Pirates of the St Lawrence versus Pakistan CC
Saturday 5 September 2009

Pirates of the St Lawrence went down to a classy Pakistan side peppered with Premiere-grade and Canadian juniors in a gritty performance at The Candy Fields last Saturday.

After losing the toss and being given the ball by the opposition, Phil Roche and Hari Sukhdeo bowled tight opening spells. They troubled the batsmen with numerous LBW appeals before Yasir was caught at cover by Milot for the first wicket.

Arslan joined opener Khurram and the pair remained patient as the runs dried up. Khuram then tried to open up, smiting Hari Sukhdeo high above the pylon, only for Bell, peddling backwards from mid on, to hold onto a a blinder. Hari then fired out Arslan LBW, leaving the visitors reeling at 44 for 3.

Faisal and Umar came together and saw off Roche and Hari. Cap’n Daz then tossed tha ball to his strike bowler, Anti-Pace Wisden. The Englishman was a little more expensive than usual but still dismissed Faisal when the Pakistani danced down the track and tried to smash Wisden over his head, only to hear the death rattle of middle peg. I would like to say that the pace ripped middle stump out of the ground, but this is non-fiction and our stumps are bolted together.

The Pakistan middle order started to restore some much needed structure to their innings, with big hitting Umar and Canada Under 16s Shani picking off boundaries on the quick outfield. The two added a solid partnership before Cap’n Daz decided enough was enough, and brought back strike weapon Phil Roche. In his first over of the new spell he produced a Jaffa (for you, Rich), the ball bending back into the pads to remove Umar. Cap’n Daz then showed Shani he should respect his elders, bowlig him for 17.

Raja Sukhdeo, batting for the other team on this day, came in and put on a clinical batting performance, notching up 36 runs, before Hugue St-Jean bowled one of his famous grenades that was poked to the waiting hands of Milot at point.

Bell, victim of some ludicrous wide calls, grabbed the next wicket with a stumping by Andrew Granville. Granville, who had never kept in his life, did an outstanding job on the day.

Herr Schmidt, in hot pursuit of the bowling averages, was brought on to try and wrap up the tail. In his second over he struck to keep the visitors to a respectable 220 runs for 10 wickets.

In reply, the Pirates’ innings got off to a nightmare start, with Tom Schmidt caught by opposition captain and wicketkeeper Khurram, attempting a pull shot that caught him high on the bat. A Bell strode to the crease and, with his score on 1, attempted a quick single to the leg side, but was sent back by Cap’n Daz. Both batsmen ended up at the bowlers’ end looking at each other and the Pirates were in real trouble at 19 for 2.

Tez Milot came to the crease and looked confident from the opening delivery. His partner, having been dropped by the keeper in the first over, got another edge, this time less bat, but it flew straight to the keeper who made no mistake. Daz Bullivant gone for 14 runs. Gah!

Phil Roche strolled to the crease to join Milot, who was starting to play shots to all parts of the ground. Roche, in his paternal role to the junior Milot, looked great until he smashed a lofted drive down the ground, only to pick out long on for 7.

Bhajaroom Sukhdeo looked assured for his 7, until edging to the keeper again. It seemed most of the Pirates were getting starts but were unable to go on.

Milot was joined by Hari Sukhdeo, who signalled his intent by striking his first ball over mid wicket for six. The pair accelerated, dominating the attack. Milot was put down by Raja Sukhdeo twice in one over before holing out to long on à la Roche.

This left Englishmen Granville and Wisden to try and steer the ship home but there was to be no Ashes glory on this day. Granville was caught and bowled by Raja for 6 and Wisden fell caught behind for 0.

By this stage, Hari Sukhdeo, having survived a probable edge to the keeper, had past 50 and was picking off fours at will. Hugue St-Jean, owing the captain at least 8 runs from fielding errors, didn’t disappoint, plucking 10 before being bowled by an in-swinging yorker.

George Robertson and Andy Myron didn’t trouble the scorers, and with 46 runs needed for victory, the Pirates were bowled out.

On reflection, this was an outstanding day for the Pirates, who fought gallantly against a side littered Premier and A-Graders, while missing several of their own. A fantastic effort in the field, with excellent bowling. They were a little harsh on wides, but barring that, we could have won the game if one or two more of our batsman had got on a roll.

Pirates of the St Lawrence versus Pakistan CC
Saturday 5 September 2009
The Candy Fields, Mont-Saint-Hilaire
Match type: 40 overs per side
Weather conditions: Best of the summer
Toss won by: Pakistan CC
Result: Pakistan CC won by 45 runs

Pakistan CC Innings

Yasir ct Milot b Roche 0
Khurram (c/wk) ct Bell b H. Sukhdeo 25 (2×4)
Arslan lbw H. Sukhdeo 6 (1×4)
M. Umar lbw Roche 29 (3×4, 1×6)
Faisal b Wisden 13 (3×4)
Shani b Bullivant 17 (4×4)
Raja ct Milot b St-Jean 36 (2×4)
Saad st Granville b Bell 14 (1×4, 1×6)
Sajad b B. Sukhdeo 5
Adnan Bhati not out 25 (3×4, 1×6)
Suffyam lbw Schmidt 0

Extras 51 (Byes 19, Leg Byes 7, No Balls 3, Wides 22)
Total 221 for 10 in 39.5 overs

FoW (1-10, 2-31, 3-44, 4-, 5-, 6-128, 7-150)

Bowling

Phil Roche 8 overs, 2 wickets, 34 runs
Hari Sukhdeo 6 overs, 2 wickets, 29 runs
Tom Wisden 3 overs, 1 wicket, 24 runs
Darren Bullivant 5 overs, 1 wicket, 25 runs
Angus Bell 8 overs, 1 wicket, 47 runs
Bhajooram Sukhdeo 7 overs, 1 maiden, 1 wicket, 18 runs
Tom Schmidt 2 overs, 1 wicket, 16 runs
Hugue St-Jean 0.5 overs, 1 wicket, 11 runs

Pirates of the St Lawrence Innings

Darren Bullivant (c) ct Khurram b Adnan 14 (2×4)
Tom Schmidt ct Khurram b Rocky 0
Angus Bell run out (R. Sukhdeo) 1
Thiery Milot ct Saad b Arslan 24 (4×4)
Phil Roche ct Saad b Adnan 7 (1×4)
Bhajooram Sukhdeo ct Khurram b Shani 7 (1×4)
Hari Sukhdeo not out 69 (10×4, 3×6)
Andrew Granville (wk) c&b R. Sukhdeo 6 (1×4)
Tom Wisden ct Khurram b R. Sukhdeo 0
Hugue St-Jean b Faisal 10 (1×4)
George Robertson c&b Faisal 0
Andy Myron ct Khurram b Adnan 0

Extras 38 (Byes 1, Leg Byes 2, No Balls 1, Wides 34)
Total 176 for 11 in 33 overs

FoW (1-16, 2-19, 3-24, 4-38. 5-63, 6-100, 7-119, 8-119, 9-154, 10-154, 11-176)

Bowling

Adnan 7 overs, 2 maidens, 3 wickets, 34 runs
Rocky 5 overs, 1 maiden, 1 wicket, 25 runs
Arslan 4 overs, 1 wicket, 20 runs
Saad 3 overs, 0 wickets, 10 runs
Shani 2 overs, 1 wicket, 21 runs
Yasir 3 overs, 0 wickets, 16 runs
Raja Sukhdeo 3 overs, 2 wickets, 18 runs
Umar Mohammad 3 overs, 0 wickets, 25 runs
Faisal 3 overs, 1 maiden, 2 wickets, 3 runs