A cloudy and humid day saw Pattaya CC away at the RBSC Polo Club ground looking for their 5th win from 6 matches and hopes of getting into the top 4 of the Bangkok Cricket League. This was another match where the PCC bowlers dominated the opposition batsmen with accurate bowling and good fielding. 4 catches, 2 run outs and a run-rate of only 4.48 strangled RBSC to 112 for 8 in 25 overs which became a stroll in the park for the PCC openers.
Ryan Driver conducted the toss with Anil Tanwani, which he won and informed the umpire, Samad Akbar, that PCC would field first. Anil Tanwani and Subhan Khan took the field and faced Ryan Driver and Rabpreet Singh. Both bowlers were keeping the batsmen pinned down with very few runs on offer. Ryan struck first when he bowled Subhan for 4 from 16 balls. Abhinder Singh went out and Preet was replaced by Habby Singh whilst Ryan continued. Habby’s arm had a bit of wobblyitis and gave away 5 wides and allowed the batsmen some freedom to score, but he struck next when he had Abhinder trapped LBW for 13 and RSBC were 37 for 2 in the 10th over.
Andy Emery and Jainish Parikh took over the bowling attack with one unmentionable over from Hamsie Singh. It wasn’t long before Andy made inroads into the RBSC middle order. Anil was caught behind by Luke Stokes for 19 and which left Kavi Singh and Gaurav Kukreja at the wicket. The next over saw more carnage when Andy had Kavi well caught for 9 on the long-off boundary by Ryan and 67 for 4 in the 15th over. 3 balls later, the newly arrived Nishant Grover was asked to back-up on an iffy single which he didn’t make as Preet threw a direct hit at the stumps from short mid-wicket. 67 for 5 in the 15th over and RBSC were struggling in terms of run rate and wickets in hand.
After drinks, RBSC made a little recovery as Gaurav batted well, aided by Ravi Patel who was the next to depart on 86. Ravi was run out by the old “Yes. No. Yes. Sorry. Oops” saga with a throw by Hamsie – it reached the keeper on the 3rd bounce but there was still time to run Ravi out. Andy finished his spell with 5 overs, 2 for 17 and the best figures of the day. Preet returned to the attack with immediate effect with Gauruv caught behind by Luke for 24 and 98 for 7. Two balls later Arvinder Singh hit a high ball to long-on where Trevor Moolman sprinted 20 metres to catch the ball at full tilt. An amazing catch and 98 for 8 in the 23rd over. A few more runs were added without loss and the RBSC innings concluded on 112 for 8 and an excellent bowling and fielding effort from PCC.
Wez Masterton and Ryan took the field to face Princy Singh and Gauruv, both of whom bowled very well and kept the run rate to 4 per over. Kavi let the cat out of the bag when he bowled three No Balls to Wez who knocked each of them for 4 and another off a free hit. Wez was caught on one of the free hits but it didn’t count. 21 off the over and Kavi was withdrawn. Arvinder replaced him and immediately returned Wez to the tent, bamboozled by a slower ball that bounced and was caught by Nishant at cover-point for 26. 40 for 1 in the 7th over. Meanwhile Ryan was hitting Arvinder around the ground and steadily accumulating runs. Luke replaced Wez and was initially kept quiet by Gauruv, but soon got hold of Arvinder.
Harminder entered the attack and was very economical, but PCC still passed the 100 mark in the 18th over with plenty of batting and overs in hand, but RBSC were not giving up. Charenjeet Singh had Luke caught and bowled in his first over for 27 with a very average shot and PCC were 105 for 2. Trevor went out for the last 2 overs but it was Ryan that finished off the match with a huge 6 and PCC closed with 118 for 2 and a win by 8 wickets. Ryan Driver was Man of the Match, again, with 56 not out and 5 overs 1 for 20 and 1 catch. This was a very good all-round performance from PCC.
PCC would like to thank their sponsors, the Outback Bar, the Magic Bar, the Ayen Bar and the Pattaya Sports Group.
