Pirates of the St Lawrence versus West Island Tigers
Sunday 11 May 2014
by Hot Rod
Photo by Gurjeet Warya

Something is seriously wrong at the Météo. The previous day’s forecast thunderstorm never arrived, replaced by thoroughly pleasant conditions with the only complaints being from those who assumed that hats and sunscreen would be unnecessary and returned home suitably pinkened. Sunday, forecast to be the hottest and sunniest day of the year so far, brought a biting westerly wind that caused players to bemoan their failure to being sweaters and coats, and the tent to flap like a demented bat as it threatened to uproot its moorings and fly off in the direction of the Maritimes.

That wasn’t the only problem. Skiddy conditions and a outfield with the consistency of plasticene meant this was not destined to be a high-scoring game.

Pirates, having opted to bat first, lost early wickets as the top order struggled with treacherously low bounce. The eternally-youthful Woodall, captaining his first senior match, beseeched incoming batsmen to take their time to avoid further dismissals. Ashtaputre, for reasons best known to himself, interpreted this instruction as meaning that he should try to drive every straight ball out of the Province. While his approach was vindicated with a top-scoring 22, the agonies of witnessing this perilous approach put years on the countenance of the captain, to the extent that he now looks nearly 20 years old.

Some measured aggression from Sajid, a nudge-and-nurdle partnership from Grant and Bousfield that squeezed out 22 priceless runs from an unpromising position, and 34 extras (30 of them wides) took the Pirates on to a total of 116, allowing them to console themselves that this was no longer embarrassing and, in these conditions, might even be defendable.

So blisteringly-paced opening spells from Grant and Sajid were followed by tight overs from the change bowlers and lively and attacking fielding, reducing the Tigers to 30 for 5 at barely half the required run rate by the drinks interval. But it was difficult to sustain that level of pressure: Vinod gradually found space to restore the initiative to the Tigers with flashes and edges, and to bring home how low the target was. The second close game of the weekend ended with the Tigers winning by two wickets with 10 balls to spare.

Pirates of the St Lawrence versus West Island Tigers
Sunday 11 May 2014
The Candy Fields, Mont-Saint-Hilaire
Match type: 35 overs per side (11 wickets)
Weather conditions: Near destruction of the tent again
Result: West Island Tigers won by 2 wickets

Pirates of the St Lawrence Innings

Extras 34 (Byes 1, Leg Byes 1, No Balls 2, Wides 30)
Total 116 for 10 in 35 overs

FoW (1-10, 2-22, 3-26, 4-46, 5-61, 6-89, 7-93, 8-93, 9-94, *10-116, 11-116)

West Island Tigers Innings

Extras 32 (Byes 7, Leg Byes 0, No Balls 3, Wides 22)
Total 118 for 9 in 33.2 overs

FoW (1-15, 2-15, 3-16, 4-19, 5-24, 6-48, 7-66, 8-97)