SubCont and Scorpions secure league titles

Ankur Sharma scored 178* as Pakistan Association Green spoiled Scorpions day of celebration © HKCA

Conditions were cold and overcast around the territory on a weekend during which both Saturday and Sunday League titles were decided.

In Saturday League matches, Rahul Sambhus led SubCont to their first league title with his fourth century of the season whilst in other matches Brett Morley claimed a five wicket haul for Kai Tak and Anthony Barnet scored his first century in a high scoring derby match at KCC. Hard luck story of the weekend went to LSW's Munir Dar who scored a big century and claimed five wickets but still finished up on the losing side.

SubCont celebrated their first Saturday League title in style as they beat Gap Ramblers by four wickets in a hard fought match played at the Po Kong Village Road No. 1 Ground. Stuart McPhee (86) and Jeremy Collard (59) scored half-centuries as Gap Ramblers posted a decent 221-6 from their 35 overs. For SubCont Neeraj Chopra and Balakrishna Gopal claimed three wickets each. In reply, Rahul Sambhus scored 103 and P Chandrasekhar hit 76 as SubCont chased down the total for the loss of six wickets whilst Harold Turner claimed three wickets for Gap Ramblers. Rahul Sambhus has enjoyed an outstanding season to date having scored four centuries and three half centuries during SubCont's successful campaign.

Saracens had to settle for the runners-up spot after beating Nomads by 27 runs in match played at Mission Road. Skipper Dyutesh Chauduri top scored as the strong Saracens batting line-up was restricted to a score of 189-8 off their 35 overs, with Robert Tucker claiming three wickets for Nomads. But Naeem Ashraf and Rahul Sharma both claimed three wickets for Saracens as Nomads could only manage 162-9 in reply.

Witherers and LSW Warriors played out a thriller at Hong Kong Cricket Club with Witherers prevailing in the end by just one wicket. Munir Dar smashed his highest score of the season with 149 runs as LSW Warriors racked up an impressive total of 255. Jeremy Glaros, Adrian Waters and Ben Hart all claimed three wickets for Nomads. Ben Hart led the Witherers reply with 79 runs and with good support from Nick Gavin-Brown and Aaron Stewart, Witherers managed to overall the Warriors total with their last pair at the crease. Munir Dar claimed five wickets to go with his century to claim the day's individual honours.

There was another high scoring match at Kowloon Cricket Club where Crusaders beat Tartars by 56 runs. Batting first, it was Crusaders turn to monster the bowling as they powered to the highest score of the day of 299-3 from their 35 overs. Skipper Anthony Barnet led the charge with a belligerent 128 not out and he received good support from Manoj Cheruparambil and Imran Farcy who both stroked half centuries. Tartars reply was led by Skhawat Ali who hit 93 but his efforts were in vain as they could only manage 244-9 from their 35 overs.

At the Police Training College ground Kai Tak beat Police by 96 runs. Malcolm Brown hit a half century as Kai Tak posted 224-9 from their 35 overs, while Khalid Khan claimed four wickets. Police were dismissed for 128 in reply with Brett Morley picking his first five wicket haul of the competition.

Irfan Ahmed scored a half century and claimed three wickets as the Hong Kong Under-19's defeated CCC by 55 runs at the Po Kong Village Road No. 2 ground. The Hong Kong Under-19 team scored 190-8 from their 35 overs with Irfan hitting 52 runs whilst Ahmed Mukhtar claimed three wickets for CCC. But CCC could only muster 138 in reply as Sajid, Irfan and Nadeem Ahmed picked up three wickets apiece.

Another cool and overcast day greeted teams as they took to the field in the last round of the 2005-06 HKCA Sunday League. The day started with Scorpions on the cusp of winning the league title, only requiring two points to claim the silverware. LSW, on the other hand, needed to claim maximum points to keep the pressure on the competition leaders.

Whilst Scorpions did manage to claim the season's top prize, it wasn't in a way that would have expected as the round produced a number of surprise results.

First up, Scorpions suffered their first loss of the season as they come unstuck against a resurgent Pakistan Association Green team in a match played at Hong Kong Cricket Club. Scorpions guaranteed their title claim in the first innings after scoring sufficient batting points on their way to a total of 262-6 off 47 overs, with Tim Smart hitting 132 and Martin Lever 50, whilst Afzaal claimed three wickets for the visitors. But Pakistan Association Green made a stunning reply, surging to 265-1 from only 27 overs with Ankur Sharma smashing an unbeaten 178 - the highest individual score of the season - whilst Jamshaid Khan joined in the demolition of the Scorpions bowling attack with a quickfire 75.

LSW secured the runners-up spot after scoring a one wicket victory over Pakistan Association in a tense match played at Mission Road. Zafran Ali and Munir Dar each claimed three wickets as LSW dismissed Pakistan Association for 153 from 36 overs. But the Pakistan Association bowlers made the LSW batsmen work hard for their victory, with Butt Hussain claiming a four wicket haul. In the end, LSW prevailed by a solitary wicket.

At Po Kong Village Road Infidels chased down over 320 runs against Optimists in a spectacular match. Batting first, Optimists posted 320-8 from their 50 overs with Shane Sibraa hitting 92 and Michael Jamieson scoring 64, while Ravi Sujanani claimed four wickets for Infidels. Damian Kelleher led Infidels riposte with 86 whilst Mark Fuzes claimed three wickets. Infidels reached 324-7 with two overs to spare and in a match that witnessed nearly 650 runs scored, it was surprising that no batsman from either side registered a three figure score.

LSW registered their first victory of the 2005-06 HKCA Women's league as they thumped HKCC Cavaliers by 124 runs at Po Kong Village Road. LSW batted first and scored 192-2 off their 35 overs with Irosha and Keenu both hitting 49. Keenu then claimed five wickets as the HKCC women struggled to 68-9 in reply.