Halverstown 2: 187/6 (20 Overs)
Batting: Avanish Patel 51 (26), Junaid Khan 50 (38), Avtar Singh 15*(14)
Bowling: Porkizhi 2/39 , Kasiviswanathan 1/22
North Kildare 6: 166/10 (18.3 Overs)
Batting: Guru 47 (36), Akarsha 42 (20), Venkatesh 21 (9)
Bowling: Bhavik Mer 4/28, Ahsan Syed 2/24
After eliminating the unbeaten team in our group in the previous game, we faced another tough challenge: defeating the unbeaten team from the other group to secure our spot in the final.
Our task began on a promising note when North Kildare won the toss and opted to field. Sam set the tone with two consecutive fours in the first over, suggesting a high-scoring game. However, our openers were run out early, leaving us at 19 runs.
Junaid and Muhsin then took control, anchoring the innings with a 62-run partnership. Muhsin played a steady role, scoring 12 runs while rotating the strike, and Junaid shone with his natural game, reaching a quick 50 off 38 balls.
After Junaid’s departure, Avanish picked up where he left off, hitting a rapid 51 runs off 26 balls. Together with Avtar, who contributed a useful 15 runs, they put together a 63-run partnership, setting a challenging total of 187 runs.
North Kildare started their chase cautiously but lost two quick wickets thanks to Bhavik's precision bowling. They then shifted gears, making the match a tight contest with frequent boundaries and quick wickets. At one point, North Kildare was on the brink of overtaking our score, hitting sixes and fours regularly. However, Sam made a game-changing catch at the boundary to dismiss Venkatesh, who had scored a quick 21 runs off 9 balls. Given the match's intensity, Sam's catch was undoubtedly the highlight.
Despite losing wickets at regular intervals, North Kildare's middle and lower-order batsmen maintained aggressive strike rates. Junaid ended their top scorer Guru Prasath’s innings at 47 with a remarkable catch off his own bowling.
The game seemed to tilt in our favor, but Akarsha, their No. 7 batsman, almost turned the tide with a blistering 42 runs off 20 balls, including 3 sixes and 4 fours. Avanish, however, bowled him out with his very first ball. The remaining North Kildare batsmen kept the scoring rate high but couldn’t avoid losing wickets, eventually being all out for 166. Bhavik claimed 4 wickets. Avanish took 2 catches, and Sam, Junaid, Matthew, and Ahsan each secured a catch.
Though the scoreboard suggested a comfortable win, the match was intensely close. As one of the umpires noted, the key difference between the teams was our superior catching.
A special mention goes to Avanish, who played through an injury and played a crucial role in our victory.
The final will be held on August 24th against Longford 2.
Written by Ahsan Syed.