Pirates of the St Lawrence versus South Stars
Saturday 7 September 2013
By Norts Porridge

Across the vast expanse of valley sky surrounding The Candy Fields, autumnal cloud and cool winds from the northwest set the stage for a day of change, of renewal, of entropic wonder.

And of carnage.

On a day where your intrepid Pirates of the Saint Lawrence were looking to bounce back from a series of humiliating defeats, they did so — and with gusto.

Taking to bat against arch friends/rivals South Stars, the Pirates put up furious numbers. Openers “Steady Eddie” Palmer (18) and Angus “Oh-Captain-My-Captain” Bell (44) did excellent work in stifling the pace attack of Safi and Razi. But the real massacre was about to begin.

Newcomer Max “Overdrive” Newman displayed his Australian pedigree with the finest debut in Pirates history, smacking 79 runs with relative ease. Sujith “Sergeant” Varma gave brilliant support with his best-ever 89 not out. And once Sudeep “Super-Turn-Plus” Badugu relieved Newman after having finally been caught at point, the Indian’s cool unbeaten 25 was enough to seal Stars’ fate: Pirates had amassed a whopping 301 for 4 off 45 overs.

After samosa lunch (graciously offered by the visitors) the Pirate onslaught continued with inspired bowling from Jeremy “Pope” Patterson and Adam “Unhyphenated” Kelly Morton who, between them, contained South Stars to a mere 40 runs through 12 overs, with a valuable wicket from Patterson.

The bowling onslaught continued with a spread of wickets from Matthew “Orange” Julius, Prashant “Prash” Bhawalkar, Xavier “X-Man” Clements, followed by an inspired containment spell from Robert “Doc” Hess. But the greatest Pirate plunder came the way of Captain Bell, who annihilated the visitors with a 5-wicket haul and a spartan 13 runs off 6 overs.

South Stars did not go down without a fight, as Danish, Usman and Razi combined for nearly 70 runs, but even their noble efforts were curtailed, in part, by a spectacular leaping backward grab from Pratik “Joe-Cool” Joshi off Usman in deep cover.

Stars’ last bastion of hope, Razi, was caught and bowled for the final out by Kelly Morton, and as autumnal darkness and misty rain swept over the remains of the carnage, all were left with a sense of wonder — or dismay.

Pirates of the St Lawrence versus South Stars
Saturday 7 September 2013
The Candy Fields, Mont-Saint-Hilaire
Match type: 45 overs per side (12 wickets)
Weather conditions: Darker than when wearing sunglasses
Result: Pirates won by 135 runs

Pirates of the St Lawrence Innings

Extras 37 (Byes 8, Leg Byes 8, No Balls 8, Wides 13)
Total 301 for 4 in 45 overs

FoW (1-41, 2-91, 3-113, 4-226)

South Stars Innings

Extras 26 (Byes 5, Leg Byes 1, No Balls 1, Wides 19)
Total 166 for 12 in 39.3 overs

FoW (1-13, 2-43, 3-63, 4-80, 5-84, 6-105, 7-122, 8-137, 9-139, 10-153, 11-153, 12-166)