Natasha Miles claims six wickets in final Saturday League match of the season; Club teams dominate Sunday Cup competition

Natasha Miles created history when she became the first woman to play in the men's Sunday Cup competition. © HKCA

Teenage schoolgirl Natasha Miles claimed six wickets in the final match of the Saturday League and then made history by becoming the first women to play in a Sunday Cup match when she featured for Optimists against LSW.

The curtain came down on the 2005-06 HKCA Saturday League competition when Nomads faced CCC in a rescheduled fixture played at Hong Kong Cricket Club. With Nomads hovering near the top of the points table and CCC rooted firmly at the bottom, a close match was not expected but what resulted was a real thriller.

CCC batted first and posted a very respectable 211-8 from their 35 overs with Ashley Bond hitting 96 and Kerry scoring 49 while Toby Brown and Jeremy Wernert each claimed three wickets for Nomads. Half centuries from Chris O'Sullivan and Toby Brown lifted Nomads towards victory but a fine spell of bowling from Natasha Miles, who claimed six wickets for 53 runs from her ten over spell, kept the Nomads batsmen in check throughout. Nomads finally reached their target for the loss of nine wickets in a nail-biting finish.

The victory lifted Nomads to third place on the points table but, unfortunately, for CCC the result meant that they finished the competition without a victory. However it wasn't all bad news for CCC as the five bonus points they picked up from the game meant they didn't finish on the bottom of the table - that dubious honour went to Mainlanders.

Three qualifying matches were played in the 2005-06 HKCA Saturday Cup/Plate in cool and overcast conditions on 4th March 2006.

At Mission Road, the HKCC Taverners were easily beaten by MCC St George's. Batting first, the Taverners could only muster a total of 130 runs, with Barry Pearce and Tom Davies the only batsmen to offer any real resistance as Asif picked up four wickets and Shamsudeen claimed three. Yasir Khan hit an unbeaten 65 as MCC St George's eased to victory by nine wickets.

At Po Kong Village Road the Hong Kong Under-19 team beat Laguna Gully by seven wickets. S Sharma top scored with 77 and D Ravi hit 35 for Laguna Gully as they posted 212-9 from their 35 overs. But the Hong Kong Under-19 team's top-order got stuck into the Laguna Gully bowlers with Irfan Ahmed hitting 45 and Courtney Kruger scoring 47 whilst Jamie Atkinson saw them through to victory with an unbeaten 63.

In the third match of the day, Police beat Indus, however no details from that match were available at the time of writing.

History was made at the Hong Kong Cricket Club on Sunday 5th March 2006 when Natasha Miles fronted up for Optimists against LSW in the Sunday Cup competition. it was the first occasion that a women had played in Hong Kong's premier cricket competition. Called into the Optimists squad as a late replacement, Natasha wasn't daunted by the experience and she claimed two wickets in a tidy spell of swing bowling for the HKCC side.

Skies were heavy after early morning rain as Optimists batted first against LSW. Mark Eames, Shane Sibraa and Aaron Stewart all hit thirties as Optimists struggled to a total of 237-7 in the bowler friendly conditions. Nadeem Ahmed hit the highest individual score of the match for LSW but a four wicket burst from Chris Williams saw them routed for only 138 in the 36th over.

The early morning rains had left Mission Road ground flooded but good efforts from the players to repair the wicket allowed a reduced match to be played after a delayed start. Scorpions batted first against Millennium and they amassed a total of 219-8 from their 40 overs with Mark Kratzmann hitting 56 and Toby Brown an unbeaten 69 while Asif Mirza claimed five wickets. Yasir Khan hit 82 in reply for Millennium but they could only manage a score of 176 as Scorpions closed out their victory by 43 runs. Sexagenarian Gopal Lalchandani claimed four wickets for Scorpions.

In the other match, Templars beat Pakistan Association by five wickets at Po Kong Village Road. Pakistan Association only managed to put nine players on the park and their shortage cost them dearly as they could only post a total of 175 in 42 overs with Nasir Hameed, Najeeb Amar and Sajid Mehmood all making contributions while Hong Kong Under-19 representative Khuram Shahzad claimed three wickets for Templars. Another Hong Kong Under-19 player, Jamie Atkinson, top scored for Templars as they reached their target in the 34th over for the loss of only five wickets.

Infidels will face SCC Vagabonds in the final Sunday Cup first round match next week.

The LSW Women enjoyed their best victory of the season as they beat KCC Maidens by a superior run-rate at Po Kong Village Road in the latest round of the 2005-06 HKCA Skitz Sports Bar Women's Cricket League.

LSW batted first and they posted 137-7 from their 35 overs with Shaminda top scoring with 38. KCC struggled in reply and they could only manage 88-9 when the match was called to a close after 29 overs. For KCC, Sarah Eames top-scored with 40 whilst Shaminda and Upuli each claimed three wickets for LSW.

KCC's loss confirms Lamma as the outright champion of the 2005-06 HKCA Skitz Sports Bar Women's Cricket League. Congratulations to the Lamma Women on retaining their title.