Message in a Bottle
May 10th, 2014 | Published in 2014, Scorecards and Match Reports
Pirates of the St Lawrence versus Bengal United
Saturday 10 May 2014
Pirates of the St Lawrence came within 5 runs of toppling premier-grade Bengal United on Saturday in the opening game of the 2014 season. Just 5 penalty runs (from the ball striking a plastic bottle on the field) separated the sides in a thrilling encounter at The Candy Fields.
Not even thunderstorms or a plague of baby mice in the shed could prevent the weekend’s fun. With the mat gnawed to rags over the winter, Brian Llewellyn-ap-Dafydd spent all Friday huddled in the barn sewing leather patches to make play possible, while some early morning digging cleared the flood waters.
A near flawless performance in the field from the Pirates capped one of their most successful opening campaigns. Gharat and Farishta ran threw the Bengal top order with swing and seam, reducing the visitors to 28 for 5. Backed up ferocious bounce and catching by Grant, and then spin and dip from Vadnerkar, talk from the visitors quickly turned to playing two Twenty20s in the day.
But a chance-less 52 from Raiyan, ever patient on a damp outfield and slow wicket, gave the Bengals something to fight for. And a 5-run penalty awarded when the ball struck a plastic bottle behind the bowler, just as Badugu was collecting it, would prove pivotal.
Considerably more patient in their reply, the Pirates ate up nearly 44 overs as they inched their way to victory. Crouch (22) produced his top score to date, Bell top scored with 39 and Frenchman Farishta clipped and drove elegantly to 25.
But Mahfuz had other plans. Coming on at seventh change, the Bengal skipper with a rubber arm blew away the home team with 5-15. As with the first innings, the low bounce from the storms in the night caused problems for the batsmen, and seven Pirates were bowled. With just 5 runs needed for victory, the death clunk sounded on an epic opening game. Another reason not to bring plastic water bottles to the field.
Pirates of the St Lawrence versus Bengal United
Saturday 10 May 2014
The Candy Fields, Mont-Saint-Hilaire
Match type: 45 overs per side (11 wickets)
Weather conditions: Sweaty, then gloriously sunny, if a little windy as the tent almost collapsed
Result: Bengal United won by 4 runs
Bengal United Innings
Batsman
Mizan
Mahfuz (c)
Rakib
Ali
Naim
Jia
Raiyan (wk)
Istiak
Fahad
Honey
Fayaz
Sudd
How Out
ct Raiyan (sub) b Grant
b Farishta
b Gharat
lbw Gharat
ct Grant b Vadnerkar
ct Vadnerkar b Grant
ct Grant b Gauthier
lbw Bell
b Vadnerkar
not out
b Crouch
run out (Vadnerkar)
R
12
2
2
6
16
1
52
0
1
15
6
6
B
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
4s
1
–
–
1
1
–
3
–
–
–
1
1
6s
–
–
–
–
–
–
1
–
–
–
–
–
Extras 25 (Byes 6, Leg Byes 3, No Balls 0, Wides 11, Penalties 5)
Total 144 for 11 in 35 overs
FoW (1-8, 2-17, 3-27, 4-27, 5-28, 6-61, 7-61, 8-75, 9-129, 10-137, 11-144)
Bowling
Reza Farishta
Amol Gharat
Iain Grant
Andrew Riley
Abhishek Vadnerkar
Angus Bell
Andrew Crouch
Sudeep Badugu
Julie Gauthier
O
4
6
5
3
6
4
2
2
3
M
1
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
R
14
13
14
17
17
13
14
15
19
W
1
2
2
0
2
1
1
0
1
Pirates of the St Lawrence Innings
Batsman
Pratik Joshi (wk)
Andrew Crouch
Sudeep Badugu
Angus Bell (c)
Reza Farishta
Andrew Riley
Julie Gauthier
Abhishek Vadnerkar (wk)
Amol Gharat
Iain Grant
Mark Rodmell
How Out
b Fayaz
lbw Istiak
ct Raitan b Sudd
b Mahfuz
ct Raiyan b Mizan
run out (Fayaz)
b Fayaz
b Mahfuz
b Mahfuz
b Mahfuz
b Mahfuz
R
1
22
4
39
25
2
0
0
6
5
0
B
20
28
10
75
59
7
18
2
20
15
4
4s
–
2
–
5
1
–
–
–
–
–
–
6s
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Extras 34 (Byes 2, Leg Byes 1, No Balls 5, Wides 26)
Total 140 for 11 in 43.1 overs
FoW (1-13, 2-25, 3-56, 4-97, 5-112, 6-125, 7-126, 8-132, 9-134, 10-134, 11-140)
Bowling
Fayaz
Fahad
Sudd
Ali
Istiak
Rakib
Jia
Mizan
Mahfuz
O
9
2
5
5
2
2
2
8
7.1
M
1
0
0
2
0
0
0
2
2
R
21
11
24
6
11
11
11
11
15
W
2
0
1
0
1
0
0
1
5