Pirates of the St Lawrence versus West Island Tigers
Saturday 9 July 2011

A world record 332 for 7 at The Candy Fields, including 23 sixes, capped a crucifixion for Pirates of the St Lawrence versus West Island Tigers on Saturday. Formerly known as The Whackers, the pussycats from the West Island had grown into clawed killing machines over the winter, inflicting a 151-run massacre on their hosts.

Fielding first, the start couldn’t have fared better for the home team. A bizarre tactic of standing in the way and hoping not to get hit or get out saw the score crawl to 16 in the ninth over, just four runs coming off the bat – two from inside edges – as Granville and Roche kept an immaculate line. The heckling grew from the stands but the batsmen and score remained steady.

The introduction of The Saint caused all manner of problems for the Tigers. The Butcher of Brossard could have taken a wicket with all four of his first deliveries. As it was, he had to wait until the fifth, trapping Vicki dead in front, and then snaffling Pali via another Savage slip catch. Backed by the impressive Sakrani, the pair blew away the Tigers’ top order.

Unfortunately this paved the way for a spate of six-hitting never seen before on the south shore. Batsmen 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 all got off the mark with sixes, many of them first ball, all of them to respectable deliveries. Having honed their skills in the hayfields of the MCA, their was zero interest in singles, twos or fours. Astonishingly, only one ball was lost in the forest. The ground would have needed to be two acres bigger to offer any hope of catches. Sundar Krishnan took a screamer at long off, only to fly into the marquee where his hand required bandaging.

The score went from 16 to 200 in less than 20 overs, with a further 130 coming off the last 10. No bowler could escape the carnage, except Roche, who had donned the keeping gloves.

Topping 332 would take some doing, especially with Krishnan having to leave to hear U2 at The Hippodrome after 20 minutes. He smote 16 not out in his most convincing innings this season, and retired with the team total on 37.

After weathering some ferocious pace, Bell lapped the spinners and sought the arial route off the seamers, as the required run rate past 10 an over. Bousfield got off the mark in his debut innings, but then stumps, helmet, gloves and expletives went flying when he was bowled for 1 by the deadly accurate Vicki.

Roche, as he does when in form, punched the twos and, together with Bell, he put on 61 for the third wicket. When he changed his bat, from the club cudgel to the semi-legal, retired two-piece from the shed rafters, he looked a happier man and the boundaries began to flow.

A moment of umpiring controversy rattled the skipper on 49. Extra bounce saw the ball ricochet off his elbow during an attempted sweep. The keeper never appealed and the umpire shook his head, twice, only to be bullied by the unrelenting screams of the bowler into raising his finger 10 seconds later. ”No way,” said Bell, showing the bruise. ”Not again,” which seemed to satisfy all but deep squareleg. Unfortunately, he was out two balls later to a half-track pie, swatted to cow corner for catching practice.

With 228 required off 16 overs, the task became stiffer. Roche smote the largest six of the day past the pylon, en route to 50, and St-Jean looked at his technical best, only to be given out in another umpiring howler. Missing the ball comfortably but grazing the jute mat on the follow-thorugh, a half-hearted appeal saw the finger of fate erected. A humble man with his family watching, St-Jean’s meek protests lacked the experience and volume of skipper Bell’s and, after hovering around the crease for 30 seconds, he trudged off, hoping the non-striker’s appeal would spark a recall before reaching the boundary.

Rather meanly, the premier bowlers returned to the attack, resulting in the loss of five wickets for three runs and snuffing out hope of a Boy’s-Own turnaround. Owalekar showed glimpses of his glittering previous life for University of Mumbai 1st XI, and Granville looked reminiscent of Graham Gooch circa 1991 until attempting Devon Malcolm-esque heave to leg.

Sakrani, watching from the non-striker’s, saw his chances of facing a ball evaporate quicker than dew from the outfield. Mercifully, the Tigers were persuaded to let him bat until the fall of the eleventh wicket – Krishnan having retired – and his swashbuckling 12 carried the home team to their second highest total of the season – a mere 152 adrift.

Pirates of the St Lawrence versus West Island Tigers
Saturday 9 July 2011
The Candy Fields, Mont-Saint-Hilaire
Match type: 40 overs per side
Weather conditions: Australian
Toss won by: West Island Tigers
Result: West Island Tigers won by 151 runs

West Island Tigers Innings

Vicki (c) lbw St-Jean 2
Pali ct Savage b St-Jean 13 (1×4)
TJ ct Granville b Sakrani 5
Hassan (wk) run out (Bell) 8 (1×6)
Manish b Krishnan 64 (3×4, 6×6)
Vikrant ct Granville b Savage 67 (6×4, 6×6)
Rajan b St-Jean 48 (6×4, 1×6)
Sahil not out 88 (5×4, 9×6)
Vinod not out 2
Ashok DNB
Gorpal DNB

Extras 32 (Byes 12, Leg Byes 0, No Balls 0, Wides 20)
Total 332 for 7 in 40 overs

FoW (1-23, 2-28, 3-36, 4-83, 5-137, 6-185, 7-315)

Bowling

Phil Roche 4 overs, 1 maiden, 0 wickets, 7 runs
Andrew Granville 5 overs, 1 maiden, 0 wickets, 18 runs
Aneeq Sakrani 6 overs, 1 wicket, 18 runs
Hugue St-Jean 4 overs, 3 wickets, 47 runs
Angus Bell 5 overs, 0 wickets, 59 runs
Sundar Krishnan 4 overs, 1 wicket, 25 runs
Harshal Owalekar 2 overs, 0 wickets, 27 runs
Farhan Zia 2 overs, 0 wickets, 33 runs
Robert Savage 3 overs, 1 wicket, 35 runs
Brendon Hill 3 overs, 0 wickets, 36 runs
René Bousfield 2 overs, 0 wickets, 25 runs

Pirates of the St Lawrence Innings

Angus Bell (c) ct Sahil b Rajan 49 (4×4, 63 balls)
Sundar Krishnan retired not out 16 (2×4, 24 balls)
René Bousfield b Vicki 1 (3 balls)
Phil Roche (wk) lbw Sahil 52 (3×4, 2×6, 40 balls)
Farhan Zia b Pali 2
Hugue St-Jean ct Hassan b Pali 5
Harshal Owalekar (wk) ct Hassan b Vickrand 3
Andrew Granville b Manish 7 (15 balls)
Aneeq Sakrani ct Gorpal b Vicki 12 (1×4, 11 balls)
Robert Savage b Manish 0 (1 ball)
Brendon Hill b Manish 0 (2 balls)

Extras 23 (Byes 12, Leg Byes 2, No Balls 1, Wides 8)
Total 181 for 11 in 37.2 overs

Fow (1-37, 2-44, 3-105, 4-122, 5-142, 6-160, 7-163, 8-163, 9-163, 10-163, 11-181)

Bowling

Manish 6 overs, 1 maiden, 3 wickets, 17 runs
TJ 4 overs, 0 wickets, 13 runs
Gorpal 4 overs, 0 wickets, 24 runs
Vicki 4.2 overs, 1 maiden, 2 wickets, 9 runs
Ashok 4 overs, 1 maiden, 0 wickets, 15 runs
Rajan 4 overs, 1 wicket, 28 runs
Pali 4 overs, 1 maiden, 2 wickets, 17 runs
Sahil 4 overs, 1 wicket, 16 runs
Vickrand 7 overs, 1 wicket, 16 runs