Saturday Championship ─ Match Report (16th April 2016)

Saturday Championship Division 1

Saturday proved a big day for teams with the Division 1 title up for grabs and the second relegation place on the line.

In the Division 1 title match at Hong Kong Cricket Club, Saracens opted to bat first against Gap Ramblers. However, the hosts took the early advantage as Saracens top order were sent packing by Tom Ingram in a devastating opening burst that saw the visitors reduced to 4/12 with Ingram grabbing three wickets. The Gap Ramblers bowlers kept the pressure on the Saracens batsmen and the scoring slowed to a trickle as Saracens rebuilt their innings. Simandeep Singh and Usman Manj stuck to their task and after seeing off the three main bowlers without further loss, started playing a few more shots. The fifth wicket partnership realized 120 runs before the return of Ingram stalled Saracens’ momentum. Ingram dropped Manj off a difficult caught and bowled chance that swirled in the blustery conditions but made amends in the next over as Manj fell for 51. Ingram then uprooted Simandeep’s stumps to pick up his fifth wicket of the day – Simandeep out for 64. Saracens final total was 7/150 and Ingram’s figures were an impressive 5/32 off seven overs. Although Stu Tohill and Raag Kapur went wicketless, they only conceded 19 runs off their combined 14 overs.

Isaac Poole and Raag Kapur opened the batting in Gap Ramblers reply and the pair put on 54 runs for the first wicket, before Suhaib Ahmad bowled Poole for 31. Skipper David Varley joined Raag and they too batted with aplomb to take the game away from Saracens, whose young bowlers never gave up the fight. Kapur and Varley added 86 runs for the second wicket but with the victory target in sight, Kapur was out for 73. Varley then steered his team home with an unbeaten 32.

Gap Ramblers victory – believed to be the first by the Gap Ramblers team in the history of the Saturday competition - saw them add to their Division 2 title in 2014-15.

At HKCC: KCC Saracens 7/150 from 35 overs lost to HKCC Gap Ramblers 2/151 from 29.1 overs by eight wickets.

At the other end of the ladder, KCC Crusaders and DLSWCC Sarjan battled to avoid relegation at Kowloon Cricket Club.

DLSWCC Sarjan opted to bat first after winning the toss. Crusaders took an early wicket but a fine second wicket partnership of 81 between Mohammed Ibraheem (57) and Haroon Arshad (30) lifted them to 2/91. However, from there wickets tumbled regularly and DLSWCC Sarjan were eventually dismissed for 148 in 33 overs. Ashley Caddy and Chirag Kothari did most of the damage with the ball with Caddy claiming 4/18 in six overs while Kothari grabbed 3/27 in seven.

In reply, Chirag Kothari (36) and Ravi Sujanani (33) added 67 for the first wicket but a flurry of wickets saw the hosts slip to 4/82. However, calm heads prevailed in the Crusaders camp as Ashley Caddy and Aditya Kanthan saw Crusaders home with no further loss. Caddy finished on 30 not out while Kanthan was unbeaten on 37.

The result confirms DLSWCC Sarjan and Centaurs as the teams relegated to Division 2 for the 2016-17 season.

At KCC: DLSWCC Sarjan 148 from 33 overs lost to KCC Crusaders 4/149 from 33 by six wickets.

Saturday Championship Division 2

There was no play possible at Mission Road where the CCC Hung See versus HKUCC match was abandoned due to the wet ground.

At Mission Road: CCC Hung See v. HKU abandoned without a ball bowled.

Play was possible at PKVR Park where USRC/MCC and Lamma played out a close finish.

Batting first, USRC/MCC recovered from a precarious 3/3 to post 150 in 23.3 overs. Prabhjot Singh was the savior for USRC/MCC, hitting 66, while Mudassar Faraz did the damage for Lamma with 3/21 from five overs.

Lamma lost an early wicket but they looked well set after adding 74 runs for the second wicket, with Haider Bukhari contributing 41. However, their middle order collapsed as Balal Mohammad picked up 5/17 in a devastating seven over spell that reduced Lamma to 8/121. Lamma’s tail-enders got them close but in the end, their efforts were in vain.

At PKVR Park: USRC/MCC 150 from 23.3 overs beat Lamma CC 141 from 33 overs by nine runs.