. The rationale behind PCC-i T20 Tournament was to provide an opportunity to the cricket crazy Indian community a platform to participate in the outdoor sports and promote healthy living.

Ifti, the captain of winning team said, “It was not an easy tournament because few of the opposition teams were studded with famous Auckland players and most of our players represent grade 3 of Papatoetoe Cricket Club”.

He said “on the paper they were better than us but we knew that the only way we can win is if we all play as a team and give our 100 per cent”. Their team spirit was clearly seen when Gagandeep Singh, an emerging 14-year-old all-rounder, was asked to collect the winning trophy on behalf of the team.

Gary Troup, former Black Cap and president of Auckland Cricket Club, was the guest of honors. He was impressed with the quality of cricket and community support for the event.

He also emphasised that the Indian community need to more often use the facilities in the newly developed sports complex for cricket, hockey and tennis. Gary also mentioned that this Indian T 20 tournament has huge potential and can become an Auckland Cricket Association (ACA) annual event in the next season.

In all, six teams participated in this inaugural event played at Papatoetoe Cricket Club. A total of 72 players played this event and we had a good mix of players from different walks of life.

The teams were sponsored by Bikanerwala Papatoetoe, Xotic Sweets and Snacks, Green Fresh, SPROUT, Doabha Sports Club and Panworld Travel Centre, Papatoetoe.

All the players attended the prize giving ceremony. The best batsman award went to Arif Ulla from Team Xotic and the best bowler award of the tournament was awarded to Navdeep Bhans from Team Green Fresh.

Ram Lingam from SPROUT stated that these kinds of partnerships is a win-win for all and helps create awareness about importance of regular physical activities to help us avoid the risk of heart attack or diabetes.

He also said the reason we involved in this event was because we wanted something substantial to happen at grassroots level.

He added that it would be a delight to see some of the players go and join the local clubs for daily practice, weekly games and enjoy a healthy lifestyle.

If you are interested to participate or sponsor a team for the PCC-I T20 2011 Tournament please e-mail iftikharnz@hotmail.com or register with www.papatoetoecricket.co.nz
 

The PCC-i T20 Tournament finale organised by SPROUT and Papatoetoe Cricket Club was really grand where SPROUT’s own team “Team SPROUT” won this cup. Nobody expected them to even qualify for the finals and their round robin performance was not impressive. They had a close win in the semi-final over...

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