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Five centurions light up title race

Five more batsmen and one bowler etched their names on to the Honours Board after a latest round of Saturday and Sunday League matches played on the weekend following the Chinese New Year festivities.

Hong Kong Cricket Association
Tim Smart smashed 172* against Templars © HKCA
Five more batsmen and one bowler etched their names on to the Honours Board after the latest round of Saturday and Sunday League matches played on the weekend following the Chinese New Year festivities.

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2005-06 HKCA Saturday League

HKU finished their 2005-06 campaign on top of the Saturday League table after they beat the visiting Police team by 93 runs at Sandy Bay. In cool and overcast conditions, the powerful HKU batting line-up posted a formidable 252 from their 35 overs with Khalid Qureshi hitting 90 while Butt Hussain scored 65. Mohsen Hafeez and Butt Hussain claimed three wickets each as the Police outfit was dismissed for 159 runs in reply.

Having completed their quota of 16 matches, HKU will now have to sit and watch the remaining rounds of the competition to see if they will hold on to the competition lead.

SubCont continued their march towards claiming their first Saturday League title as they beat Kai Tak at the Po Kong Village Road No. 2 ground. In-form Mohsin Naqvi top scored with 73 as Kai Tak posted a competitive total of 226-5 against the championship wannabes, whilst Ankur Sharma claimed four wickets. Sharma also scored 66 runs with the bat but it was Rahul Sambhus's cracking 135 not out that set SubCont on their road to victory by seven wickets. If they can win their remaining two matches, SubCont wil secure their first league title.

The only team able to upset SubCont's title chances are Saracens, who polished off Witherers by seven wickets in a match played at Kowloon Cricket Club. Mark Fuzes (71) was the main contributor in Witherers total of 182-9 off their 35 overs whilst Naeem Ashraf and Rohan Boghani claimed four and three wickets respectively for Saracens. Saracens' skipper Dyutesh Chauhuri led the reply and was unlucky not to bring up his century as he finished on 99 not out when the winning runs were scored.

Saracens currently sit third on the table, just two points adrift of SubCont. Both Saracens and SubCont have two more games to play and one or both of them will likely overhaul current leaders, HKU.

Tartars would have thought they had done enough to beat Gap Ramblers after posting an impressive 257-6 at Hong Kong Cricket Club. Graeme Jardine top scored with 77 whilst Farooq Saeed hit 73 runs. But the Tartars bowlers could do nothing to stem the flow of runs from the Gap Ramblers' top order as Jeremy Collard smashed 135 and Mark Kratzmann scored 118 not out as the HKCC team recorded a thumping nine wicket victory off the penultimate ball of the match.

Crusaders scored a comfortable 100 run victory over CCC at Mission Road. Batting first, Crusaders struggled to a total of 180-8 off their 35 overs, despite Roy Lamsam's 92. For CCC, Natasha Miles claimed three wickets. CCC's batting failed to offer much resistance against the bowling of Greg Thomas, who claimed four wickets, and they were eventually bundled out for only 80.

In the final game of the day, Mainlanders were beaten by Centaurs in a match played on the Po Kong Village Road Number 1 ground. Mainlanders batted first and weer dismissed for 155 with Brenton McDonald claiming three wickets for Centaurs. Centaurs struggled somewhat in their run chase as Najeeb Amar grabbed four wickets, however they eventually reached their winning taget with four wickets in hand.

2005-06 HKCA Sunday League

There was some high quality batsmanship on show at the Hong Kong Cricket Club on Sunday where Scorpions beat Templars by 94 runs in a high scoring encounter. Hong Kong National team captain, Tim Smart proved that he is well over his injury by hitting an unbeaten 172 as Scorpions piled on 338 runs for the loss of only one wicket from their 50 overs. Mark Kratzmann was the only man out, having helped himself to 118 runs, his third Sunday League century of the season. Templars, penalised a further three overs for slow bowling, did their best to make a game of it, with Graeme Jardine top scoring with 84. But it was always going to be an uphill against the bowling of Luke Rewega who claimed his second five wicket haul of the season and Phil DeFreitas, who claimed three wickets in an economical spell.

LSW ensured they stayed in touch with Scorpions, and even narrowed the gap on the competition leaders, by thrashing Infidels by nine wickets at Kowloon Cricket Club. Infidels woeful batting form of late was again in evidence as they were dismissed for only 113 in the 37th over with Courtney Kruger (44) the only batsman to offer any resistance. Nadeem Ahmed was the chief destroyer, claiming three wickets for only 19 runs in an eleven over spell. A blistering assault from Azhar Illahi, who finished undefeated on 79, ensured that LSW reached their required target in only 15 overs to gain maximum points. The match was not without controversy as Courtney Kruger was warned for dissent and his team penalised five penalty runs by umpire Sudhir Gidwani. The matter has since been referred to the MDC.

Pakistan Association cemented their third place position on the table with a hard fought victory over Millennium at Mission Road. Batting first, Millennium posted a respectable 255 from their 50 overs, with Zar Khan, Mukhtar Ahmed, Aftab Ahmed and Wassem Imtiaz all making useful contributions. For Pakistan Association, Khalid Khan and Butt Hussain both claimed three wickets. Nasir Hameed led the Pakistan Associaton reply with an unbeaten 114 whilst Ilyas Gul chipped in with a half century of his own. Victory was eventually achieved in the 45th over for the loss of six wickets.

In another lop-sided result, Pakistan Association Green suffered an eight wicket thumping at the hands of Optimists in the final match of the day played at Po Kong Village Road. Optimists Christopher Gillard claimed four wickets and Mark Fuzes claimed three as Pakistan Association Green were bowled out for 170 in the 40th over with Ankur Sharma the only batsman to make any significant contribution. In reply, Aaron Stewart and Mark Fuzes both hit half-centuries as Optimists raced to victory in only 24.1 overs.

All eyes will be on the match at Hong Kong Cricket Club next weekend where Scorpions will host the return match against LSW. The outcome of the match may well determine the 2005-06 Sunday League champion.

2005-06 HKCA Women's League

There was no match played in the Women's League.

Related Links

2005-06 HKCA Saturday League

2005-06 HKCA Sunday League

2005-06 HKCA Women's League

Hong Kong AHong Kong

Report submitted by Travis Pittman