Sheffield seal impressive victory after another great tournament.
The B.M.E. Centres that took part in this year’s Farid Karolia Cup, on Sunday 8th April, included Sheffield, Dewsbury/Batley, Leeds Hamara and last year’s winners, Manningham.
Dewsbury/Batley continued to play some impressive cricket throughout the festival. Batting was their strong point as they went on to win all the group games with Manningham finishing second.
It was a real pleasure to watch the games and how sporting the teams were. On one occasion, after a little chat from the Sheffield’s coach, Manningham’s Coach and umpire, Afzal Khan, readjusted the line from where a young man bowled so he could reach the wicket. In a tight game, both teams appreciated this and, afterwards, both teams shook hands with smiles on their faces. It’s always been about savouring the occasion; coming to Headingley to play games against other centres and helping to promote the game and Yorkshire Cricket in the B.M.E Community.
The semi-finals drew Dewsbury/Batley V Leeds Hamara and Sheffield V Manningham.
Manningham were asked to bat and good bowling from Sheffield saw Manningham dismissed for just 48. However, two early wickets saw Sheffield struggling and the match would go down to the final ball. With Sheffield’s last pair at the crease, Manningham missed a run out, before Sheffield sealed the victory with a single off the last ball! A nail biting finish.
Dewsbury/Batley versus Leeds Hamara was next. Batley/Dewsbury got off to a positive start, with quick running between the wickets, building a large total of 88/4 in the first innings. In reply, Leeds Hamara would fall short on 54/3.
In the final, Dewsbury/Batley won the toss and decided to bat, putting on a challenging total of 76/3. In response, Sheffield began well, and, after 2 overs, the score was already on 32. But, after both openers had retired, it became much more difficult as the Sheffield runs dried up. With the overs running out, Sheffield were left needing to hit one run to win, with the scores tied with just one ball remaining. Sheffield hit the winning run once again to claim the victory! Both Sheffield and Dewsbury/Batley had played some great cricket all day and either team would have been deserved winners, no matter what the outcome.
The man the Cup is named after, Farid Karolia, would have been proud of the sporting way in which all the teams had played, and once again, the tournament was a fitting tribute to the man.
Umar Rafiq and Shiv Krishan presented the trophies to both Dewsbury/Batley and Sheffield and praised all the teams who had taken part on the day!