Pirates of the St Lawrence versus West Island Tigers
Saturday 30 July 2011
From the Hornet’s Nest

The Pirates entered their match versus the West Island Tigers determined to return a band of yellow to their otherwise red sign-up spreadsheet. Having lost nine matches this season – most by 100 to 170 runs – and been whacked for 332 by the Tigers on their last encounter, nothing short of hunting their visitors to extinction and posing over their corpses in poor taste would suffice.

Cap’n Bell won the toss and in a stunning move chose to bat.

After the fall of Syed wafting over the covers on 19 in the fifth over, Bell and Horne began building the highest partnership of the day, taking the score through to 80 at the 20-over break against economical, Nathan Astle-like bowling.

Shortly after drinks, with the score on 94, Horne advanced from his crease to cream Gorpal’s final delivery over extra cover. Somehow the ball hit the toe of his bat and squeezed through onto middle stump.

Despite the unfortunate fall of Milot (when your Cap’n says run, you run) and Eddie Palmer (caught and bowled for 1), Bell rattled along, in a professional manner, to make a superbly-compiled, backbone-of-the-innings 60. But just as the fireworks were about to begin, Syed, after relentless appealing, adjudged Bell lbw to a ball that was bouncing over the stumps, missing leg, which struck the batsman at the top of the front-leg flap seven and a half feet down the wicket.

Most pleasingly, the latter stage of the innings saw a steady increase in the runrate, as the Pirates almost batted out their overs à la indoor cricket. This was largely thanks to a cavalier 27 off 18 balls from Matt “Parore” Julius and run-a-ball cameos from Rashid, Ludhani, Melaram, and St-Jean.

After lunch, and a team talk of Churchillian proportions by Cap’n Bell, peppered with ‘f’ words, (”We will fight them…”), the Pirates set about defending 189 like schoolgirls possessed. Led by Melaram the Great and the legendary Legault, all the bowlers’ lines were ‘tight as’, cutting off the food supply and making it heavy going for the usually aggressive Tigers. Pylon-height catches were taken, dot balls were bowled, and ground fielding was at an all-time best.

At 106-5, however, with plenty overs in the bank, the Tigers were still looking likely victors thanks to a solid 48-run partnership from senior pro’s Rajan and gloveman Hassan. But recent recruits ‘Toppy’ Rashid, ‘Collingwood’ Ludhani and ‘Kaitaia-Kid’ Julius (backed up by the rearing-off-a-length Syed) added variety to the attack, all contributing vital breakthroughs.

With the pressure mounting and the screams becoming louder, Tigers’ wickets fell at ever-increasing intervals. Requiring 18 off the final over, Julius went for the kill, bagging two wickets for two runs.

Played in perfect conditions, this was a long-awaited Pirates’ victory.

Pirates of the St Lawrence versus West Island Tigers
Saturday 30 July 2011
The Candy Fields, Mont-Saint-Hilaire
Match type: 40 overs per side
Weather conditions: Smashing
Toss won by: Pirates of the St Lawrence
Result: Pirates of the St Lawrence won by 15 runs

Pirates of the St Lawrence Innings

Farooq Syed ct Rajan b Sahil 8 (21 balls)
Angus Bell (c) lbw Vicki 60 (5×4, 69 balls)
Richard Horne (wk) b Gorpal 31 (1×6, 57 balls)
Thiéry Milot run out (TJ) 8 (16 balls)
Eddie Palmer c&b Vicki 1 (6 balls)
Matthew Julius b Manish 27 (3×4, 18 balls)
Ahmad Rashid b Vicki 9 (1×4, 11 balls)
Naresh Ludhani b Manish 9 (1×4, 10 balls)
Brahma Melaram ct Manish b Vicki 7 (1×6, 3 balls)
Hugue St-Jean b Manish 10 (1×4, 9 balls)
Matthew Legault lbw Manish 1 (2 balls)

Extras 17 (Byes 8, Leg Byes 2, No Balls 1, Wides 6)
Total 189 for 11 in 39.4 overs

FoW (1-19, 2-94, 3-106, 4-119, 5-132, 6-154, 7-160, 8-171, 9-187, 10-188, 11-189)

Bowling

Sahil 4 overs, 1 wicket, 17 runs
TJ 4 overs, 0 wickets, 13 runs
Sandeep 4 overs, 0 wickets, 7 runs
Gorpal 8 overs, 0 wickets, 31 runs
Ashok 3 overs, 0 wickets, 17 runs
Vicki 8 overs, 4 wickets, 29 runs
Amritpal 3 overs, 0 wickets, 16 runs
Manish 4.4 overs, 4 wickets, 28 runs
Lakhwinder 1 over, 0 wickets, 12 runs

West Island Tigers Innings

Lakhwinder ct Ludhani b Melaram 16 (2×4)
Rana ct Horne b Melaram 9 (1×4)
Rajan st Horne b Julius 32 (1×4, 1×6)
Sahil ct Melaram b Ludhani 15 (2×4, 1×6)
Sandeep ct Legault b Rashid 3
Hassan (wk) ct Horne b Melaram 33 (5×4, 1×6)
Manish ct Melaram b Syed 6 (1×6)
Amritpal ct Palmer b Julius 34 (4×4)
TJ ct Legault b Julius 8 (1×4)
Vicki (c) run out (Legault/Julius) 1
Ashok not out 1
Gorpal run out (St-Jean) 1

Extras 12 (Byes 1, Leg Byes 1, No Balls 0, Wides 10)
Total 174 for 11 in 39.5 overs

FoW (1-26, 2-29, 3-53, 4-58, 5-106, 6-113, 7-161, 8-162, 9-172, 10-172, 11-174)

Bowling

Matthew Legault 6 overs, 0 wickets, 27 runs
Brahma Melaram 8 overs, 2 maidens, 3 wickets, 13 runs
Ahmad Rashid 4 overs, 1 wicket, 17 runs
Naresh Ludhani 4 overs, 1 wicket, 30 runs
Farooq Syed 8 overs, 1 maiden, 1 wicket, 32 runs
Matthew Julius 7.5 overs, 3 wickets, 25 runs
Thiéry Milot 1 over, 0 wickets, 19 runs
Angus Bell 1 over, 0 wickets, 7 runs