Saturday Championship Division 1
This season’s Saturday Championship Division 1 has been hotly contested with two ties and a number of very close finishes already seen in the first six rounds of the competition.
There was yet another nail-biter at HKCC last Saturday as HKCC Witherers claimed a dramatic win in the last over against PACC. PACC batted first after winning the toss and they recovered from 8/75 to score 163 all out, thanks to a bold 65 from Mohammad Saad. Witherers were pegged back in the early stages of their reply but they recovered from 3/11 to reach 4/121 with Toby Raper hitting 49 and Tim Whisker 43. But a flurry of wickets saw the hosts slump to 7/122 and then 8/136 as Mohammad Azam ran through the middle-order, claiming 3/29. The ninth wicket fell at 150 but the last pair held firm and Witherers got home with three balls to spare.
At HKCC: PACC 163 from 32.5 overs lost to HKCC Witherers 9/164 from 34.3 overs by one wicket.
CCC Jing Sun scored a 135-run victory over Centaurs at Mission Road with Kabir Sodhi hitting an unbeaten century. Sodhi scored 105 not out as CCC Jing Sun posted 3/234 from their 35 overs, with Mark Wright also hitting an unbeaten 62. The Sodhi/Wright partnership reaped 127 runs in an unbroken 4th wicket stand. The top was knocked off the Centaurs batting order and from 5/25 they never recovered. Ben Harris hit 53 and he was the last wicket to fall as Centaurs could only muster 7/99 from 34 overs, having been penalised one over by the umpires for slow bowling during their innings.
At Mission Road: CCC Jing Sun 3/234 from 35 overs beat Centaurs 7/99 from 34 overs by 135 runs.
At Kowloon Cricket Club, DLSWCC Sarjan beat KCC Crusaders by 29 runs. DSLWCC Sarjan’s openers got them off to a flyer with a century opening partnership between Hudugur Gururaj (38) and Mohammed Ibraheem (48). Waqas Khan then chipped in with 43 as DLSWCC Sarjan reached 6/190 from their 35 overs. Chirag Kothari was the pick of the Crusaders’ bowlers, grabbing 4/41 from his spell. In reply, Aditya Kanthan scored 39 but his was the best in a faltering effort that saw Crusaders dismissed for 161. Sarfaraz Khan did most of the damage for DLSWCC Sarjan, claiming 4/29 in six overs.
At KCC: DLSWCC Sarjan 6/190 from 35 overs beat KCC Crusaders 161 from 32.4 overs.
Saturday Championship Division 2
In the only Division 2 match of the day, Taipan CC accounted for Kai Tak CC by 103 runs. Taipans were sent into bat and they made merry to the tune of 5/270 from their 35 overs with Gurjinder Singh hitting 84, Romy Singh 36 and Manjinder Singh 55. Manjinder then claimed 3/27 as Kai Tak were restricted to 5/167 in reply, despite half-centuries from Tom Downey (64) and Peter Williams (58*).
At PKVR Park: Taipan CC 5/270 from 35 overs beat Kai Tak CC 5/167 from 35 overs by 103 runs.