Napa win San Francisco North Bay Last Man Stands Regional Title in Thrilling Final Match

October 31, 2017    ·    Andrew Healy    ·    Cricket, Game Reports, Napa Valley

The Napa Vinos are the 2017 Last Man Stands San Francisco North Bay League Champs, winning the final against the LMS Yankies in a final over thriller at Piper Park, Larkspur. This is the first time Napa has taken the title, defending a low score of 113 off their 20 five-ball overs, getting the final two Yankies’ batsmen out in a double-play on the second last ball of the innings, with the Yankies falling two runs short on 111.

Napa’s Martin Mackenzie was the pick of their batsmen, striking the ball well on his way to 45 off just 23 balls before being run-out after a mix-up when his batting partner Harjit Singh was dropped. Of the other Vinos batsmen, only Karan Grewal with 24 off 20 balls and captain Kiranpreet Singh with 18 off 19 balls, got into double figures, as Napa finished on 113 for the loss of six wickets. LMS Yankies’ captain Jaffer Syed was the pick of his team’s bowlers, taking two wickets for 21 runs off his four overs, with Nadeem Solanki taking one for 20 and Pandrathap Reddy taking 1 for 23.

In reply, chasing what looked like a very easy target, the LMS Yankies were in trouble from the first over with dynamic batsman-keeper Saketh Reddy out LBW (leg-before-wicket) in the first over. The Yankies then settled and looked back on target to win the match with Shabeer Mohammed contributing 34, Syed 23 and Prathap Reddy 28. However, wickets fell quickly near the end of the innings and they came into the last over needing just a handful of runs and two wickets in hand. With two balls to go and two runs to tie, Prathap Reddy was caught on long on and in the ensuing confusion, his batting partner Sachin Lotankar started running and was run-out in a double-play, giving Napa Vinos the game and the title. The wicket takers for Napa were Harjit Singh with two for 29 and Mackenzie, Grewal and Kiranpreet Singh taking one each.

While the average age of the Napa team was well above that of the Yankies their experience showed through under pressure. Andrew Healy effected a stunning direct hit run out running around from third man while Napa wicket-keeper Pete Carson had the foresight and game knowledge to put ball to stump for a dismissal despite having already removed the stumps and bails for an unsuccessful effort on the same play. Strong ground fielding from Adriaan Foot and Bernie Peacock kept the Yankies in check and gave the Napa bowlers confidence that their hard work with the ball would be backed up in the field.

Earlier in the day, Napa, having finished the regular season on top of the table, took on fourth-placed Marin in a semi-final. The first semi-final was between second placed LMS Yankies and third-placed Sonoma Gullies.

The first semi-final was a one-sided affair. The Gullies put on a respectable four for 132 in their 20 overs, but weren’t able to defend it as the Yankies reach it in the 16^th over without loss of wicket. For the Yankies, captain Sunny Patel with 50 retired off 38 balls and Inderjeet Singh with 51 retired off 34 balls were the standouts, while Prathap Reddy and Amit Raul were the only bowlers to take a wicket for the Yankies, taking just the one each. When they came to bat, openers Reddy and Mohammed each reached 50 before being retired, with Syed and Reddy guiding the Yankies to victory.

In the second semi-final, in what was an indicator of what was to come in the final, Napa defended a seemingly too low score of just three for 117 off their 20 overs. Mackenzie was the pick of the batsman reaching 51 off 40 balls before being retired. Harjit Singh was next best with 22 but Napa’s lack of urgency running between the wicket looked to leave them without enough to win the game. Marin started strongly with several batsmen getting a start but none building a big score. Opener Anwar Ahmad was best with 31 while Krish De Silva was looking set on 21 before being run out. Up until the last few overs Marin looked to be cruising to victory before losing several wickets at the end. Vish Chapalamadugu started the last over as the “last man standing” and needing only five runs to win, but was bowled on the second ball of the over, granting Napa access to the Final

“I want to thank all the teams for their enthusiasm and patience this year. We had challenges with ground rental and then the fires disrupting the season. Thank-you to the Napa Valley and Marin clubs for hosting games throughout the season.” league manager Phil Bourke said during the presentations. “Congratulations to the Napa Vinos on their first victory in what were a couple of the closest finishes we’ve seen in LMS here in the North Bay.”

After the finals the 2017 San Francisco North Bay LMS Dream Team was announced:

1. Sunny Patel (Sonoma Gullies) – Batsman
2. Tejas Potdar (San Francisco Seals) – Batsman
3. Jaffer Syed (LMS Yankies) – All Rounder
4. Saketh Reddy (LMS Yankies) – Wicket Keeper
5. Karan Grewal (Napa Vinos) – All Rounder
6. Prathap Reddy (LMS Yankies) – Bowler
7. Amith Raul (LMS Yankies) – Bowler
8. Kiranpreet Singh (Napa Vinos) – Bowler

Sunny Patel of the Sonoma Gullies was also awarded MVP for the season which earns him the opportunity to play for Team USA in the Last Man Stands World Series in England in June 2018.