Pirates of the St Lawrence versus South Stars
Sunday 29 June 2014
By Hot Rod

Ramadan has arrived, and Pirates of all religions and none seem to have misunderstood this by abstaining from runs. Poor innings totals have been a problem of late, but this weekend set new standards: after the previous day’s collapse against a good-but-challengeable total, Pirates batted first and, for a while, threatened to break all records for low scores.

The first dismissal – a comedy run out from a dropped catch three balls in with no score on the board – set the tone. Nothing seemed to work, and some tactics failed bathetically. Most Pirates batsmen fell to weak attacking shots that failed to clear the infield and just generated easy catches. Rodmell held up one end for a while by dropping anchor: but as soon as he tried to open out and attack rather than just generating endless dot balls, he succeeded merely in smashing a square dive hard into the shins of the unfortunate Vaisman (on as a substitute fielder for the opposition who were one man short), thus hobbling his teammate for the rest of the game.

And it was indeed a substitute fielder who ironically provided the Pirates’ most skilful moment of the innings, as Islam swooped to take a brilliant diving catch to dismiss Khanna, whose pull shot was not quite strong enough to clear the catchers. Islam’s dedication to fair play and the spirit of the game in dismissing his youthful teammate is admirable in principle, but did not help the mood of the Pirates.

The courageous Vaisman then came in to bat in spite of his injuries, first taking a fast ball on the exact tender part of the injured shin, and then being struck amidships by a hard throw at the stumps as he regained his ground after another poor call for a run. Our friendly Quebecois must be wondering why he took this strange game up.

So the score lumbered to a woeful 29‑9, and Captain Woodall was inconsolable as he scooped a slower one to mid-off and all seemed lost. Hasan restored some dignity by becoming the only batsman to achieve double figures. But Pirates were left defending an embarrassingly low score of 69. The prospects of a recovery can be summed up by the fact that the teams decided to dispense with the lunch break and to play the game out to the expected early conclusion.

And it didn’t seem to be getting better when Pirates took the field, as the openers took a little time to find their line and precious runs were shed. But a breakthrough came for Islam when Ehtisham played across the line once too often. And then the bowlers regained the initiative. Ghugari held a tight line to restrict the score. Cilliers bowled full and straight to take three wickets, exploiting the weakness of some South Stars batters who defaulted to the back foot and the cross bat. And when Woodall brought himself on and began with a triple-wicket maiden including the Pirates’ second-ever hat-trick, anything seemed possible.

And in the end it was agonisingly close. Two difficult catching chances went down, as the Stars’ remaining batters regained their composure and knocked off the remaining runs. Pirates were left lamenting the what-ifs. But a potential massacre had been turned into a genuinely competitive game.

Pirates of the St Lawrence versus South Stars
Sunday 29 June 2014
The Candy Fields, Mont-Saint-Hilaire
Match type: 30 overs per side (11 wickets)
Result: South Stars won by 3 wickets

Pirates of St Lawrence Innings

Extras 20 (Byes 4, Leg Byes 0, No Balls 0, Wides 16)
Total 69 for 11 in 22 overs

FoW (1-0, 2-4, 3-10, 4-10, 5-18, 6-25, 7-25, 8-25, 9-29, 10-51)

South Stars Innings

Extras 10 (Byes 1, Leg Byes 1, No Balls 1, Wides 7)
Total 72 for 8 in 22.1 overs

FoW (1-23, 2-32, 3-44, 4-49, 5-56, 6-61, 7-61, 8-61)