Fuzes, Kratzmann and Ahmed score centuries whilst Norris and Khan claim six wickets in the latest round of league matches

Mark Kratzmann scored his third century in as many weeks © HKCA

Mark Fuzes, Mark Kratzmann and Aftab Ahmed hit centuries in the latest round of the Sunday League whilst Richard Norris and Tahir Khan claim six wickets apiece in Saturday League action.

Kai Tak caused the upset of he round as they beat competition leaders HKU by 11 runs under clear skies at Sandy Bay. Tahir Khan did his best to keep the University side ahead of the pack as he claimed 6 wickets in Kai Tak's first innings score of 171. Steven Campbell was the best of the Kai Tak batsmen, hitting 49. Rounding off a great performance, Tahir scored 49 but his all-round efforts were in vain as HKU were dismissed for 160, with Mohsin Naqvi claim four wickets for Kai Tak. Despite the loss, HKU remain on top of the points table but the gap back to the chasing pack has closed considerably.

SubCont moved into second place on the table as they beat Centaurs by seven wickets at Mission Road. Shane Sibraa top scored with 65 as Centaurs managed a total of 195-9 off their 35 overs, whilst Neeraj Chopra claimed four wickets for Centaurs. K Krishnan (60) and Rahul Sambus (74*) took SubCont to victory with plenty to spare.

Richard Norris also claimed six wickets as Witherers beat MCC St George's at Hong Kong Cricket Club. Batting first, MCC St George's were dismissed for 173 as Norris and Sean Robson put the St George's bastmen to the sword. In reply, Bob Bettridge and Nick Gavin-Brown both hit half-centuries as the home side cruised to a seven wicket victory.

A similar margin of victory was achieved by Saracens as they beat Mainlanders at PKVR2. Najeeb Amar top scored with 77 for Mainlanders whilst former Hong Kong opening bowler David Cross, playing in possibly his last match in Hong Kong, claimed five wickets for Saracens. An unbeaten 64 from Nareem Ashraf took Saracens to an easy seven wicket victory and moved them up to third place on the points table.

Tartars posted the highest score of the day as they reached 206-9 against Lamma at Kowloon Cricket Club. Anoop Nainani also hit the highest individual score of the round with 81. In reply, Shkawat Ali claimed fours wickets as Lamma were dismissed for 131 despite a boundary laced innings of 75 from Rizwan Sattar.

LSW Warriors moved into fourth place on the points table after scoring a 5 wicket victory over Police in a low scoring encounter at the Police Training School. Suresh Pandey picked up five wickets and Usman Khan three as Police were dismissed for only 93. LSW Warriors were made to sweat a little as Khalid Khan claimed three wickets but the Warriors strong batting line-up ensured they took maximum points from the match.

The final match of the round between Gap Ramblers and the Hong Kong Under-19s had to be postponed after the Hong Kong Under 19 team were stranded in Nepal as they tried to return home after the ACC Under-19 Cup 2005. The match will be played at a later date, to be advised.

Another perfect autumn day greeted the players as they returned to Sunday League action on 20th November after a two week break.

LSW scored a surprisingly easy victory over Pakistan Association in an eagerly anticipated match played as Mission Road. Batting first, Paksitan Association were dismissed for 167 on the 41st over with Butt Hussain top scoring on 67. Imran Idrees scored a rapid 97 as LSW blasted to victory in only 27 overs to claim maximum points from the game.

Optimists overcame their slow start to the season to post a 56 run victory over Templars at Kowloon Cricket Club. Mark Fuzes lead from the front with a fine 125 as Optimists scored 285-9 from their 50 overs. Afzaal Haider claimed 4 wickets as he enjoyed bowling on grass at KCC for the first time this season. Graeme Jardine, recently returned from a stint working in Queensland, lead Templars reply with 90, but his efforts were not enough as Jeremy Glaros and Brett Morley claimed four wickets apiece to dismiss the KCC side for 229 in the 47th over.

Scorpions moved to the top of the Sunday League table after thumping Pakistan Asscoiation Green by 134 runs at Hong Kong Cricket Club. Mark Kratzmann scored his third century in as many weekends as Scorpions raced to 282-6 off their allotted 50 overs. He received good support from Tim Smart who scored 70 in his first game back after a recent elbow operation. Gohar Ali was the only visiting batsman to offer any resistance as Pakistan Association Green were dismissed for 148 in the 31st over. Phil DeFreitas was the best of the Scoprions' bowlers, claiming three wickets.

Millennium registered their first league victory of the season as they upset the odds to beat Infidels in a match played at Po Kong Village Road. Don Mohammed claimed five wickets as Infidels were dismissed for 221, with Mark Fegusson scoring 59. In reply, Aftab Ahmed scored an undefeated 107 as Millennium cruised to victory by six wickets with three overs to spare.

In the latest Women's League match, HKCC Willow Wielders scored a seven wicket victory over Kowloon Cricket Club at the Po Kong Village Road No. 2 ground. KCC would have been reasonably happy with their score of 155-7 off their 35 overs with Renee Montgomery hitting 34 and Julie Atkinson 32 whilst Natasha Miles claimed three wickets. The HKCC women were made to work hard for their victory but achieved it in the end for the loss of three wickets with Natasha Miles rounding off a good individual performance by scoring 61.