Pirates of the St Lawrence versus West Island Sailors
Saturday 19 May 2012
Tez Says…
Photo by Kat Roche

A swaggering 83 from Estonia-bound Tim Filer laid the foundations for a comprehensive 140-run victory for Pirates of St Lawrence in their debut clash with the newly-formed West Island Sailors at a sun-baked Candy Fields.

Filer shared a stand of 102 with Richie Horne, whose cultured 46 served as the perfect foil to the brutal onslaught of his English team-mate, while a patient 23 from Tez Milot helped settle the home side after a series of errant shots saw them wobble at 72-5 before reaching 234 off their allotted 40 overs.

Against a Sailors attack that was steady but lacked the cutting edge of a genuine paceman, the winning Filer-Horne partnership was backed up by an impressive fielding display by the Pirates, who claimed a number of outstanding catches as they made it two wins from three games this season.

Brad Smith and Milot followed the cat-like example set by skipper Bell, who held a superb catch off Matthew Legault to give the Pirates’ opener a wicket with his first ball of the day.

It was difficult start for the visiting Indian team, and one from which they never recovered as they were bowled out for 94 in 30 overs.

But it was the stroke-play of Filer and Horn that was to prove the main difference between the sides and enabled the hosts to set what was always going to be a decent target in the energy-sapping conditions.

And want-away Filer will be hoping his growing reputation will serve him well when he leaves Canadian shores next month in search of an altogether prettier partner than Kiwi team-mate Horne.

”Finding a wife in Montreal clearly has not been easy, so I’ve decided to return to Estonia where I reckon the local talent will appreciate my cricketing skills and not find my English Midlands accent so unromantic,” explained Filer, whose Celtic tan was conveniently topped up for the challenges that lie ahead.

”If I can boost my averages a little more over the next couple of weeks then I should have a good chance of being married by this time next year. It’s amazing how a bit of form with the bat can open doors in your love life.”

Filer’s 83 came off 52 balls and included five sixes and six fours, while Horne was run-out four runs shy of his half-century after facing 45 balls.

Sundar Krishnan also chipped in for the Pirates with some eye-catching stroke-play in a late cameo that produced 19 runs off 12 balls.

”Replacing Tim will not be easy, but clearly he thinks there are some things in life which are more important than the Pirates,” explained bewildered Pirates’ skipper Bell.

After early wickets for Legault (2 for 20 off 6 overs), the Sailors’ scalps were shared amongst the rest of the Pirates’ attack, with Bell (3-6 off 5) and O’Rorke (3-9 off 4) claiming three each and Ross Tidy (2-9 off 5) finding some bite in the wicket to help wrap up the tail.

Teenager Neel – playing his first game – was the pick of the visiting bowlers as he took three wickets for 36 runs in seven overs, while Rakesh top-scored with 26, both players offering evidence that the Sailors will likely get stronger as they look to build on their debut season.

Pirates of the St Lawrence versus West Island Sailors
Saturday 19 May 2012
The Candy Fields, Mont-Saint-Hilaire
Match type: 40 overs per side
Weather conditions: Trucker’s tan
Result: Pirates won by 140 runs

Pirates of the St Lawrence Innings

Extras 20 (Byes 5, Leg Byes 1, No Balls 8, Wides 6)
Total 234 for 9 in 40 overs

FoW (1-10, 2-27, 3-59, 4-70, 5-72, 6-174, 7-221, 8-233, 9-234)

West Island Sailors Innings

Extras 18 (Byes 5, Leg Byes 3, No Balls 1, Wides 9)
Total 94 for 12 in 30 overs

FoW (1-0, 2-19, 3-47, 4-62, 5-71, 6-74, 7-82, 8-84, 11-88, 12-94)