Saturday Championship – 13 February 2016
As the Saturday Championship reaches the sharp-end of the season, places in the top 5/bottom 5 are still to be determined in each division.
Saturday Championship Division 1
HKCC vr KCC Crusaders
At Hong Kong Cricket Club, HKCC Nomads secured their place in the top five with a hard-fought victory over KCC Crusaders.
Crusaders found themselves batting first after being sent in but they recovered well from a shaky start to post 7/173 from their 35 overs. Chief contributors were Damian Kelleher with 66 and Ashley Caddy with 31 – the pair adding 111 for the third wicket. However their dismissals saw the innings stall somewhat and Nomads did well to restrict them to that score. Toby Brown was the pick of the Nomads bowlers with 4/15 from his four over spell.
Nomads’ reply got off to a poor start and they were soon reduced to 3/30. Ravi Mulchandani hit 32 as he and Toby Brown added 52 runs for the fourth wicket while Brown and Max Abbott then followed with a 48-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Brown eventually fell for 41 and Abbott 47 but their efforts helped get Nomads over the mark with nine balls and four wickets to spare.
At HKCC: KCC Crusaders 7/173 from 35 overs lost to HKCC Nomads 6/176 from 33.3 overs by four wickets.
KCC Saracens v DLSWCC Sarjan
At Kowloon Cricket Club, KCC Saracens defeated DLSWCC Sarjan by six wickets.
Batting first after winning the toss, DLSWCC Sarjan scored 7/166 from their 35 overs with Aftab Hussain hitting 36.
Saracens’ skipper Sunny Bhimsaria top-scored with 73 not out in his team’s reply, which included a 67-run third wicket partnership with Ansh Lulla, who scored 31. Saracens scored the winning runs in 32.2 overs for the loss of four wickets.
At KCC: DLSWCC Sarjan 7/166 from 35 overs lost to KCC Saracens 4/167 from 32.2 overs by six wickets.
Saturday Championship Division 2
Taipan CC v DLSWCC Spartans
In Division 2 action at Mission Road, Taipan CC maintained their unbeaten run this season with a narrow victory over DLSWCC Spartans.
Spartans batted first after winning the toss and they reached 9/204 from their 35 overs with Muhammad Haseeb scoring 74 while Haroon Arshad contributed 30. The pair combined in a fifth wicket partnership worth 60 runs. For Taipans, Hassan Khan claimed 4/41 from six overs while Manjinder Singh picked up 3/34 from his seven.
Amanat Khan picked up three wickets as Taipans were reduced to 6/77 in reply. However Taipans’ lower order batsmen Dharam Singh (41), Hassan Khan (31) and Jagmeet Brar (31) combined well to get them over the line in the last over with the last pair at the crease. For DLSWCC Spartans, Amanat Khan finished with 4/42 from his seven overs.
At Mission Road: DLSWCC Spartans 9/204 from 35 overs lost to Taipan CC 9/208 from 34.5 overs by one wicket.