Elites A Emerge Victorious in Premiere Div Championship!

The Premier Division playoffs started on Sept 19, 2009 with Elites A CC (2) taking on Millwoods A CC (3) in the Semi Finals. A close encounter was expected between the two teams since both the matches played this season went down to the wire. Elites captain, Adnan Kamal won the toss and decided to bat first. His team reprised their faith in his decision by putting on a total of 248. Highlights from the inning included a quick fire 45 from Kaizar Abdulali at the top of the order and a rock solid 52 from Ahzum Ali. Millwoods started out well in the first couple of overs but kept losing wickets regularly and folded out for 120. Elites A CC would now face Gujarat CC in the finals of the Premier Division in what would be a rematch of last years finals.

Sept 20, 2009
Both teams got to the ground early, ready to go. The toss would be crucial because the team winning the toss would elect to bat and pile on the pressure on the opposition to chase down the total. The toss yet again went Elites's way and surely enough they chose to bat. A mix-up between Nafiz and Kaizar let to the formers demise and an ideal start for Gujarat. Kaizar and Zain tried to rebuild after the early setback the score to 30 in 3 overs. Things would soon change as Gujarat took 3 quick wickets in a span on 6 overs. Kaizar fell into a perfect trap set up by Gujarat at gully and Zain fell, caught by the keeper trying to play his patented cut shot. Nikhil Nagpal was to go next trying to flick Sampat off his pads but was adjudged LBW by the umpire. Elites were in a spot of bother with the score reading 55/4 in 9 overs, with 2 new batsmen at the crease, Ahzum Ali and Ronak Mehta. Smelling fresh meat, Gujarat captain, Amit Anand, brought on Harshad Patel, an experienced camper hoping to finish off the Elites inning as soon as possible. But the two batsmen had other plans and erected a partnership of 160 runs in 35 overs. Ronak ended up with a score of 64 and Ahzum with a brilliant inning of 90. Late hitting from Yasoob, Aqeel, Adnan and Dhrupad took the Elites score to 251 in 50 overs.
 

Gujarat openers wanted to dominate from the word go and that is exactly what Nilesh Patel had in mind. He started out with a boundary of the first ball and hit two more in the first over off the skipper. But that's all that went Gujarat way during their batting. Nilesh was soon to be bowled by Adnan off an inside edge. In came the big hitting Sampat who has the knack of changing the game within the matter of overs with his big hits. He started off mistiming a couple and managed to get Goldy run out while trying to sneak a run. Damien with his uncanny ability to score runs in big games was next to go trying to hit Adnan out of the park but managed to pop it in the air. Sampat had his share of luck when he was dropped by Kaizar at short third man and by Nafiz at the cover boundary. Both these catches were dropped off Ahzum Ali so he decided to take matters into his own hands. An Ahzum special followed, a moment of sheer brilliance, Sampat trying to sneak a third run was found wanting by Ahzums direct hit from the fine leg boundary. This sparked off a celebration that was worth remembering. Gujarat kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Amit Anand and Gavin Ricardo were to fall soon after. Mattoo known for his big hitting came in next and did exactly what he is known for. He managed to take Gujarat's score past 100. Harish and Mattoo stuck around for a few overs, an inside edge caught by Dhrupad accounted for Harish, Harshad Patel was the last man in hoping to achieve the impossible, but that was not to happen when Anil got stumped off Kaizar and sparked off a celebration that the Elites camp had been waiting for a long time.

Elites Cricket Club have had a phenomenal 2009 Cricket Season. They won a thriller against Edmonton in the T20 league. They also won a close match against Greenfield CC in the first division and now the Premier Division title against Gujarat CC.