Smithson, Hart and Eames hit centuries whilst Ali, Balakrishnan and Khan claim five wickets in Saturday League action

Zafran Ali claimed his second five wicket haul of the season © HKCA

Travis Smithson, Ben Hart and Mark Eames all scored centuries in the latest round of Saturday League matches whilst Zafran Ali, Gopal Balakrishnan and Khalid Khan each claimed five wickets.

Conditions were cool and overcast for round 18 of the HKCA Saturday League played on 21st January 2005. The cool weather suited the three HKCC teams - Nomads, Gap Ramblers and Witherers - who enjoyed a trifecta of victories.

Leading the way were Nomads who beat competition leaders HKU at Sandy Bay. Skipper Travis Smithson led from the front by hitting his first century of the season with a fine 139 as Nomads totalled 225-9 from their 35 overs. For HKU, Bruce Abernathy grabbed four wickets and Butt Hussain took three. Toby Brown claimed three wickets as HKU were restricted to 204-8 in reply. Despite the loss, HKU cling on to a slender lead at the top of the Saturday League points table.

Another first time centurion, Ben Hart, smashed 123 runs for Witherers as they racked up the highest score of the day against the CCC at the Hong Kong Cricket Club. Jonathan Gordon also contributed 64 runs as Witherers reached 279-5 from their 35 overs whilst David Burgess claimed three wickets. Mark Eames led CCC's reply with an unbeaten century of his own and Ahmed Mukhtar hit 60 but their efforts were in vein as Witherers ran out comfortable winners by 58 runs.

Gap Ramblers completed the trifecta by thrashing MCC St George's by 132 runs in a match played at the Po Kong Village Road No. 1 ground. Batting first, Gap Ramblers amassed a score of 226-5 off their 35 overs with Richard Wallace hitting an undefeated 47. Clive Duddy claimed four wickets as MCC St George's failed to muster much of a challenge, finishing on a disappointing 94-9.

SubCont edged closer to winning their first Saturday League title as they moved into second place following a tight victory over Police at the Police Training College in Aberdeen. Police batted first and posted 192 from 34 overs with Nasir Hameed once again providing the backbone of the batting with 67. For SubCont, Gopal Balakrishnan claimed five wickets. Khalid Khan matched that effort by claiming five wicketes of his own, but an unbeaten 79 from Ankur Sharma was enough to secure SubCont a narrow victory. When stumps were pulled, SubCont had scored 182-7 and they were duly awarded the victory on account of their superior run-rate. SubCont will claim the 2005-06 HKCA Saturday League title if they win all their remaining matches.

Mainlanders scored the biggest upset of the day as they beat Tartars by three wickets at the Kowloon Cricket Club. Hong Kong Under 19 representative Zafran Ali claimed his second five wicket haul of the season as Tartars were dismissed 144. Aftab Ahmad was the best of Tartars' batsmen whilst Najeeb Amar enjoyed a successful return to the bowling crease by claiming three wickets. Najeeb celebrated a fine double as he top scored in the second innings as Mainlanders eased to victory for the loss of seven wickets.

Centaurs also savoured victory over Lamma in a match played at Mission Road. Lamma were dismissed for a total of 179 with Jamshaid Khan, Brad Tarr and Toby White all scoring in the thirties. In reply, Centaurs' Chandrin Dissanayake hit an unbeaten 56 and Shane Sibraa scored 46 as Centaurs finished on 180-5 to secure a five wicket victory. Daryl Bending claimed three wickets for Lamma.

The match at PKVR2 between Kai Tak and the Hong Kong Under-19's was not played.

Runs were at a premium as another cold and overcast day greeted players in round 14 of the Sunday League played on 22nd January 2006.

Pakistan Association posted the biggest score of the day as they beat Optimists by 21 runs in a game played at the Hong Kong Cricket Club. Pakistan Association were dismissed for 243 in the 43rd over with Najeeb Amar falling two runs short of his century, whilst Nasir Hameed scored 51. For Optimists, Michael Jamieson claimed four wickets and Chris Williams grabbed three. Good bowling from Butt Hussain and Khalid Khan, who both took three wickets, kept the Optimists batsmen in check and they were restricted to 222-9 from their 50 overs.

It was better news for competition leading Scorpions as they beat Infidels by 82 runs at Kowloon Cricket Club. In a match reduced to 48 overs per side, Scorpions were restricted to 189-8 with Toby Brown top scoring on 47 not out, while Ashwin Bhat claimed four wickets for Infidels. In reply, Infidels were skittled for 107 in the 33rd over with Luke Rewega claiming three wickets.

LSW stayed within reaching distance of Scorpions as they beat Pakistan Association Green by seven wickets at Po Kong Village Road. Irfan Ahmed and Munir Dar claimed four wickets each as Pakistan Association Green were dismissed for 129 in the 33rd over. Jawaid Iqbal led the reply as LSW raced to their victory target in just 17 overs to ensure maximum points fro mthe match.

Meanwhile, Templars scored a five wicket victory over Millennium CC in a match played at Mission Road. Devang Shah claimed four wickets as Millennium were bowled out for 173 in the 41st over, with Zar Khan hitting 50. Amjad Mehmood scored an unbeaten 82 as Templars cruised to victory in the 40th over for the loss of five wickets.

With three rounds still to play, Scorpions lead the points table by just 8 points. The two teams meet in the penultimate round of the season at Hong Kong Cricket Club in what is shaping as a winner-takes-all match.

HKCC Willow Wielders scored a ten wicket victory over HKCC Cavaliers in a match played at PKVR2. Angela Kwan top scored with 37 as the Cavaliers reached a total of 130-5 off their 35 overs. Natasha Miles (74*) and Betty Chan (31*) showed once again that they are an opening partnership to reckon with as they knocked off the runs with out too much trouble.