Pirates of the St Lawrence versus Colonial Cavaliers of Boston
Sunday 18 July 2010

With pools of water soaking the Terminal End, and the mat wet after part of the covers had blown off overnight, prospects for play looked grim at the start of the morning. Hard work by all the team, who merrily dug drainage holes like converted seals, quickly turned things around and, aided by a fresh breeze and bright early sunshine, all was as shipshape by the time the Cavalier caravan arrived.

The Cavaliers, after being biblically stormed out in their run chase on Saturday, and tasting the fruits of St Catherine ‘til 7.30 am, elected to bat. Wisden struggled for line and rhythm, and despite Tolson bowling well after a year-long hiatus, the Boston openers managed a chanceless 35 from the first six overs, with Kiwi Tutton in savage form.

Finkelberg and Carter took over the bowling honours, Carter in particular making the ball dance. But it was young spin king Rahul Patel who broke the deadlock. He bamboozled Paul and then Graham with lofty deliveries, both of whom attempted injudicious slogs at midwicket, only to be pouched handsomely by Carter. Patel posted miserly figures of 2 for 4 in his two overs.

Wickets tumbled plenty and the run rate plummeted. Tutten, after bashing 57, was tempted down the wicket by Carter, with Marie Aime’e whipping off the bails for an excellent stumping. St. Jean induced a looping caught and bowled, and Rockwell marked his vociferous debut by bowling Hudson. It was a lively debut by Rockwell, who, doing press ups between balls to sap his adrenaline, bowled with good pace and admirable accuracy.

Roy Middleton generated a final burst of wickets with his devilishly quick spinners, claiming 3 for 14 off 2 overs and inducing the chance of a hattrick in the final over.

The score having looked perilous for the Pirates early in the innings had tailed off, ending on 142.

After a tasty snack of home cooked pizza, Eddie Palmer and Sundar Krishnan opened the reply. Steady Eddie was quickly into his stride, with three fours in his first four scoring shots. Both batsmen made patient progress towards the target.

The first 14 overs passed for 96 runs when Krishnan was bowled by the dangerous Tutten for a hard-run 35, trying to accelerate the scoring.

St.Jean and Tolson both played unselfishly, giving the strike to Palmer and flashing wildly to try and keep the target in sight. St-Jean, after four streaky singles, offered a catch to midwicket. Tolson, heaving like a packet boat in a force-9 gale, was bowled by Hooli to realistically signal the end of the run chase.

The demise of Cap’n Palmer, finally knicking behind for a well played 55 – his second half century of the season – left the Pirates with two new batsmen at the crease requiring a daunting 18 off 4 deliveries. Marie Aime’e and Finkelberg scampered singles, but the late innings hiccup had sucked the wind out of the Pirates’ sails.

Pirates of the St Lawrence versus Colonial Cavaliers of Boston
Sunday 18 July 2010
The Candy Fields, Mont-Saint-Hilaire
Match type: Twenty20
Weather conditions: Phil MacLeody
Toss won by: Pirates of the St Lawrence
Result: Colonial Cavaliers won by 15 runs

Colonial Cavaliers Innings

Tutton st Aime’e b Carter 57
Paul ct Carter b Patel 16
Braham ct Carter b Patel 0
Tetley (wk) c&b St-Jean 6
Hudson b Rockwell 10
Whitelam b Middleton 3
Fry (c) not out 8
Montgomery b Middleton 14
Hooli b Middleton 0
Kilpatrick not out 2
Evans DNB
Collison DNB

Extras 26 (Byes 4, Leg Byes 8, No Balls 1, Wides 13)
Total 142 for 8 in 20 overs

Bowling

Tom Wisden 3 overs, 0 wickets, 21 runs
Andy Tolson 3 overs, 0 wickets, 14 runs
Ben Finkelberg 2 overs, 0 wickets, 27 runs
John Carter 3 overs, 1 wicket, 23 runs
Rahul Patel 2 overs, 2 wickets, 4 runs
Hugue St-Jean 2 overs, 1 wicket, 9 runs
William Rockwell 3 overs, 1 wicket, 12 runs
Roy Middleton 2 overs, 3 wickets, 14 runs

Pirates of the St Lawrence Innings

Eddie Palmer (c/wk) ct Tetley b Fry 55 (7×4)
Sundar Krishnan b Tutton 35 (1×4, 1×6)
Hugue St-Jean ct Fry b Tutton 4
Andy Tolson b Hooli 8 (1×4)
Marie Aime’e (wk) not out 1
Ben Finkelberg not out 1
Roy Middleton DNB
Rahul Patel DNB
John Carter DNB
William Rockwell DNB
Tom Wisden DNB

Extras (Byes 0, Leg Byes 1, No Balls 0, Wides 22)
Total 127 for 4 in 20 overs

FoW (1-96, 2-112, 3-125, 4-125)

Bowling

Hooli 4 overs, 1 maiden, 1 wicket, 13 runs
Nandeen 3 overs, 0 wickets, 24 runs
Collison 2 overs, 0 wickets, 11 runs
Kilpatrick 4 overs, 0 wickets, 35 runs
Tutton 4 overs, 2 wickets, 21 runs
Fry 3 overs, 1 wicket, 22 runs