The newly formed Northeastern League kicked off in style with a match between Bengali CC and Barcelona International. The iconic Montjuic stadium was the backdrop as history was made with Barcelona International becoming the first team to win a match in this competition.
The inaugural tournament will consist of four teams, Bengali, Badalona CC, Barcelona International and Pakicare, with the winners representing the region in the National Finals in November.
International won the toss and elected to field. Only two players in the Bengali line up managed double figures with extras being the third highest score on the batting teams scorecard. Opener Pabel Rehman got his half century and Hasan Bin Hakim hit 32 in his sides total of 124 for six. Sam Phillipps and Lauren Parmenter took two wickets each for International.
After the interval Barcelona moved up a gear with their openers putting on 60 for the first wicket in just 46 balls. The comfortable start for the International team given by Maroof Shaikh (28) and Burham Ijaz (17) took pressure off the incoming batsmen and they surpassed the Bengali total with 25 balls and four wickets in hand.
First blood to Barcelona International it what promises to be an interesting league. Maroof was given the player of the match award for his strong showing at the top of the batting order for Barcelona. Special mention to Lauren Parmenter who took the two wickets of Omar Sikdar and Abdullah Ahmad on her league debut,
