TAVERNERS TOURNAMENT GOES TO CATALUYNA CRICKET CLUB
The Lady Taverners hosted the second ever La Manga charity tournament last weekend, when 5 teams converged on La Manga club for the right to be named the champions of the Taverners tournament.
The clubs included Nations CC from Norway, and Sinjuns CC of the UK, as well as the Catalan clubs of Falco and Cataluyna. The line up was completed by the local club La Manga CC, and the tournament was bolstered by three umpires from the UK who regularly oversee play in the strong Middlesex premier league, and two Lady Taverners who provided the evenings entertainment at the Gala dinner on the Saturday night.
The competition format ensured that every team played each other once in the group stages with the two top teams competing the final. La Manga played with great spirit and competed well but failed to register a win over the weekend. Sinjuns and Nations both showed glimpses of skill in all of their games but were no match for either of the Catalan teams and both the touring sides settled for a share of 3rd and 4th place.
The group match between Falco and Cataluyna saw the Tarragona team edge out Cataluyna with a few balls to spare. Cataluyna entered the final hoping to avenge that defeat and started well in the field by taking 3 quick wickets despite Falco winning the toss and electing to bat. The Cataluyna fielding was excellent with Sadham Khan taking 3 excellent catches in the deep, and with the fierce bowling of Armaghan and Khurram they restricted Falco to a meagre 68 runs all out.
In reply, Cataluyna started quickly and never looked in danger of not reaching the target. Despite an hostile opening spell from both Mohib and Tanveer for Falco the Barcelona team knocked off the runs with numerous overs to spare to spark off scenes of joy amongst the Cataluyna players and spectators alike.
The trophy was presented to the victors by the Cataluyna Minister of Sport Jordi, who was also in attendence and after much discussion the umpires decided to give the man of the tournament to Cataluyna´s Khurram who had won two man of the match honours throughout the tournament, including being named man of the match of the final itself.
As well as receiving the Taverners trophy the winners also received a 200 euro cheque for cricket supplies from the match ball sponsors Ram and they were also generous enough to donate an 100 euro cheque to the runners up Falco to also spend on cricket equipment. It was left to tournament director, George Wambeek to officially close the tournament for another year.
