Rochdale Premier Cricket League round up

Max XI

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Max XI won the first Rochdale Premier Cricket League by winning their match against Rochdalians on the last day of the league. RYCC lost their final match of the league against Baba XI and became 2nd with 24 points and Stoney Stars kept the 3rd place with 22 points.

Th first match of the day was between Max XI and Rochdalians. Max XI won the toss and elected to bat. A shaky start from their openers resulted in the first wicket being lost with just 5 runs on the scoreboard. A very good partnership between the Shah brothers, Zohib 32 runs (not out) and Shohib 30 runs (not out) steadied the ship and they were later joined by Rehaman with 14 runs. Max XI managed to score 119 runs in their 8 overs. It was a must win game for Max XI to retain the top spot. Rochdalians made another disastrous start, losing their first three batsmen with 12 runs on the scoreboard. A good partnership of 40 runs between Umar and Atif gave them some hope but once Atif was out, none of the other batsmen made any impact and Rochdalians lost the match by 41 runs. Zohib of Max XI was declared man of the match for his 32 runs (not out).

The second match of the day was between RYCC and Baba XI. All eyes were on this match as a win for RYCC meant they would stay at the top of the table alongside Max XI. RYCC won the toss and invited Baba XI to bat. Excellent bowling from Tayab of RYCC reduced Baba XI to 6 runs for 3 wickets. An excellent partnership between Iftikhar 32 runs (not out) and Shakeel 28 runs gave them hope of posting a large total but an excellent last over from Abdul Quyyom with 3 wickets for 9 runs reduced them to 96 runs. RYCC fancied their chances of winning this match with ease due to their excellent batting, but they did not have a good start and lost top 3 of their batsmen for only 10 runs. A partnership of 35 runs between Iqbal 23 runs and Qaiser 13 runs gave some hope but none of the other batsmen made any significant contribution. RYCC lost the match by 14 runs. With this defeat they also lost the league title. Iftikhar of Baba XI won man of the match for his 32 runs (not out) and 1 wicket for 3 runs.

There was no match between Stoney Stars and All Stars as All Stars pulled out of the league. Also no match was played between Unique and Lahore Green as neither team had enough players.

After the matches captains of all the teams commented “This has been a fantastic league and very well organised and competitive league. It was a very good learning experience for all the young players to play along side senior players.”
They also praised the organisers Abdul Quyyom, Mohammed Siddique, Qunain Shah and Haji Zafar for all their hard work and very well organised league. They will come back again next season and face the challenge.

The RSCL committee would like to thank all their sponsors, in particular World Wide Food Stores, Claims 4 you and Naz Kebab house for providing their support. They also appreciate all the help and support given by all the volunteers, captains and players through out the season.
RSCL is also organising a knockout cup tournament starting from 7 March. Only the top six teams of the league are taking part in this tournament. Teams are divided into two groups: