Round 2 of the Bangkok Cricket League between PCC and KSCC was played on a sunny afternoon at PSR on 12 Dec 2021. Matt Harkness was back in Thailand and bolstered the batting and bowling efforts, but it was Sreekanth Bava that battered the home team with a superlative 102 from 49 balls. KSCC made a chase of 159 in 16.3 overs look decidedly easy and was an exact copy of what PCC did to KSCC last season, when Wes Masterton scored 105.
PCC won the toss and decided to bat. Wes and Luke Stokes opened against Ratheesh Koyadan in the usual fashion by smashing 4’s and 6’s. Jadeesh Nair and Bipin Soman’s early overs received the same treatment until Wes’ luck ran out and he lost his off stump on 37 from 16 balls and the score on 46. Peter Reeh and Luke carried on in a more measured style with Luke having some luck when he was dropped on 17 off Abdul Jamsheed’s bowling.
However, his luck soon evaporated as he was caught by Jidesh Aravind on 19 for Ratheesh’s second wicket. Ryan Driver followed quickly after for 2 having been caught by Rajeesh Nair off Samal Devraj and PCC were 72 for 3 from 10 overs. Peter tried to move things along but the run rate slowed due to tight bowling from Samal and Abdul. Abdul had to leave the field having been struck on the wrist by a fiercely driven ball from Peter, but Kerala Strikers continued to take wickets before drinks.
Matt Harkness, bowled by Samal Devraj for 5 was the second good batsman to go cheaply. The loss of two quick wickets and tighter bowling from Samal and Naveed Vargese continued to stifle PCC’s progress until the 21st over, but a par score of 150 was feasible. Pete and Colin Clark batted sensibly with a few boundaries until Peter was bowled by Samal for 22 and PCC on 104 for 5 in the 18th over. Simon Philbook made a lightning-fast appearance for a solitary 1, bowled by Naveed, which left Colin and Jainish Parikh to battle the last 7 overs. They picked up the run rate with aggressive batting against Bipin Soman and V Sreyas until Colin ran himself out on the last ball for a creditable 41 and Jainish on 18 not out. 158 for 7 from 25 overs and a par score.
KSCC opened with Sreekanth Bava and Rajesh Nair against Ryan Driver and Matt Harkness. Sreekanth was perfectly at ease with pace bowling and battered all of the PCC bowlers all around and out of the ground for 102 from 49 balls, which included 10 fours and 8 sixes. He particularly liked Habby Singh’s leg-spin bowling and punished him severely – 39 from 4 overs. Sreekanth was finally caught in the 15th over off Andy Emery’s first ball when a lofted shot fell into Matt Harkness’ safe hands on the boundary.
That was Matt’s second catch on the boundary as Bernie Lamprecht had taken PCC’s first wicket in the 9th over when Rajeesh Nair was caught for 17 and the score on 74 for 1. Whereas PCC began to slow at this point, KSCC continued to batter PCC bowlers until they reached the winning total after 16.3 overs. Ratheesh Koyadan had ably supported Sreekanth until his dismissal, with a fine knock of 29 not out. KSCC has earnt sweet revenge and beaten PCC by 8 wickets with Sreekanth Bava being nominated as Man of the Match.
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