9th May, 2021, Winnipeg.
Sher e Maples 85/5 in 8 overs (Gary Kang 34, Kamal Mangli 2/16, Amrinder Dhillon 2/23) beat Maples XI 66/7 in 8 overs (Avi Jabbal 25, Gurkirat Sandhu 3/5, Araib Khan 2/14) by 19 runs.
After winning the toss, Maples XI invited Sher e Maples to bat first. Sher e Maples did not make a great start to the final as they lost three wickets earlier in the innings. The cameos played by Mandeep Saini, Gary Kang and Gurkirat Sandhu assisted Sher e Maples to reach a defendable total. They were able to get 85 runs at the end of 8 overs. Apart from Kulwinder Johal, the other three bowlers were among the wickets, Kamal Mangli bowled an excellent spell of 2/16, Amrinder Dhillon grabbed 2/23 while Sunny XI picked up a wicket to his name.
To chase down 86 runs in 8 overs, the batsmen should always try to send the ball for boundary. For Maples XI, their openers gave them perfect start, both Sunny XI and Avi Jabbal added 42 runs for the first wicket in no time. But, as soon as the latter got dismissed after contributing 25 runs off 14 balls, Sher e Maples grabbed the opportunity with both the hands. They made a sensational comeback and wickets falling in every over helped the defending side defend the total. In the end, Maples XI fell short of 19 runs and Sher e Maples won the game, with it the trophy. Hats off to Gurkirat Sandhu, Araib Khan and Amarvir Panag, they didn't panic when runs were flowing, they kept the faith and grabbed the opportunity with both hands when the time arrived. Gurkirat Sandhu was named Player of the match for his outstanding figures of 3/5.
Sewak Brar played just three matches in the season and still remained top run-getter with 163 runs to go with a fantastic SR of 250. Kamal Mangli of Maples XI was on the top wicket-taker list with 11 scalps in 6 innings.
With this, I bid goodbye to all the viewers of Winnipeg Cricket Tournament 2021, hoping for some more thrill in the next season as well, till then, cheers!
