Sunday Championship – 29 November 2015
KCC Templars v KCC Infidels
As usual, the annual KCC derby between Templars and Infidels was evenly contested but it was Infidels that prevailed quite comfortably in the end.
Set a victory target of 220, Infidels chased down the total in the 47th over with Sunny Bhimsaria (44), skipper Muhammad Khan (37) and Najeeb Amar (38) making the major contributions.
Earlier in the day, Bhimsaria had grabbed three wickets as Templars were restricted to 9/219 from their 50 overs after failing to make the most of a strong start that saw them reach 1/93. Nigel Shroff with 51, Dylan Dearing 31 and Aditya Kanthan 41 were the best of the Templars’ batsmen.
At KCC: KCC Templars 9/219 from 50 overs lost to KCC Infidels 6/220 from 46.4 overs by four wickets.
HKCC Wanderers v DLSWCC Knights
In another thrilling finish at Hong Kong Cricket Club, HKCC Wanderers pipped DLSWCC Knights by one wicket.
Knights batted first after winning the toss and Shakeel Haq dominated the early batting as he scored 44 out of the first 59 runs scored. But his was the fourth wicket to fall and the fifth fell soon after to leave the Knights teetering at 5/63 but a 99-run sixth wicket partnership, featuring 46 from Tabarak Dar, helped to lift the to an eventual total of 166 from 47.2 overs. Angus Robson was the best of the Wanderers’ bowlers, claiming 3/34 from 8.2 overs.
Knights’ skipper Niaz Ali grabbed three early wickets to reduce the Wanderers to 6/42 before a steadying 38 from Stuart Tohill moved the score to 75. Amanat Khan also grabbed three wickets as the Wanderers top and middle order were blown away. A 57-run eighth wicket stand between skipper Jon Bond and Tim Cutler got the score to 132 but when Niaz grabbed his fourth wicket shortly afterwards, 25 runs were still needed for victory with the last pair at the crease. Cutler nurtured the scoring with a fine 79 not out as Wanderers earned the narrowest of victories in a nail-biting finish.
At HKCC: DLSWCC Knights 166 from 47.2 overs lost to HKCC Wanderers 9/167 from 42 overs by one wicket.