Pirates of the St Lawrence vs Sukhdeo’s Select: A Guyanese XI
Saturday 29 September 2012
By Aunt Fannie
Photo by Mehul Vadher

Sukhdeo’s Select triumphed by 2 wickets against Pirates of the St Lawrence on Sunday in a soggy, vodka-fuelled thriller played amidst glorious fall foliage. An unbeaten 178-run partnership between Angus Bell and Richard Horne – the second largest in Pirate history – and a career-best 4 for 34 by John Carter were not enough to see a 13th win of the season for the home side.

Batting first, in a scene reminiscent of the World Twenty20, the Pirates suffered their worst ever start, crashing to 12 for 4. The floaty seam of Hari Sukhdeo and Tony Birbal, on a damp gravel surface, accounted for Vadher, Hogg, Robinson and Kelly Morton within 8 overs.

Scorer Matt Legault, whose creeping pad rash only recently cleared up thanks to some experimental steroid cream purchased on prescription, was delighted under the marquee. Promoted to 7, he looked set for a long innings.

Unfortunately for Legault but mercifully for the Pirates, Bell and Horne ground down, broke and then flayed the Guyanese attack over the next 29 overs, adding a mammoth unbeaten 178 for the fifth wicket.

Countering the low bounce by rocking onto the front foot at every opportunity, Bell favoured the sweep and punch down the ground, while Horne lofted high and handsomely straight and through extra cover. The Kiwi’s gaping stride and the Scotsman’s stubby little legs rattled the bowlers’ lengths.

The hundred partnership – the third between this pair – came up in the 30th over. Bell notched up his eighth half-century of the season with a cut and Horne, pulling savagely to the fence, reached his third.

Finishing on 86 not out, Horne posted his second highest score for the Pirates, and Bell, ending on 76 not out, reached 1,000 runs for the season. Legault, fidgeting under the tent, recorded his second largest bout of pad rash.

A total of 190 in 37 overs should have been enough to close the game, but the Guyanese, already two down in the four-match series, looked to chase it in quick time as a misty spray engulfed the field.

Mo’ Saddick, still helmet, glove and box-less, expanded his repertoire to the offside, as the Pirates, struggling to control a swelling bar of soap, offered up width.

Legault and Hagemann-Nielsen beat the bat twice an over but the right-hand, left-hand combination of Saddick and Raj Sukhdeo, powering the ball across a greasy outfield, proved unsettling. They brought up 50 in the eighth over.

Robinson, now sobered up after a night watching the AFL Final, looked the most dangerous bowler of the day. Producing lightning pace and accuracy, he forced the batsmen into defensive mode. Partnered by Professor Granville, whose first delivery was nibbled to the keeper, the bowlers made it 103 for 3.

The increasingly wet ball and outfield contributed to a spate of misfields and missed opportunities for the Pirates, whose generosity – gratefully accepted by the Guyanese – let slip more than 40 runs through legs. At 133 for 3, with the Sukhdeo twins slapping the sopping leather, the game looked set for a very quick finish.

But Carter – on the back of his club best the previous week – and Kelly Morton had other ideas. Landing the ball with remarkable control, they put the squeeze on the Sukhdeos. Carter struck in his first over, forcing Raj to cut to Robinson at point, who claimed the first of his three quality catches on the day. Kelly Morton then sounded the death clunk for Patel. Dancing like a madman down the wicket, Ramkissoon was then stumped by Horne in Carter’s next over.

147 for 6 then became 155 for 7, as Horne produced a remarkable legside stumping off Kelly Morton to rid of Hari.

With the vodka now worked deep into the batting team’s system, 36 runs, with just 4 wickets required, should have been defendable for the Pirates. But the curse of the misfields returned for a second wave. Slogging the ball into the deep, the Guayanese took full advantage, advancing rapidly towards the target.

Carter continued to strike, aided by some excellent catches from Robinson at cow corner and Legault pedalling into cover. With Błażejczyk, the wizard of Warsaw, beating the bat, a last-minute upset looked possible. But in the end, the experience of Uncle Sukhdeo – a 64-year-old able to outrun 30-year-olds – saw the visitors home by two wickets.

Pirates of the St Lawrence versus Sukhdeo’s Select: A Guyanese XI
Saturday 29 September 2012
The Candy Fields, Mont-Saint-Hilaire
Match type: 37 overs per side (11 wickets)
Weather conditions: Sweaty under seven layers and the feeling of a water pistol in the face
Result: Sukhdeo’s Select won by 2 wickets

Pirates of the St Lawrence Innings

Extras 23 (Byes 9, Leg Byes 6, No Balls 0, Wides 8)
Total 190 for 4 in 37 overs

FoW (1-2, 2-3, 3-10, 4-12)

Sukhdeo’s Select Innings

Extras 41 (Byes 11, Leg Byes 5, No Balls 7, Wides 18)
Total 194 for 9 in 33 overs

FoW (1-54, 2-93, 3-103, 4-133, 5-136, 6-147, 7-155, 8-164, 9-189)