Crusaders power to Saturday Cup glory; Lamma women complete League/Cup double
HKCC Wanderers completed their fairy-tale return to Hong Kong cricket with an emphatic 175-run victory over Pakistan Association in the 2006-07 HKCA Sunday Cup final played at Kowloon Cricket Club on 6th May 2007.
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2006-07 HKCA Saturday Cup (Twenty20 Format)
Saturday Cup Final - Crusaders v. Laguna Gully
All eyes were on Kowloon Cricket Club on Saturday, 12th May 2007 where the home team Crusaders took on Laguna Gully in the Saturday Cup (Twenty20 Format) final. Crusaders, beaten Saturday Cup finalists in 2003-04 (versus Little Sai Wan Warriors) and 2002-03 (versus Mainlanders), were looking to avenge those previous defeats and claim their first major trophy since 1983. Laguna Gully on the other hand were looking to finish their inaugural season in style, having earlier knocked over Nomads, Kai Tak and Witherers on their road to the final.
Conditions were fine and warm as Laguna Gully won the toss and elected to field. The bowlers failed to secure an early breakthrough and the runs flowed freely from the bats of the Crusaders openers, Damian Kelleher and Anthony Barnet. The 50-run partnership came up in the fifth over and went on to reach 73 before Barnet was caught on the mid-wicket boundary for a well-struck 33. Kelleher went on to hit a valuable 68 off 50 balls before being bowled by a delivery that failed to bounce as much as he expected. With plenty of vocal support from the Clubhouse, especially from Matt Collins who smote an unbeaten century for Templars against Optimists earlier in the season, the remaining Crusaders batsmen kept the momentum going, with Manoj Cheruparambil hitting a fine 44 from just 23 balls to push the total towards 200. A flurry of wickets stalled the momentum at the end of the innings and Crusaders finished just shy on 190-5. Laguna Gully would have been a little disappointed with their bowling effort that leaked nearly five overs in extra deliveries.
Having already demonstrated their ability to chase down large totals in their quarter-final victory over Kai Tak, the Laguna Gully openers climbed into the Crusaders' bowling attack from the outset, with Imran Farcy's first over going for 15 runs. Virendra Dhir was looking particularly dangerous but an unfortunate mix-up saw his fellow opener run-out by the proverbial country mile. A promising partnership with Ravi Desai (27) maintained the required run-rate but the stand was cut short when Dhir (28) was bowled by Damian Kelleher. Unfortunately for Laguna Gully, wickets then fell at regular intervals as their king-hitters all got starts but failed to go on with the job. Only Pranav Shah, who smashed a brilliant 62, put together any sort of innings of substance. He fell in the 18th over, by which time the match was firmly in Crusaders' grasp.
Crusaders' fielding and bowling throughout was exemplary, with the exception of skipper Anthony Barnet who spilled two relatively straightforward chances. Travis Pittman atoned for a vital dropped catch in Crusaders 2002-03 Saturday Cup final loss by nailing his second superb catch in the deep in as many weeks. Manoj Cheruparambil claimed the great figures of 4-17 from his four overs by bowling a tight line and mixing his pace to good effect to confound the Laguna Gully batsmen. Manoj finished the match in style, bowling Ganesh off the last ball of the 20th over to secure a 34-run victory by Crusaders.
Saturday Plate Final - St George's v. SCC Vampires
An abbreviated Saturday Plate competition came to a conclusion when St George's faced SCC Vampires runs at Mission Road. With many teams deciding not to contest the Saturday Plate after being knocked-out of the main Cup competition, the final had the feeling of being a non-event. That did not detract from the match, which was played in the spirit and competitiveness befitting a final.
St George's batted first and posted a total of 153, with Ayub Khan's 30 being the top score. For the Vampires, Gopal Balakrishna claimed 3-28 from his four over spell. In reply, Tanmay Biju hit 47 but his efforts were in vain as Vampires could only muster 129-9 in their reply as St George's ran out winners by 24 runs.
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2006-07 HKCA Sunday League
The last remaining fixture of the 2006-07 HKCA Sunday League was played at Po Kong Village Road on 13th May 2007 between Infidels and Sri Lanka Club. Whilst there was nothing for either team to gain from the outcome of the match, it was commendable that both captains agreed to play the fixture rather than calling it off.
Sri Lanka Club batted first and posted a total of 225 from 43 overs with Chandrin Dissanayake (31), Neel (37) and Supan (61) making the major contributions. For Infidels, Shamal Perrera collected 4-35 while Ghulam Mustafa's figures of 3-60 brought his total wicket haul for the season to a league-topping 36 (equal with Butt Hussain).
Infidels had little trouble in their run-chase as Damian Kelleher, who was spotted at Wanchai's Dusk 'til Dawn at 6AM that morning, led the scoring with 78 while Rob Taylor contributed 41. Mohanna Marzook's unbeaten half-century eased the KCC outfit to victory in 40.3 overs to secure a seven-wicket victory.
Related Links:
- 2006-07 HKCA Sunday League Results
- 2006-07 HKCA Sunday League Points Table
- 2006-07 HKCA Sunday League/Cup Honours Board
2006-07 HKCA Skitz Sports Bar Women's Cricket Cup
The final of the 2006-07 HKA Skits Sports Bar Women's Cricket Cup was played at Kowloon Cricket Club on 13th May 2007 between the home team KCC Maidens and Lamma Cricket Club. Lamma were strong favourites for the match with their captain Neisha Pratt going into the game on the back of an astonishing league average of 351 (702 runs from 7 innings with 5 not outs).
Lamma won the toss and elected to bat. Pratt was initially circumspect in her innings, pushing for ones and twos before opening her arms and peppering the boundary with glorious shots. The KCC's Maidens cause was not helped by wayward bowling that saw the extras total climb at an alarming rate. Almost as expected, Pratt reached her sixth century of the season, before going on to record her highest score of the season of 141. Her dismissal in the 29th over brought an end to the Lamma innings with their total on an impressive 244-4.
Without the same firepower in their batting line-up, the KCC Maidens were always going to struggle to match the Lamma total. Sarah Eames (55*) anchored the innings with her second half-century in as many weeks while Renee Montgomery (41) did her best to up the run-rate. In the end, the KCC Maidens finished 84 runs short with a total of 160-2 and Lamma completed the Women's League and Cup double in a near perfect season.
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