Pirates of the St Lawrence versus South Stars
Saturday 24 August 2013
By Neville Cardus (channelling through Prashant Bhawalkar)

In perfect conditions, an inexperienced-yet-talented Pirates of the St Lawrence batting line-up crumbled to defeat in two encounters against visitors South Stars. The first of these games was bizarre and cast the home team in an uncharacteristic light. Till that point, it was believed that the Pirates’ recent 56 all out was but a blip on the radar. This encounter succeeded in sowing the seeds of concern in the minds of the Pirates selection committee.

In a nutshell, the home team was dismissed for 86 against a South Stars attack, which never looked threatening. The only batsman to reach double figures was vice-captain Varma whose 31 combined pugnacity with elegance and included an array of breathtaking drives, pulls, and cuts.

It took South Stars’ openers Razi and Navid no time or effort to overtake this meagre score. Displaying immense patience and intelligence, they pushed the ball around for clever ones and twos. Eventually, when a wicket did fall, the scores were level. The successful bowler was skipper Bell, who managed to induce a rash stroke from Razi before clean bowling him.

With the day still young, the two teams decided to play a Twenty20. This encounter was considerably more entertaining, with the Pirates regaining some of their lost mojo. Restricting the visitors to the sporting total of 134 for 8, they scored 131, losing the encounter by a respectable 3-run margin. The mainstay of the South Stars’ batting was Mohsin, who scored 34 with five boundaries and a six before being castled by Patterson. Nasrat made a useful 23 before being caught behind in the 18th over.

At one point, the Pirates were comfortably poised thanks to the Ranatunga-like Badugu and the Ian-Bell-like…..er, Bell. The former top scored with 42, while the latter, handicapped by a rogue food-poisoning virus, Guillaine Barré syndrome, a sprained wrist, shingles and swollen testicles, made a commendable 34 before heading to hospital.

However, in the end, the Pirates’ inexperience proved to be the deciding factor. Had it not been for the ice-cool bowling and catching of Safi, who gave away only six runs in four overs — a remarkable Twenty20 performance — while snapping two wickets, the Pirates would have surely been home and dry with overs to spare.

Pirates of the St Lawrence versus South Stars
Saturday 24 August 2013
The Candy Fields, Mont-Saint-Hilaire
Match type: 45 overs per side (11 wickets)
Weather conditions: Perfect, you’d have to say
Result: South Stars won by 10 wickets

Pirates of the St Lawrence Innings

Extras 17 (Byes 1, Leg Byes 0, No Balls 1, Wides 15)
Total 86 for 11 in 23.1 overs

FoW (1-12, 2-21, 3-40, 4-54, 5-55, 6-58, 7-59, 8-74, 9-80, 10-86, 11-86)

South Stars Innings

Extras 13 (Byes 3, Leg Byes 2, No Balls 0, Wides 8)
Total 90 for 1 in 18.1 overs

FoW (1-86)

Pirates of the St Lawrence versus South Stars
Saturday 24 August 2013
The Candy Fields, Mont-Saint-Hilaire
Match type: Twenty20 (11 wickets)
Weather conditions: As above
Result: South Stars won by 3 runs

South Stars Innings

Extras 11 (Byes 0, Leg Byes 1, No Balls 0, Wides 10)
Total 134 for 8 in 20 overs

FoW (1-2, 2-45, 3-57, 4-57, 5-59, 6-83, 7-114, 8-119)

Pirates of the St Lawrence Innings

Extras 21 (Byes 7, Leg Byes 2, No Balls 2, Wides 10)
Total 131 for 5 in 20 overs

FoW (1-5, 2-19, 3-104, 4-108, 5-119)