Pemburton smashes a double century as LSW Warriors claim the Saturday League crown

HKCC's Phil Pemburton smashed the season's highest with an unbeaten 204 for Witherers against Centaurs in the penultimate round of the HKCA Saturday League.

Hong Kong Cricket Association

19-Mar-2007

2006-07 HKCA Saturday League

LSW Warriors claimed their second HKCA Saturday League title in three years. © HKCA

HKCC's Phil Pemburton smashed the season's highest score with an unbeaten 204 for Witherers against Centaurs in the penultimate round of the HKCA Saturday League. In other matches, LSW Warriors scored a comfortable victory over Laguna Gully to lift the 2006-06 HKCA Saturday League title - their second championship in three years - while Crusaders, Tartars, Witherers, Nomads, Gap Ramblers and Lamma also scored victories. Other centurions from the round were HKU's Mr Cricket, Martin Sabine and Witherers' Aaron Stewart. HKCC bowlers Jeremy Werhert and Glenn Gittens claimed five wickets each as did Jawaid Iqbal for the champions designate.

Conditions were cool, damp and blustery at the start of the penultimate round of matches played on 10th March 2007. All eyes were focussed on the Po Kong Village Road Number 2 ground where LSW Warriors only needed a single point to secure the HKCA Saturday League title for the second time in three years. Facing this season's new team Laguna Gully, LSW Warriors had first use of the wicket and they would have been reasonably happy with their total of 217-7 from their 35 overs. Ilyas Gul top scored with 49 while Jawaid Iqbal hit 36 and Tabarak Dar made 33. In reply, Laguna Gully were dismissed for just 139 with Jawaid Iqbal claiming five wickets. For Laguna Gully, Anand Ramaswamy top scored with 31 as LSW Warriors romped to victory by 78 runs.

Second placed Nomads maintained their position with a six wicket victory over the Hong Kong Under-19's in a thrilling match on the Po Kong Village Number 1 wicket. Irfan Ahmed hit 81 and Courtney Kruger scored 33 as the Hong Kong Under-19's posted a total of 196 in the first innings with Jeremy Werhert claiming five wickets for Nomads. Nomads reply was led by Travis Smithson and Chris O'Sullivan, who both hit thirties, and Todd Hoare who hit an unbeaten 40. Nadeem Ahmed claimed three wickets but his efforts weren't enough to stop Nomads winning from the last ball of the match.

There was a run-fest at Hong Kong Cricket Club where Witherers took on Centaurs. Witherers batted first and Phil Pemburton smashed an astonishing 204 not out while Aaron Stewart hit an even 100 as they racked up a staggering total of 342-4 from their 35 overs. Facing a seemingly impossible target, the Centaurs batsmen batted with equal determination, hitting their way to a more than respectable total of 276. Chief contributors for Centaurs were Shane Sibraa (45), Keith Hemshall (60), Chandrin Dissanayake (76) and Ben Dickinson (50). Pemburton rounded off a great all-round performance by claiming four wickets, although it wasn't a day for the bowlers with 618 runs plundered in the match.

Gap Ramblers completed a clean sweep for HKCC teams as they beat Police by six wickets at the Police Training College. Police batted first and posted 200-8 from their 35 overs with Danny Ishtiaq top scoring with 63 while Clive Walton finished unbeaten on 31. Glenn Gittens claimed the bowling honours with five wickets for Gap Ramblers. In reply, Gittens led the way with an unbeaten 83, while Jeremy Collard hit 36 and Matt Thwaites scored 38, as Gap Ramblers reached 203-4 at the close.

At Sandy Bay, HKU batted first against Tartars and they scored a respectable 233-6 from their 35 overs, with Martin Sabine scoring 105 and Bruce Abernathy hitting 89 while Afzaal Haider claimed three wickets for Tartars. Haider then top scored with 53 as Tartars reached 235-6 in reply. Moahammad Azam and Shkawat Ali both hit thirties while Mustafa Ghulam finished undefeated on 52 in Tartars four-wicket victory.

Back at Kowloon Cricket Club, Crusaders eeked out a five-wicket victory over St George's. Batting first, St George's were dismissed for a total of 175 in the 35th over, with Sajid scoring 47. Shamal Perera and Manoj Cheruparambil claimed three wickets apiece for Crusaders. Damian Kelleher (33) and Anthony Barnet (54) posted a solid opening partnership before a spate of wickets threw the match back into balance. But a quick-fire 42 not out from Manoj Cheruparambil took the home side to their victory target with five wickets and nearly four overs to spare.

At Mission Road, CCC put up another spirited performance but finished on the losing end again - this time against Lamma. Batting first, CCC were dismissed for a total of 173, with Jonathan Orders top scoring with 39 while John Gaffney and Tauseef Baukhari claimed three wickets each. Toby White hit 34 and Butt Hussain scored an unbeaten 86 as Lamma eased to victory by three wickets. Max Tucker claimed three wickets for CCC.

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2006-07 HKCA Sunday League

Courtney Kruger, Butt Hussain and Mark Eames scored centuries while Jeremy Glaros, Waqar Darwood and Robert Tucker each claimed five wickets in round 23 of the HKCA Sunday League played in cool and damp conditions on 18th March 2007.

At Po Kong Village Road, Optimists suffered a rare reversal as Pakistan Association beat them in a high scoring match that saw two batsmen register centuries. Pakistan Association batted first and they piled on the runs to post a total of 294 from 49.4 overs. Butt Hussain led the run-spree with 119 while Nasir Hameed hit 53 and Rafaqat Ali scored 40. For Optimists, Jeremy Glaros claimed five wickets in a twelve over spell. Left-handed opener Mark Eames led the Optimists reply with a century of his own, while Shane Sibraa and Paul Watkins both hit half-centuries. Butt Hussain claimed four wickets and Mohd Ozair picked up three as Optimists were dismissed for 286 off the penultimate ball of the match, still 9 runs short of their victory target.

There was another century scored at Mission Road where KCC's Infidels beat Sri Lanka Club by 97 runs. Infidels batted first and they posted the day's best total as they racked up 323-6 from 49 overs. Hong Kong Under-19's skipper Courtney Kruger led the charge with an impressive 137, while Damian Kelleher hit 41 and Mohanna Marzook scored 67. Sri Lanka Club could only muster a total of 226 in reply, despite half centuries from Neel and Suresh. Ghulam Mustafa was the best of the KCC bowlers as he grabbed three wickets.

Templars savoured another victory as they beat Millennium CC by six wickets at Kowloon Cricket Club. Millennium were dismissed for 185 from 40.5 overs with Waqar Darwood the chief destroyer as he picked up five wickets in just 7.5 overs. For Millennium, Sharri Malik scored 61 and Vicky Niaz hit 36. Templars had little trouble with the chase as they eased to 191-4 from 40.1 overs. Ahmed hit 39 while Amjad Mahmood scored 50 not out and Afzaal Haider finished unbeaten on 35.

There was a relatively low scoring match played Hong Kong Cricket Club where Wanderers accounted for Scorpions by six wickets. Scorpions batted first but they were dismissed for a disappointing 146 from 38.1 overs with Mark Ferguson (41) the only batsman to post any score of substance. Robert Tucker did the damage with five wickets while Max Tucker also claimed four wickets. In reply, Wanderers cruised to victory in just 27 overs with Todd Hoare scoring 71.