By David Nagel
A powerhouse innings from marquee-player Satnam Singh has propelled Cranbourne Meadows to the inaugural Casey Cardinia Cricket Association (CCCA) District Division T20 title at Pakenham on Sunday.
Singh, who plays his regular-season cricket for Mitcham in the Box Hill Reporter league, smashed 76 off 36 pulsating balls to lead the Rebels (1/108) to a comfortable run-chase victory over Lang Lang (6/105).
The Rebels set up their victory with the ball, restricting the Swamp Tigers to just over five runs per over, with Pargat Singh (2/14 off 2) taking bowling honours and Rajeev Dhankar (1/18 off 4), Amreek Mann (1/20 off 4) and Mandhiraj Singh (1/23 off 4) keeping things tight and contained.
Shamil Samarasinghe (34 off 35) top scored for the Tigers, with Alex Giacco (18 not out off 22) and Theekshana Hettiarachchi (17 off 17) doing their best to lift their team to a winning score.
But any hopes of a Lang Lang victory were quickly squashed, with Satnam Singh crunching five fours and seven incredible sixes – with 62 of his runs coming in boundaries.
Rohit Sharma (23 off 22) and Amarpreet Singh (4 not out off 6) had the best seats in the house as the Rebels cruised to victory with nine wickets and 55 balls in hand.
The Rebels were defeated by Lang Lang in round one of the competition, before bouncing back hard against NNG/Maryknoll and Devon Meadows to qualify for the semi-finals.
The Rebels proved too good for Upper Beaconsfield on Tuesday night prior to the final, before Sunday’s crushing win.
Satnam Singh has made one century and four half centuries playing for Mitcham, making 531 runs at the impressive average of 53.10 this season.
Sunday’s final between the Rebels and Swamp Tigers kicked off at 11am, and was the precursor to the elite-level CCCA Premier Division final between Cardinia (7/161) and Kooweerup (7/124).
The Bulls, led brilliantly by man of the match Alex Nooy (72) and some discipline bowling performances from Travis Wheller (2/13 off 4), Travis Campbell (2/18 off 4) and Dean Henwood (2/24 off 4) proved too good for the Demons, making it back-to-back Kookaburra Cup titles.
