Pirates of the St Lawrence versus Adastrians A
Sunday 11 July 2010

Pirates of the St Lawrence butchered Adastrians A on Sunday, beating the league champs by 7 wickets at The Candy Fields. Raja Sukhdeo whacked his first fifty for the Pirates, and debutant Ian Richards spanked 33, as the home team coasted to their fourth win of the season.

Both teams ignored the FIFA World Cup Final (a game in which only one point was scored) to spend their Sunday chasing leather in the pastures of the south shore. Brahma Melaram got the Pirates off to the perfect start, claiming the wicket of Tayyab with his first ball, caught behind by Richards to a banana outswinger.

Melaram and Roche tied the Adastrians up in knots, the former striking twice more to reduce the score to 23 for 3. It would teach the youngsters to respect their elders.

Dangerman O’Driscoll and Bangladesh’s greatest comedian, Erfan Chowdhury, maintained the disciplined length, feeding the opposition only the occasional wide. Chowdhury did for the quick-scoring Gohar, fooling him into a pull shot that was never there. The ball top edged to Bell at midwicket, who screamed for Chowdhury to move, and took the catch, despite his little finger swollen like a stump after a sprain.

Uncle Sukhdeo pinned down one end, spinning the ball both ways past the bat. His nephew, Ray Nowrang, speared in his cutters and demolished the middle order to make the score 86 for 6.

Bell struck with his first ball – a grenade that dropped from twice the height of the batsman and lured him from his crease, only to be stumped by Richards.

The former Auckland Under 17s star, playing his first game in more than 10 years, was in magical form with the gloves, conceding not a single bye. Astonishingly, this was the first time he had kept.

Bell, the fingers on his spinning hand purple and throbbing, plucked two more wickets with pies, as the batsmen poked to Raja Sukhdeo at extra cover.

At 112 for 9, it looked like the game would be over before Spain or the Netherlands could score. But the big-hitting Aman had other ideas. When Uncle Sukhdeo bowled Zoaib for 1, Aman decided to swing his railway sleeper, clubbing four 4s and three 6s. He turned down opportunities aplenty to run, preferring to deal only in boundaries, before Barker swooped at backward point to run him out.

Adastrians, donning black outfits and using a white ball, produced a barrage of pace in reply. Pies have been in short supply during Pirates’ innings this season, but Raja Sukdeo countered with some savage straight drives.

Barker looked in golden touch, square driving and sweeping the pacemen, but fell to a full toss which he slapped to extra cover.

Mohammed Saddick, making his first start for the Pirates, gave a lesson in not bowling short to a man without gloves and a helmet. He hooked five boundaries to take the score to 75, before belting one to deep square leg.

Raja Sukhdeo and Ian Richards sucked the life out of the Adastrian attack, padding away the spinners and launching balls into the hayfield. Sixteen-month-old Logan Bell struggled to keep up with the changes to the scoreboard.

By the time Richards holed out on 126, the damage was done. Hari Sukhdeo was the only further casualty, caught at cover.

Phil Roche, relishing his role as the finisher this year, stroked the winning run to hand the Pirates a thumping 7-wicket win.

Pirates of the St Lawrence versus Adastrians B
Sunday 11 July 2010
The Candy Fields, Mont-Saint-Hilaire
Match type: 40 overs per side
Weather conditions: Quite remarkable
Result: Pirates of the St Lawrence won by 7 wickets

Adastrians A Innings

Tayyab ct Richards b Melaram 1
Ishgtiag ct Roche b Melaram 8
Naveed b Melaram 2
Wasim st Richards b Bell 33 (3×4)
Gohar ct Bell b Chowdhury 14 (2×4)
Qasim b Nowrang 14 (1×4)
Nabil b Nowrang 0
Aman run out (Barker) 43 (4×4, 3×6)
Junaid ct Raja Sukhdeo b Bell 6 (1×6)
Zoaib b Bhajooram Sukhdeo 1
Thmor ct Raja Sukhdeo b Bell 5
Laiq not out 12 (2×4)

Extras 25 (Byes 0, Leg Byes 2, No Balls 2, Wides 21)
Total 164 for 11 in 38.3 overs

FoW (1-3, 2-7, 3-23, 4-53, 5-86, 6-86, 7-95, 8-107, 9-112, 10-123, 11-164)

Bowling

Phil Roche 6 overs, 1 maiden, 0 wickets, 24 runs
Brahma Melaram 5 overs, 1 maiden, 3 wickets, 9 runs
Tony O’Driscoll 4 overs, 1 maiden, 0 wickets, 18 runs
Erfan Chowdhury 2 overs, 1 wicket, 16 runs
Hari Sukhdeo 2 overs, 0 wickets, 17 runs
Bhajooram Sukhdeo 8 overs, 1 wicket, 28 runs
Ray Nowrang 5 overs, 2 wickets, 15 runs
Angus Bell 6.3 overs, 3 wickets, 34 runs

Pirates of the St Lawrence Innings

Raja Sukhdeo not out 57 (9×4)
Danny Barker ct Aman b Laiq 4
Mohammed Saddick ct Ishgtiag b Aman 24 (5×4)
Ian Richards ct Ishgtiag b Tayyab 33 (4×4, 1×6)
Hari Sukhdeo ct Zuhaib b Naveed 3
Phil Roche not out 10 (2×4)
Angus Bell DNB
Bhajooram Sukhdeo DNB
Erfan Chowdhury DNB
Tony O’Driscoll DNB
Ray Nowrang DNB
Brahma Melaram DNB

Extras 34 (Byes 0, Leg Byes 1, No Balls 9, Wides 24)
Total 165 for 4 in 29 overs

FoW (1-18, 2-75, 3-126, 4-143)

Bowling

Laiq 4 overs, 1 wicket, 24 runs
Taimur 4 overs, 0 wickets, 16 runs
Gohar 2 overs, 0 wickets, 12 runs
Junaid 2 overs, 0 wickets, 19 runs
Aman 4 over, 1 wicket, 13 runs
Wasim 5 overs, 0 wickets, 28 runs
Naveed 4 overs, 1 wicket, 16 runs
Tayyab 4 overs, 1 wicket, 29 runs