At the end of Day 1 the league table was as follows: 1, Lamphun, 2, Lao Elephants, 3, British Club, 4, Pattaya, 5, Lao Calves. The system to get to finals was very difficult to explain, but it meant the first match would be Lao Calves versus PCC.
PCC won the toss and decided to bat. Jainish and Max opened the batting against Sachin who prevented the batsmen from making much headway, as did Peter in the second over. A slow start for PCC but progress was made when Bongi bowled 3 wides. 31 for 0 after 3 overs. Aaron had success with his 3rd ball when Jainish was caught on the boundary by Peter for 15 and Roshan took the crease. 37 for 1 after 4 overs was a bit below par. Cashel went for 12 runs in the 5th and Roshan got going in the 6th over by getting a 6 off Soutchai plus heaps of extras. 18 off the over and the final over brought more extras from David to conclude at 82 for 1 with Max on 14 and Roshan on 22 not out.
Lao Calves opened with Peter and Bongi against Mike. A tidy over for 9 where Bongi sliced a 4 over 3rd man. Roshan had a terrible over with 5 wides and undid the good work by done Mike. Luckily Max had an excellent over for just 5 and Lao Calves were contained at 30 for 0 after 3 overs. Nothing in it. Justin bowled next but dislocated his finger in an attempted C & B of Bongi and so Roshan took the ball and bowled 3 more wides!! Whose side was he on? The ‘Admiral’ trotted out as the Sub. 43 for 0 after 4 overs and PCC needed to buck their ideas up. Andy was next to bowl and he ran out Bongi for 8 in a good over for only 8 runs. Eric bowled well despite the 3 wides and left Lao Calves needing 21 off the last over from Jainish. Lao managed 15 but lost a wicket in the process, Peter bowled for 19, and so PCC won by 5 runs, having given away 43 in wides!
PCC’s next match was an eliminator against Lao Elephants for a semi-final match against the British Club. Andy won the toss and decided to bat, opening with Roshan and Jainish. Sidantha bowled well for only 8 runs. Havell had a poor over with 9 in wides and 9 off the bat. Michael bowled the 3rd and had Roshan caught for 6 by Jason with only 5 taken off the over. 31 for 1. Jason had a reasonable over whilst Ben allowed Andy to get 3 boundary 4s. 59 for 1 in the 5th. Eshan went for 16, mainly to Jainish. Rick bowled the last over and ran out Jainish for 28 and had Eric caught for a Golden Duck to leave PCC on 82/3.
This was going to be a close match where PCC needed to reduce their horrific extras count. Lao Elephants opened with Michael against his son, Eric, who bowled well for 8. Mick bowled a fantastic over for 4 runs in which he bowled Michael for 2. A great start for PCC. Justin managed to dismiss Prashantha cheaply, LBW for 9, but he was demolished by Rick and gave away 21 runs. Roshan finally solved his wobbly arm problem and had a brilliant over for 4 runs. 37 for 2 after 4 overs and nothing in it.
Max continued the good work by bowling Rick for 10 and conceding only 10 runs. It looked like PCC might scrape a win, but Andy had an awful over – slaughtered for 21 by Havell. The pressure was on Jainish as the Elephants needed 13 to win. 5 wides off the first ball, and then 2 wickets. Eshan bowled for 9 and Ben caught behind for Simon’s 4th catch for a Golden Duck. Another wide and a 6 cost PCC the match as Lao Elephants scored 84 for 5 and won by 2 wickets. PCC had given away 26 extras in wides.
PCC’s involvement was at an end and they could have got a 3rd place, however, there was a silver lining in the cloud as Simon was awarded the Fielder of the Tournament with 4 catches and Jainish was awarded the Bowler of the tournament with 6 wickets. The Tournament final was won by Lamphun against British Club by 29 runs with a score 116/1 vice 87/2. Lao Elephants were third. The player of the tournament was the Captain of Lamphun, Chan Chai.
At the closing ceremony, Eshan and Michael thanked all the attendees, the organisers, the sponsors and the officials and those who provided food and drink. It had been a great weekend and something to look forward to next year.
