By Ravendra Madholall
Barbadian fast bowler Jade Padmore produced a fine bowling performance to help Centurions Cricket Club humble arch-rivals and defending champion Brampton Master Tranzac Cricket Club by 20 runs on Saturday at the King City ground in the 2013 Toronto and District Cricket Association Elite 50-over final.
Former Guyana skipper and all-rounder Damodar Daesrath was also outstanding with the ball, nabbing four wickets for Brampton to help restrict Centurions to a challenging 150-9 from the allocation of 50-overs.
While Padmore had figures of three for 26 from 6.5 overs as Brampton only made 130 all out off 35.5 overs.
The 24-year-old Padmore, in his debut season for the Centurions, got the final wicket of Guyanese Jeremy Gordon, to spark wild celebrations among his teammates and spectators.
Vijaj Kumar Singhan supported the energetic Padmore with two wickets for 18 runs from just four overs on a deceptive pitch under a grey sky.
Brampton, who defeated the same team last year, began their reply, shakily losing wickets in quick succession as they struggled to 57-4 and never really recovered despite a combative 37 from Shilan Kamilee.
Talented Hiral Patel, an international Canadian batsman, mixed tight defense with brief aggression but only contributed 17, while Guyanese opener Mark Monfort chipped in with 14.
Earlier, Centurions won the toss and opted to take first strike. They also struggled against the pace of former Guyana and now Canada fast bowler Gordon, who typically bowled with good control and pace.
He finished with two wickets for 26 runs from his eight-over spell while Daesrath conceded 19 runs from eight economical and tidy overs.
Experienced middle-order batsman Dhanuka Pathirana led the way for Centurions with an impressive 58 which counted two sixes and four fours while he also featured in a solid sixth-wicket stand with Sanjay Thuraisingam who weighed in with 29 not out.
In an invited comment with man-of-the-match Padmore, following the completion of the game, he declared that it was a total team effort and also thanked the guys for making his trip to North America a reality.
“I think we played really great cricket today (Saturday) and the guys deserved the victory; the pitch was good for bowling while the opposition was a good team so we had to work hard and it paid off greatly,” Padmore, who lives in Barbados’ capital Bridgetown, related.
Meanwhile, in the Premier League final also on Saturday at the same venue, Brampton Masters Tranzac Cricket Club beat Victoria Park Cricket Club by eight runs.
Brampton batted first after winning the toss and made 127 all out in 45.3 overs while Victoria Park was dismissed for 119 in the 47th over.
Joel Olivery hit a top-score of 59 for the winners as Viren Patel grabbed three wickets for 28 runs from 9 overs while former Guyana under-19 captain Eugene LaFleur backed up with two wickets.
When Victoria Park batted, Kumar Erramilli hit an attractive 59 and Patel returned with the bat to make 19. Okevrra Moses and Ahmad Singhu picked up three wickets apiece for 21 and 22 respectively.
Manager of Victoria Park Shiv Persaud expressed disappointment with the result of the match, but stated that his players performed admirably to reach this far.
