There were 8 teams, 8 Promoters and 7 matches involving 120 Players and 8 Captains, all vying for one trophy – The BPL Trophy (Billawas Premier League – Oman Billawas equivalent of the IPL – Indian Premier League), on Friday, 29.11.2013 at the Sojex Ground in Al Gobrah, Oman.
It was a festive atmosphere at the Sojex grounds, where more than 250 enthusiastic Biruvas along with their wives and children, who had gathered to cheer their favorite teams’ right from the morning till evening.
This year’s Annual Billawa’s Cricket Tournament was declared open by the Vice President Mr SK Poojary, at 7.30 am, who in his inaugural speech encouraged all the players to participate in this tournament in the right spirit of sportsmanship till the end. Whole hearted participation is more important than winning or losing he said, while urging one and all to put in their full effort to ensure that this imitative of the Sports Committee of Oman Billawas was a success. He applauded the dedication and hard work that has been put in by our Sports secretary Mr Gangadhar Poojary, who along with able support from M/s Sujith Anchan, Mahesh Salian and their team have ensured that this tournament is happening today.
Mr Gangadhar Poojary in his speech encouraged all the players to play fair and all the members and families to cheer the teams to perform better. He also took the opportunity to thank all our Sponsors and well-wishers, who have joined hands in making this event possible.
There were 8 teams participating in the tournament, played on a ‘knock-out’ format. Each of the teams was present at the venue along with their worthy Sponsors as well as well-wishers who were there to cheer the teams, wearing their unique colours.
Team Captain Sponsor /Organisation
Shivagiri XI Sukumar Anchan Uday Kumar, Nama Projects/Ember Telecom
Kudroli XI Shamith Bangera Dr. Anchan C.K, World Wide Business House
Katapady XI Ashwil Kumar S. K. Poojary
Garadi Balaga Praveen Amin Kushal Bangera, Arabian Roadways
Birduda Biruver Naveen Kotian Ashok Suvarna, NPA Events
Mumbai Billawas Kamalaksh Kotian Chandrakant Kotian, Oasis Ideal Trading
Billawa Challengers Manohar Salian Mahesh Salian
Star Billawas Shailesh Poojary Guru Prasad Amin, Al Amin Golden Enterprises
After 4 engrossing first round matches, the semi-finalists were decided – The battle lines were drawn and the matches were to be played between:
Shivagiri XI vs Mumbai Billawas (Semi-final 1) and
Billawa Challengers vs Star Billawas (Semi-final 2)
9 was the magic figure in both the Semi-final matches, with Shivagiri XI winning their match by trashing their opponents by 9 wickets while Billawa Challengers won their match, which was more closely fought one, by a slender margin of 9 runs only.
Live ball-by-ball commentary for the entire tournament was provided by Mr. Srinivas Poojary who kept the spectators entertained with his light hearted jokes and anecdotes, along with able support from M/s Harish Poojary & Sunil Poojary.
The exciting final held in the evening, between Shivagiri XI and Billawa Challengers was a very keenly fought match, with fortunes swinging both ways during the course of the match. Shivagiri XI finally turned out victorious, defeating Billawa Challengers by a margin of 17 runs, thanks to some good batting by M/s Gitesh Sanil and Sukumar Anchan, with good support and an all-round team effort from all the other players. It was a fitting finale to a great day of entertaining cricket.
Winners : SHIVAGIRI XI
Sponsor : Mr. UDAY KUMAR
TEAM :
1. Sujith Anchan (Captain) 8. Tilak Suvarna
2. Sukumar Anchan 9. Taranath Kotian
3. Surendra Anchan 10. Adarsh Poojary
4. Somanath Poojary 11. Prasad M Amin
5. Gitesh Sanil 12. Praveen Poojary
6. Jitesh Poojary 13. Srinivas Poojary
7. Sandesh Bangera
Runner – Up : BILLAWA CHALLENGERS
Sponsor : Mr. MAHESH SALIAN
TEAM :
1. Prakash Bellur (Captain) 8. Arun Bangera
2. Manohar Salian 9. Sunil Salian
3. Sathish Barkur 10. Raghavendra S
4. Praveen Poojary 11. Gangadhar Poojary
5. Niran Kumar 12. Bharath Poojary
6. Surendra Amin 13. Prasanth Katpady
7. Prasanth Poojary
It was the ‘Men in Blue’ – Players from Shivagiri XI, who also made a clean sweep of the ‘Best Player’ awards in the tournament by bagging the following awards:
Man of the Match (Finals) – Mr. Gitesh Sanil -24 runs (n.o) & 2wickets
Man of the Tournament – Mr. Sukumar Anchan with 39 runs & 4 wickets.
Best Batsman (Tournament) – Mr. Sukumar Anchan with 39 runs
Best Bowler (Tournament) – Mr. Somanath Poojary with 8 wickets
Mementos were presented to all the Sponsors, well-wishers and Umpires, with the Winners and Runner-up Cup awarded to Shivagiri XI and Billawa Challengers respectively.
Uppma-Bajil for breakfast, Biryani for lunch and Golibaje for snacks in the evening was arranged for all the players as well as guests by M/s Guru Prasad Amin, Chandrakant Kotian and their team.
It was another wonderful day full of fun and excitement for the members and families of Oman Billawas.
