Pattaya Cricket Club entertained a strong Bangkok Cricket Club at Horseshoe Point on Monday in a 35 over game as part of the King’s birthday celebrations.
BCC elected to bat first with skies slightly overcast and Tauseef and Rohit soon found the conditions testing as the pace of Jack and swing of Usman kept them often playing and missing. Eventually the pressure paid off as first Rohit (6) was comprehensively bowled by Usman and Tauseef (8) edged to the keeper off a rising delivery from Jack.
Mazhar and Shaikh set about repairing the innings with a 61 run partnership before Yasir snared Shaikh (25). Wickets then fell at regular intervals as Shan (4/18) and Sodhi (1/29) restricted the run rate. Mazhar remained defiant until he was finally out top edging a hook shot through to the keeper for a fine 83.
Fine fielding and again some excellent catching eventually saw BCC all out for 155 with Shan and his left arm seamers being the pick of the bowlers.
In reply PCC’s openers Sunny and Debdas survived the early new ball attack of Linesh and Farhan but Sunny (14) soon edged one to the wicket keeper and Debdas (21) was caught in the covers with 51 on the board.
Hansie, promoted to number three, played a cameo innings of 25 until he was clean bowled by the excellent Farhan. Jack (16) followed in similar fashion and when the captain Simon (5) had his right index finger fractured from a ball that bounced more than expected and was forced to retire PCC were in serious trouble at 102 for 7.
Linesh (4/40) and Farhan (4/26) had bowled magnificently and appeared to have won the game for BCC but Mithu and Shan had other ideas. Nudging ones and twos the score slowly ticked along and the PCC tail could be seen starting to wag. The holiday crowd, enjoying the tense finale with amber libations, began to find their voices and each run was celebrated with increasing gusto.
Mithu assumed the lead role in the partnership as Shan refused to be tempted into knocking the ball off the wicket let alone the square and the PCC tail was now wagging furiously. The game changer came with 10 runs still needed when Mithu was dropped on the boundary. It was a huge slice of luck that enabled the pair to continue scrambling the final few runs and secure a highly improbable 2 wicket victory with 12 balls remaining.
It was a fitting end to a very entertaining day of cricket and PCC continue to march onwards and upwards. Man of the match went to Mithu for his accomplished 42 not out and vital 2 wickets in the BCC middle order.
For more information on Pattaya Cricket Club please visit our website at www.pattayacricketclub.com.
