Last Sunday 1st July 2018 at the Ozanköy Stadium, North Cyprus best two cricket sides, the Cyprus Lions and A1 Cyprus met in the Creditwest Men’s final.
Both having reached the last round after beating the other 8 sides who had competed in two leagues for the trophy.
Conventionally with T20 cricket, the sides winning the toss bat second to know the total they need to chase. So A1 were delighted to be able to insert the reigning champions Cyprus Lions. After restricting the first 10 overs to only 68 runs, they lost focus as the Lions smashed 137 at nearly 14 an over in the second half of their innings to reach a formidable 205 after 20 overs. When asked, captain Osman Yousaf was humble saying it possibly wasn’t enough, but few in the crowd believed him.
In reply, A1 Cyprus never really looked in the game, wickets fell easily, but runs were very hard to come by. By the end, the Cyprus Lions were totally dominant and nobody could complain about the result.
Afterwards, TRNC Cricket Chairman, Nigel Holman was presented with a commemorative plaque by umpire Raja Sohail, who explained if it hadn’t been for Nigel’s huge contribution, cricket in North Cyprus wouldn’t exist.
There will be a small informal league during the summer, which won’t include the university sides, with the full Creditwest Autumn League commencing at the end of September.
