Cricket : Mike Holmes Memorial Tournament and Deepam Knockout Cup |25 May 2007

Losing the toss, McNally was forced to unleash his bowling armoury on an unsuspecting Luckstars batting line-up. After some previous disappointing outings, Sohan was on song, bowling solidly with top figures of 4-15, demolishing the lower order in quick

succession. He also managed to avoid a three-way collision to take one of the catches of the season. 

Sohan was well supported by Praven and Shanker who picked up two wickets apiece. Banyan Tree’s bowlers delivered six wides in 21 overs.

For Luckstars, Sanjeewa and Aruna were the only glimmers of hope, each making starts of 18 but were unable to go on. 

On the field, Banyan Tree spreaded their branches to all corners, cutting off fours and taking sharp catches. Bernard took two screamers fully stretched at a horizontal angle.

Vilan finished the Luckstars inning, swinging and hitting three fours to edge the score to 73. Banyan Tree were to take no chances after recently falling clumsily short of similar totals.

This time, they didn’t disappoint and partnerships were the key. Captain McNally, who featured in each partnership, carried his team to a seven-wicket victory.

McNally cleverly poked away to reach 14, while the big hitters – Sohan and John – chipped in by smashing 17 and 24 respectively. Banyan Tree swiftly reached the total in only nine overs. The three wickets were evenly shared between Taucita and Saman Rajeewa.

In the afternoon under a scorching sun, there was the battle between St Anne Kings and Patel Youth.

The toss was won by Patel Youth’s captain Vashudev who decided his team should bat in order to clinch victory in the semifinal of the Deepam Cinema  Knockout Cup.

Krish, with the gloves off, opened the bowling with Christian who started poorly, bowling a string of early wides. But still Christian managed to pick up the early wicket of Dinesh for one.
With St Anne Kings’ captain Tim Horpinitch arriving late for the match, Patel Youth had two very good partnerships to bring the score to 50 after just eight overs. Santosh, breaking a partnership in his first over, went a step further to claim a second scalp with his last ball of the same over. His final figures showed 3-16, while Ajay walked away with a respectable 2-20.

Ravji, despite surviving some early chances, batted extremely well, ending up with 27 as did Kanji with 22. They both played some solid shots on the offside to significantly contribute to the team’s final score of 123. They were also helped by captain Vashudev, coming in at the end with 23 which included some fours. All bowlers contributed at least one wicket each. Only Horpinitch ended up with figures of 0-19.

With Deepak back in the side, Patel Youth were confident of knocking over the St Anne Kings, especially after the batting performance they had put in.

The openers did not perform well, but new recruit Esar played well on his debut, scoring 11. Hari looked like putting up a big score until he was ran out for 16.

In the end, it was Santosh and Ajau who did the damage. Santosh dispatched two balls for six to top-score with 27, while Ajay was not out 15.

Only one bowler – Deepak – really played well for Patel Youth on the day. He clocked one of his best performances, claiming two wickets.

Lavji bowled a good spell up until his final over where he got smashed for 17, but finished well, dismissing Santosh and finishing with figures of 2-28. The best run scorer for St Anne Kings was the wides with 29.