Pattaya _
Pattaya Cricket Club, or PCC, travelled away to AIT University in Northern Bangkok on a scorching Sunday the 24th of March to continue their quest for a top 2 place in the Bangkok Cricket League. After some lacklustre performances this was top draw cricket where PCC might be timing their Championship run to perfection.
The fielding was superb with 5 catches and 2 run outs and the bowling was very economical. Only the AIT Captain, Chaitanya Baba, had anything to offer as his team was bowled out for 87 in 20 overs. PCC’s response was swift and decisive with 92 scored for no loss in just 8.5 overs and a 10 wicket victory.
Andy Emery conducted the toss with Chaitanya with umpires Robin John and Zeeshan Sahotra which AIT won and decided to bat first. Kartikiye and Haji opened for AIT and Ryan opened the bowling for PCC. Kartikye got a 4 off the first ball but the second went down Luke Stokes throat at mid-off and off he trudged.
Andre Human had a tidy over and Ryan’s second also brought rewards as Haji went for 1, LBW from a ball that kept low, 2 for 10. Biplav and Chaitanya provided some solid resistance for the next 10 overs, although the run rate was far too slow at 4.5 an over and Habby dropped a sitter. Habby got punished by Chaitanya for several boundary 4s as AIT became comfortable with pace, so Andy introduced Steve Christie (Crunch) with his left-arm spin in the 10th over and Max Burzler in the 11th over.
The run rate slowed and Crunch struck in his 2nd over with Chaitanya getting caught at mid-wicket by the debutant Ben Walter for a respectable 28, 54 for 3. Biplav remained, plodding along at one run a week.
Deepak Chowdary’s stay at the crease was brief as his second ball was well caught by Trevor Moolman for a duck and Crunch had a double wicket maiden. 54 for 4. Aditya Metta battered Max for an expensive over, but Max got his revenge when Aditya skied a ball to the cover boundary and was well caught by Habby for 15, 74 for 5 in the 14th. 2 balls later Nithin skied a ball which Luke claimed, somewhat rashly, and then realized it was not going to reach.
He ran a long, long way and diving forward caught the ball, 74 for 6 and the wheels were falling off for AIT. It got worse. 2 balls later, the new batsman, Azhar Syed, got in a mix up with Biplav and was run out for a duck by Luke, 75 for 7. Terry Pavia and Ben took over the bowling and gave nothing away. Ben had Sagar Rangasurani run out by Luke for 5, 80 for 9 in the 17th. Terry was getting movement off the seam as well as late-swing and finally dismissed Biplav who had taken 90 minutes and 38 balls to score 18.
Vivek Vinjamuri also lost his middle stump to Terry in the 20th over having advanced the score to an indefensible 87 all out. Terry was 2 for 7, Crunch 2 for 8, Max 2 for 19 and Ryan 2 for 23; excellent bowling although too many wides again (11).
This part will not take long. PCC opened with Luke and Ryan against Aditya, whose 2nd ball was a no ball, followed by extras and a 6 from Ryan, so one valid ball cost 9 runs, i.e. 10% of the required total. Aditya received some punishment as Luke battered boundaries which included 5 4s and 4 6s, thus Aditya finished with figures of 32 for 0 from 3 overs. Deepak’s sole over cost 14. Azhar bowled the final over, the 8th, which cost 17 runs and enabled Luke to pass 50. The match concluded at 92 for 0 with a massive 6 from Luke and Ryan on 20. Luke Stokes was MotM with 52 not out, 2 catches and 2 run outs.
The leaders of the BCL, Asian Stars CC lost their final match to Kerala Strikers CC and finished on 12 points. PCC, with one match in hand could sneak 2nd place by virtue of a superior net run rate.
PCC would like to thank their sponsors, the Outback Bar, the Magic Bar, and the Pattaya Sports Club for their support and assistance.
