Chiang Mai-
First, please read part one HERE.
PCC started the second day as the only team to have played 3 and won 3. Lamphun was 2 for 2 and the next match was crucial to both teams – PCC v Lamphun.
PCC won the toss and, you guessed it, decided to bowl. Habby opened against Ton and Chanchai. On the third ball Ton was plumb LBW for a Duck and a great start for PCC. Cher took the crease and after two dots lost his middle stump for a Duck. Habby had taken a double-wicket maiden and Lamphun was 2 for 0. Andy’s slower pace was capitalized upon by Chanchai who hit 16 in 3 balls but the 4th ball went straight into Luke’s hands on the boundary and Lamphun was being decimated. An expensive over but a key wicket had been taken. 3 for 16 from 2 overs.
Jainish bowled a good over for 5 and Wockaka took the 4th over for another economical over of 7. 3 for 29 after 4 overs was somewhat behind the going rate and not enough to stay ahead of PCC. Andy bowled his 2nd over and was lucky that both Wez and Wockaka saved boundaries but a slower ball deceived Yot, who popped up a sitter into Andy’s hands for a caught and bowled for 5. Lamphun is on 4 for 33 from 5 overs and staring a big defeat in the face. Jainish bowled another tidy over to leave the 7th in Habby’s hands. A full toss bowled Choo for 14 and a few runs by Feem and Andy completed the innings on 44 for 5. Lamphun would battle hard, but it wasn’t a fight they were likely to win.
Chanchai opened the bowling to Wez and Luke who clobbered a 6 to bring 14 off the over. Choo bowled the next over and Wez swung the willow, but he got an inside edge onto his stumps and was dismissed for 1. Not an ideal start. Luke and Andy played the easy balls as there was no rush, but Luke decided to hit out against Choo and was caught by Chanchai on the boundary for 22. 26 for 2 off 3 overs. Habby took the crease and also took the easy runs. This time it was Andy’s turn to hit out and it had the same result – a catch to Chainchai. Andy went for 5 and the score on 33 for 3. Habby took some unusual stances at the crease to induce leg-side boundaries from Feem and it worked eventually with the score of 43 for 3 from 5. Chai bowled the 6th over but the first ball went for 4 and PCC won their 4th match with 11 balls to spare and Habby on 11 not out. The final would be against Gymkhana.
The final Cup and Shield Trophy matches, PCC v Gymkhana and Lamphun v Lanna, would be 8 over matches. PCC bowled first with Habby against the capable Steven Robertson and Burhan Baht. Just 8 off the over and 10 off the next from Andy, with Burhan showing some improvised stroke play. Wez bowled an expensive over in more ways than one. Apart from the 15 runs, he wasn’t quite able to hang onto a caught and bowled skier from Burhan that landed in the Cover area and Jainish fumbled to allow one of the 4’s. 33 for 0 from 3 overs.
Jainish’s over also leached opportunities as Andy dropped Steven and Colin dropped Burhan, but luckily Gymkhana was not scoring at a fast rate. The last ball of the over finally saw a catch stick and the dependable Luke caught Buhan on the boundary for 18 with the score on 38. Andy’s second over went for 13 and the score became 51 for 1 from 5. Wez and Jainish’s second overs (6th and 7th) were tidy and Gymkhana advanced to 67 from 7 with one to go. As usual, Habby bowled the closing over in which Steven retired on 32 and Siva Not Out on 12. 72 for 1 from 8 overs – defendable but probably 10 runs short.
Wez and Luke opened against Burhan who was no longer bowling loopy off-spin but medium quicks. Some boundaries for Wez and 10 off the over. Ali bowled a reasonable over for 8 and handed it over to Suhail. Luke dispatched Suhail for 8 including a big 6 to bring up 25 after 3 overs and PCC was a little behind the asking rate. 10 runs given by Curly Gason almost leveled the relative scores at 35 from 4 overs. Luke had taken most of the strike at this point and got 10 from Ali.
48 for 0 off 5 overs and PCC is still a little behind. Luke got a 6 from Curly and retired on 35. Habby didn’t last long as he made a common error and tried to score a 12 off the first ball – he got a Golden Duck instead, being caught by Curly and bowled by Burhan. Jainish survived a similar fate being dropped by the Keeper off the first ball but the score had moved on to 62 for 1 from 6 overs and only 11 needed from the last 2 overs. Wez had been pretty quiet until this point but got a 6 over Deep-midwicket to level the scores and then the final winning run with one over to spare. Jainish finished 9 Not Out. 73 for 1 with one over to spare.
Lamphun won the Shield Trophy by beating Lanna (82 for 2, vice 80 for 2).
The trophies were awarded at the closing ceremony where all the organizing staff and officials were thanked, along with the players, for making it such an enjoyable event. PCC was Big Bash 8 Champions for the 3rd time in succession – a record in itself, and the player of the tournament was declared as Habby Singh for his bowling – best figures of 3 for 4, most wickets, 6, and the best economy.
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