What could have been a fitting end to the successful AZTwenty20, Intraedge Kings went on to clinch the coveted AZTwenty20 trophy for a record third time in a row defeating the so far unbeaten Cavaliers in a thrilling chase under the lights before a roaring and enthusiastic crowd that included family and friends of the cricketers from all over the valley. WATCH VIDEO

On a beautiful Saturday evening, Cavaliers won the toss and wanted to seal the advantage of batting first. The Cavaliers opener Dhananjay Vidwans continued his blasting 20-20 form as he single handedly attacked the iKings bowlers all over the park even though the other top order batsmen struggled to get going. He completed his 50 runs (4x4, 6x4) in only 28 balls before felling to Karan Wittke, what would only turn out to be fitting at the end as later would just edge out the former to clinch the best batsman award of the tournament. Anupam Menghal (22 off 14, 4x2, 6x2), Narendra Samak (19 runs off 20 balls) and Anil Sankar (18 off 8) then took the responsibility and took cavaliers to a fighting total of 143 runs in 20 overs. Karan Wittke (2/16) was the best bowler for Intraedge Kings.

Even though Intraedge Kings had successfully chased a similar total in the semi final, repeating the same feat against the unbeaten Cavaliers in the final game was never going to be that easy. However this chase was made easier by the opener Praveen Raj who blasted 33 runs off only 17 balls including 6 boundaries in only 4.4 overs before felling to Cavaliers captain Sunny. The other opener Vasanth Jayaraman fell soon thereafter but Intraedge Kings captain Gopi Chand Boinepally then blasted a quickfire 31 off 22 balls including 2 towering sixes and 4 boundaries and brought iKings into the game. iKings lost a few wickets towards the end and Cavaliers seemed to be getting close to stop the victory march as iKings needed 30 runs off the last 4 overs at one time. But lower order batsmen Mitul Patel (16 off 11), Maheshwar (10 off 11) and Chirag Vyas (6 off 3 balls) held their nerves to take iKings home in 19.1 overs.

Click here for full scorecard.

Celebrations:

As soon as the last runs were scored by Sashi Kaladhar (WATCH VIDEO OF THE LAST RUN SCORED), Intraedge Kings team marched into the ground and started the celebration. Amid all the excitement, both teams acknowledged each other and then headed to the presentation ceremony.

All Star Game: The Blue team beat the Red Team by 3 wickets. Pradeep Pai from Arizona Vipers was declared the Man of this match for his all round performance (12 runs and 1 wicket). Click Here for the complete scorecard.

Presentation Ceremony:

The chief organizer of the AZTwenty20, Mahesh Naik, presented all the awards to the winners amid roaring applause from players and spectators. He also thanked all the teams and the participants for their enthusiastic participation and also acknowledged the support given by the enthusiastic crowd that turned up for the final game. WATCH VIDEO

Following awards were presented:

Man of the Final Match: Dhananjay Vidwans (Cavaliers) for an entertaining 50 off 29 balls that included 4 towering sixes.

Best Bowler of the tournament: Bhaskar Sharma (Cavaliers) for claiming 15 wickets at an average of 8.6 and economy of 4.3 in the tournament.

Best Batsman of the tournament: Karan Wittke (Intraedge Kings) for scoring 241 runs in the tournament at an average of 60.25 including a world record 34 balls 100.

Best All rounder of the tournament: Abhishek Devireddy (Metro Stars) for scoring a total of 93 runs and claiming 12 wickets in the tournament.

Man of the All Star Game: Pradeep Pai (Arizona Cricket Club)

Best Umpire of the tournament: Sridhar Chandrashekhran (Kingfisher Kings) for showing a cool head and a great sense of judgment in the matches he umpired.

Team SPIRIT Award: Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS) with Taverners, Spartans and Intraedge Kings finishing a close second.

Even by sheer game by game performance, Intraedge Kings, Cavaliers and Metro Stars would be the top 3 teams of the tournament. Overall the 2009 edition of AZTwenty20 was nicely organized and it was played with Great Spirit among the teams. It was a perfect relaxation period of the valley cricketers after the 7 months long season that ended in May 09. Most of the players also got an opportunity to sharpen their skills before the regular Arizona Cricket Association season starts in October.