Pakistan Association of New Zealand (PANZ) held a multi Ethnic Tape Ball Cricket tournament on 6 December 2020.
The tournament was played at Glover Park in St. Heliers, Auckland from 7.00am to 7.00pm. Sixteen teams of various ethnic background participated in the event. Teams had players from Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand origin.
Semifinals were played between Pashtun United (Afghanistan) & Epson Lightening (Srilankan) and Nengyalees (Pakistan) & Loaded 8 (Pakistan). Epson Lightening and Loaded 8 were through to final. Congratulations to team Epsom Lightening from Sri Lanka for winning the tournament. Loaded 8 from Pakistan were runner up and took 2nd position trophy. You can catch the match highlights via link below.
https://www.crichq.com/matches/878407/1st_innings
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- Epsom Lightening Captain receiving Winners trophy from Naveed Hamid PANZ President
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- Loaded 8 Captain receiving Runner-up trophy from Farrukh Gul Qaisrani PANZ Principle Advisor
Man of the match for the Final was awarded to M Masand for taking 3 wickets, Best bowler of the tournament was awarded to PW Amaradiwakara for getting 9 wickets in the tournament, Best batsman of the tournament was awarded to Osama Khalid.
PANZ Team group photo with winning team Espom Lightening (Row 1) Naveed Hamid (Row 2 – From Left) Intekhab Alam, Farrukh Gul, Manoj Rathi, Asim Mukhtar, Ajaz Nusrat and Ali Shabbir
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- PANZ Team group photo with winning team Espom Lightening (Row 1) Naveed Hamid (Row 2 – From Left) Intekhab Alam, Farrukh Gul, Manoj Rathi, Asim Mukhtar, Ajaz Nusrat and Ali Shabbir
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- PANZ President Mr. Naveed Hamid with Epsom Lightening (Winner of Multi Ethnic Tape Ball Cricket Tournament)
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- Finalist Loaded 8 and Epsom Lightning group photo.
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- PANZ Principle Advisor Mr. Farrukh Gul with Loaded 8 (Runner-up of Multi Ethnic Tape Ball Cricket Tournament)
The event provided fun and entertainment for the players and families throughout the day. Over 300 persons representing a variety of ethnicities attended the event. Teams and families travelled outside of Auckland from Hamilton and other cities. The families were able to spend a relaxed day at the park. There were many activities and items organized as part of the event for children and families such as kite flying, face painting, cartoon characters, activities for children and bouncy castle. Pakistani delicious food was available throughout the day alongside other ethnic fusion food options. Food items were sold out at some of the stalls.
Live streaming of the event was also available throughout the day by Apna TV, and PANZ Facebook live.
It was PANZ 13th Tape Ball Cricket tournament in a row which ran very successfully.
PANZ is committed to provide communities with opportunities where they can celebrate the culture and where communities can engage with other ethnic and local communities. This lovely event could not have been possible without the support and participation of the communities and the hard work of PANZ volunteers.
PANZ would like to extend special thanks to the community members, families and cricket enthusiasts who travelled from various parts of New Zealand and took part in the event.
Note: Tape Ball cricket is a very fast paced short overs Cricket format where plastic tape layers are put on the tennis ball for extra pace and speed. This form of Cricket has been indigenous to Pakistan and played throughout the country as a national past time. It is increasingly getting popular in the cricketing world.