Ontario win the Atholstan Cup

Ontario 141 (Karim 32, Naresh 5-19) and 177 for 9 (Badrie 48, Ifill 42, Naresh 4-61) beat Quebec 127 (Greaves 36, Puvendran 5-39) and 85 (Jabbar 29, Puvendran 4-33) by 106 runs
Scorecard

Ontario completed a comfortable 106-run win over Quebec to secure the Atholstan Cup.

The victory owed much to a stand of 86 between Ganesh Badrie (48 runs) and Nick Ifill (42) for the third wicket in the Ontario second innings. This was by far the highest partnership of the match and was followed by some effective scoring from the lower-order batsman. Vikram Arora (22 not out) provided a steadying influence in the tail's efforts. Lallu Naresh again proved the most successful of Quebec's bowlers, taking 4 for 61 to leave him with match figures of 9 for 80.

Quebec struggled to make inroads against the opening attack of Henry Osinde and Richie Anand and their difficulties grew when left arm spinner Ravi Puvendran was brought on. Five wickets were down for 28 runs by the end of the 21st over. Abdul Jabbar and Orson Greaves added 39 for the sixth wicket but by then the match was out of reach. Puvendran took 4 for 33 to give him match figures of 9 for 72.

Nick Ifill was selected as Man of the Match for a combination of his runs (26 & 42), a steady spell of bowling and a catch. In the concluding speeches, praise was given to the Sunrise Cricket Club (Southern Ontario Cricket Association) who hosted the game. It was interesting to talk with club officials and hear about their two men's and five junior clubs. Some of their juniors were seen practicing their skills away from the main ground during the course of the weekend.

Waterloo City Councilor Mark Whalley flew back early from an important series of meetings in New York City to see the latter stages of the game and take part in the award ceremonies. He pointed out that cricket is the sport with the longest continuous record of being played in Waterloo. It was first recorded in 1888.

The playing area for this inter-provincial match is now dedicated to cricket. It previously housed two baseball diamonds with a cricket wicket placed between them. Mr. Whalley noted the city's recognition of cricket as a growing sport and is hopeful that a new pavilion will be in place soon; possibly as early as next year.