Pirates of the St Lawrence versus South Star
Saturday 13 July 2013
By Handy Andy
Photos by Cliff Ayotte

On a day hot enough to fry an egg on your head, the South Stars were looking to even the score with the Pirates, having narrowly lost their previous encounter. With the temperature rising at an astronomical rate, the match got underway with the Pirates openers sent into the middle.

Bell and Badugu were both off to a solid start; it quickly became apparent pitch was going to lift its skirt and let the runs flow. A nasty thick edge off a late cut brought Bell’s innings to a premature close, so in went Robinson, already a bundle of nerves from seeing the lead swing between Australia and England in the first Ashes test. However, he managed to gather himself and settled in quickly.

With Badugu caught after a powering 29, his most fluent innings for the Pirates to-date, in came Barrett. Robinson was next to fall on a classic Robinson 38, after chasing a quick single, bringing Varma to the crease. Caught at long on after a pull, the lucky Barrett was recalled to the middle after he casually mentioned under the tent that the bails had been knocked off by the bowler in his follow through. Cap’n’ Bell raced to the middle to explain it should have been called no-ball. The plucky Englishman then swatted his first six for the club on his way to 27.

A mid-order fold followed, requiring a glorious 40 from just 24 balls by Julius, leaving the Pirates with a total of 218 – their highest of the season. Kumail was the pick of the bowlers for the Stars, with figures of 3 for 23.

Some tight bowling from the Pirates’ bowlers left the Stars struggling to up the run-rate. Both Gharat and Robinson finished with 3 wickets-a-piece, with Islam, Wareing, Carter and Badugu all taking one each.

A stunning 48 not out from Sajid, only missing out on his half-century when he ran out of batsmen, kept the Stars close for a while but the accuracy of the Pirate bowlers was too much in the end.

A fantastic team effort saw the Pirates triumph by 63 runs.

Pirates of the St Lawrence versus South Star
Saturday 13 July 2013
The Candy Fields, Mont-Saint-Hilaire
Match type: 43 overs per side (11 wickets)
Weather conditions: Gas mark 10
Result: Pirates of the St Lawrence won by 63 runs

Pirates of the St Lawrence Innings

Extras 51 (Byes 18, Leg Byes 0, No Balls 2, Wides 31)
Total 218 for 10 in 43 overs

FoW (1-35, 2-77, 3-121, 4-136, 5-138, 6-146, 7-146, 8-197, 9-202, 10-202)

South Star Innings

Extras 13 (Byes 4, Leg Byes 0, No Balls 0, Wides 9)
Total 155 for 11 in 40 overs

FoW (1-0, 2-22, 3-31, 4-37, 5-69, 6-130, 7-147, 8-152, 9-152, 10-154, 11-155)