Kumasi Knight Riders Cricket Club exhibited consistency, sheer resilience and tenacity to lift the ultimate trophy of the Kumasi Cricket Bash season 2 at the Hill Top School Astro Turf.
‘The Riders’ achieved this feat after beating Punjab Panthers twice; an 8-wicket win in the semis and a 7-wicket win in the Grand finale.
The 2-day tournament, which ended on Sunday, August 24, saw sponsors like Melcom, Capzol Lubricant, GTB Pharma, Steel Grape, JK Paper and Voltic. Others are ETG, Orbit Cargo Management, Mosam Bar & Restaurant, SMJ and Indian Strikers Ghana.
Knight Riders did exceptionally well from the group stages, beating the likes of Trimax Titans, Punjab Panthers, and Mumbaikar Smashers, but losing to quarter finalists, Rajasthan Tigers from Group B.
A Quarter-final berth saw them defeat Fighters Squad by 30 runs, after 64/1 and 34/4.
Earlier quarter-final matches saw top clubs like Rajasthan Tigers falling to Mosam Masters by 5 wickets, with the latter scoring 45/3 in 4.3 overs, while the former scored 43/3. Punjab Panthers cruised to the eliminators stage with a 9-run victory over Kumasi Tamil Pasanga, after 36/3 and 27/4.
Defending champions, Jay Ambe could not progress to the quarters, managing just a win, whereas Telugu Warriors also got just 1 win in group A.
In a battle of hard hitters during the first semis, Sukh Sangu, the eventual Player of the tournament, was bowled early, making the game easy for Best Batter and captain of Knight Riders, Gangan Deep, to score boundaries and take his team to the dreamland. The riders secured their final berth with an 8-wicket victory over Punjab after a 48/3 and 52/1 score.
Punjab came back, after their 9 runs victory over Mosam Masters in the second semis, a 32/4 and 23/5 results.
A final, no one saw it coming and with as low as 11 runs for 5 wickets score for Punjab, an early shower for Sukh, Knight Riders scored the required 12 runs, sacrificing 2 wickets in just 1.2 overs to win by 7 wickets.
The player of all 26 matches received a mini trophy and Melcom Shopping Coupons.
Gagan Deep Singh won the best batter accolade with a total of 160 runs from 7 innings. Vishal Barot of Jay Ambe dismissed 8 players with 5 catches and won the best fielder accolade. Sukh Sanghu of Punjab Panthers was the best bowler. He took 13 wickets in 8 innings and was also the best player with 34.08 points, having scored a total of 129 runs.
Knight Riders celebrated into the night, having lifted the coveted trophy and the cash prize of GH₵10,000.00, while runners up Punjab Panthers picked the GH₵8,000.00 and trophy and Mosam went away with GH₵5,000.00 and trophy.
While Organisers promise to have an improved tournament, Kumasi is gradually becoming the place to be for this modified cricket, due to the style and tenacity in Ghana.
By: Davis Nii Attuquaye Clottey
