Sponsored by
In pictures: Long wait is over as Peterborough Town win Jaidka Cup
Cricket: THE last time Peterborough Town won the Jaidka Cup Skinner & Baddiel were top of the charts with a football song, Tony Blair was a popular, freshly-elected Prime Minister and Bill Clinton was allegedly fiddling around with cigars and interns.
Cricket: THE last time Peterborough Town won the Jaidka Cup Skinner & Baddiel were top of the charts with a football song, Tony Blair was a popular, freshly-elected Prime Minister and Bill Clinton was allegedly fiddling around with cigars and interns.But 11 years of misery, misfortune and muddled thinking were washed away at Barnack last night as Town finally collected the coveted trophy again with a 21-run win over Nassington.
It was a reasonably comfortable victory for the favourites who enjoyed a fast start to both innings, but only when Nassington's big hitter Tariq Aziz was caught in the deep by Martin Hair towards the end of the 17th over could Town relax.
See Ben Davis's photo gallery from the final.
Order photo reprints:
Make a note of reference numbers, or browse galleries online, you can order securely at PhotosToday.co.uk, by phone or in person: find out more
------------------------------
Aziz had just struck Town's pace ace Jamie Smith for a four and a six to reach 30 off 25 deliveries when he sent the ball spiralling into Hair's orbit at long on. Hair had earlier dropped Alex Martin off successive deliveries so a successful catch appeared to be a longer shot than Roger Federer's next opponent, but the big man held his nerve and the ball to take away any remaining pressure.
Smith, who took two decisive wickets in his opening over, finished with 4-34 and Nassington were eventually bowled out for 117 with three balls to spare.
They had suffered a poor start to their innings with experienced Jon Potter and the explosive Imran Khan both falling early. Khan smacked Town skipper Ajaz Akhtar for a huge six but sent the very next delivery high into the air and the bowler himself held a fine catch.
Sixteen year-old Alex Martin played some fine shots and Nassington skipper Haroon Mohammed batted well for his 28, but boundaries always proved elusive thanks to a well set field until Aziz arrived.
Town had started their innings in much brighter fashion as Alan Burton and Imran Abbas added 70 for the first wicket in just 10 overs.
Burton, a man who takes his cricket so seriously he'd probably choose Wisden over Sharapova at bed-time, looks a complete batsman these days, equally at home in Twenty/20 cricket as the longer game.
The man-of-the-match reached 50 in 41 balls and struck two sixes in an innings of 61 before falling to Haroon. Abbas made a stylish 30 until Martin held him at the second attempt on the boundary before Town lost impetus badly in the final few overs.
After cruising past 100 in the 15th over and looking set for a formidable total of 150, Town fell away disappointingly and scored only nine runs from the final three overs to close on 138-5. Haroon, who conceded nine off his first over, eventually leaked just 18 from four overs of intelligent leg-spin bowling.
"I was pleased with our bowling and fielding," Haroon insisted. "But we didn't come off with the bat.
"It was still a good game and we will be back to have another go next season."
For Akhtar, whose passion for his club and this competition is immense, the victory released a few demons. Whether he's batting, bowling or flogging fridges, he's a perfectionist who demands similar standards from his players. Continues on next page, plus scorecardLast night he would have been impressed by his side's ground fielding, led by their precociously talented 17 year-old wicket-keeper Chris Milner, as much as he was with Burton's batting and Smith's bowling.
Akhtar said: "It's been a long time coming, but I feel we are now getting the hang of Twenty/20. I doubt we will have to wait another 11 years to win another one."
Scoreboard: Jaidka Cup 2009 final
Peterborough Town
A. Burton c Budd b Haroon 61
I. Abbas c Martin b Aziz 30
A. Akhtar run out 9
D. Clarke c Haroon b Khan 18
L. Bruce run out 4
B. Hussain not out 2
Extras 14
TOTAL (5 wkts) 138
Bowling: T. Afzal 4-0-25-0; A. Dair 4-0-25-0; I. Khan 3-0-22-1; M. Haroon 4-0-18-1; T. Aziz 4-0-27-1; A. Bandaranaike 1-0-13-0.
Nassington
J. Potter c Milner b Abbas 2
I. Khan c and b Akhtar 8
A. Martin c Smith b Hussain 19
M. Haroon b Smith 28
T. Aziz c Hair b Smith 30
T. Afzal c Hussain b Smith 0
A. Dair c Abbas b Bruce 2
C. Budd c and b Hussain 9
A. Bandaranaike c Hair b Smith 3
A. Craig not out 10
P. A-Dalziel b Akhtar 0
Extras 6
TOTAL 117
Bowling: A. Akhtar 3.3-0-21-2; I. Abbas 4-0-19-1; B. Hussain 4-0-20-2; L. Bruce 4-0-22-1; J. Smith 4-0-34-4.
Peterborough Town won by 21 runs
Man-of-the-match: Alan Burton.
See Ben Davis's photo gallery from the final.
Order photo reprints:
Make a note of reference numbers, or browse galleries online, you can order securely at PhotosToday.co.uk, by phone or in person: find out more
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Peterborough
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 1 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: West
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.