The conclusion to an exciting tournament organised by the Seychelles Cricket Association (SCA) meant a final between the top two teams Narayanan XI Vs. Roaring Lions. Bowling first Narayan kept it very tight and only allowed the Roaring Lions to score 53 runs in their allocated 10 overs. The best bowlers for Narayan were Vasanthi who bowled 2 overs giving away only 8 runs and taking 1 wicket followed by Malshini who bowled 2 overs giving away 12 runs and taking 1 wicket. The tight bowling efforts of Narayan XI was evident as the best batting performer of Roaring lions Manisha was only able to score 14 runs in 25 balls and bring the top scorer for Roaring lions, this was supported by a quick fire 10 runs scored by Malika who did this by scoring two fours also.
In reply, Narayan XI had a steady start with the openers Malshini and Vasanthi making 5 and 8 runs each. While this seemed steady for Narayan XI a good spell of play transpired for Roaring Lions with a fight back with two tickets in quick succession where Thinaya and Vanitha were out without scoring any runs thanks to the bowling of Manisha who bowled 2 overs for 13 runs and taking 1 wicket and Hashini who bowled 2 overs for 12 runs and taking 1 wicket.
Despite this fight back a great finish by Geetha who scored 20 runs of 15 balls took the game away from Roaring Lions and ended up Champions of the WPL tournament.
Earlier in the day the two semi-finals were played between Deevas Queens Vs Roaring Lions and this match was won by Roaring Lions. Deevas batted first and made a decent score of 74 runs in their allocated 10 overs thanks to the solid batting performance by Lavanya who made 18 runs of 17 balls and hit three fours in that. The pick of the bowlers for Roaring Lions was Manisha who bowled 2 overs and gave 15 runs and took 2 wickets. In reply Roaring Lions won the match comfortably with a loss of only two wickets and their top scorer being Manisha who made 38 runs in 29 balls well supported by Malika who made 7 runs in 20 balls holding one side and took them to victory. The pick of the bowlers for Deevas was Nithya Selvakumar who bowled 2 overs for 8 runs and took 1 wicket.
And the other semi Finals was played between Kilo Game A Vs Narayan XI and this match was won by Narayan XI by 35 runs. Narayan XI batted first and scored 85 runs in their allocated 10 overs thanks to their opening batters Geeta Hirani who top scored with 38 runs of 40 balls with 7 fours in it and Kantaben Hirani who scored 11 runs of 20 balls. Kilo Game A bowlers could not manage to get any wickets. In their reply Kilo Game A made 50 runs for the loss of 5 wickets thanks to the powerful batting performance of their opener Pauldina Lajoie who made 31 runs in 29 balls which included 4 fours and 1 six. Top bowlers for Narayan XI were Malshini Senaratne who bowled 2 overs and gave only 7 runs and took 1 wicket followed by Vanita Varsani who bowled 2 overs giving only 6 runs and taking 2 wickets.
The day ended with the presentation ceremony which included prizes, medals for the teams and trophies for winner and runners up and for the best performers who were best bowler and Best Batsman both of which went to Manisha Kanbi (Roaring Lions) who made 82 runs in 3 innings and took 4 wickets in 3 innings. Vasanthi Patel of Narayan XI has been selected as the player of the Final Match for her all-round performance.
SCA once again took this opportunity to thank its main sponsors P&J supplies (Pty) Ltd and Dijan Construction and other co-sponsors IFS and Medix, also the participants and families for their active participation in making this tournament a success.
Contributed by Jeevan Palani SCA