Glenmore T20 team consists of some senior Glenmore players, some 3-4 year veterans and most from other teams where opportunities were limited. When we first entered T20 draw we had hopes of doing better than our recent history in T20s. From the beginning of the season we showed our qualities as a superb fielding unit, exceptional batting unit and unforgiving bowling unit and as the weeks passed, we became more focussed as one complete team that understood our limitations, our strengths and more importantly felt like a winning side.
The team moral was very high for the semi-final game after winning the last game against Ahmadiyya CC. As Crescent star the arch rivals of Glenmore has a good record against Glenmore in past, the team was prepared to win this important game and secure a place in elite group next year. The match started with a superb toss lost by our dear captain but unexpectedly we were asked to field on a day where weather looked like we were playing in England but pitch looked like the one from Jamaica. Who can forget the spells from Sheraz and Umar Farooq – Umar is not more than 4 and a half feet long (tall), but man - his bowling is a complete contrast to his height. Him and Sheraz were so ruthless and fielding was so good from the start that we never gave any opportunity for making some quick runs to Crescent Star batsmen. Then came some smart and effective spells by Pasha and Nadeem. Again, slower bowls made the trick and we were blessed with some quick breakthroughs. We started to really feel that today could be our day when just 43 runs were scored in the first 10 overs by CS with few wickets down. With umpiring at its best by Tony Pasternak (he needs bodyguards for next few days), there were not any wrongly given LBW decisions today. That also meant that the wickets that fell, were because of some genuinely intelligent bowling. Then came the main batsman of Crescent Star - Imtiaz ! This man doesn’t get out so easily. We had to introduce our inform spinners in order to bring some variety in the bowling attack. Nasir's big hands chocked CS slowly and Masood lollypop style invitations deceived batsmen into hitting some big shots that sailed into hands of the fielders. The runs still kept coming as Imtiaz and Sameer took some quick runs and average went up for CS team in the last few overs. After Imitaz got out LBW on Masood bowling, the CS innings came to an end with only 94 runs on the board.
Glenmore started with brilliant batting performances by Nasir, Burhan and Ram. Nasir, continued to kept his reputation as one of the most destructive batsmen in the team with his strong shoulders hit left and right and Burhan – who has great patience at this age, made sure we don’t lose any early wickets on the most important match so far but at the same time partnered 22 runs in the first few overs. After Nasir's departure Ram came out to bat who batted with great responsibility. Then followed some controlled aggression, determination and fantastic running between the wickets and eventually brutal blows. We didn’t run 3 this time like Sohail bhai did in the last game but we showed our stamina and arrogance on the field. Soon we needed 25 runs in 7 overs and two of us showed a flashback of 100 run partnership from just a few weeks ago on the same ground. Burhan scored 29 runs and I scored 31 runs before hitting the winning runs in the next over. It was the most convincing win of the season - the semi-final match . Glenmore were in the FINAL of T20 tournament for the first time in the history of the club.