ICC captain Anand Chang recalled his players from the field after one of their batsmen was penalised five runs. The controversial forfeiture gives Laguna an automatic berth to the semi-finals of the league this Sunday (May 8) at the ACG where they will take on Thalang with a place in the finals on the line.
Only five points separated both Laguna and ICC heading into last Sunday's (May 3) match.
Laguna captain Stuart Reading opted to bat first after the coin toss. After a steady start, Laguna lost opening bat Arif Mushtaq (11) in the 6th over after being caught and bowled off the bowling of Arun Virdikar with the score on 29. Laguna then lost Roly Cooper (0) a few overs later before Ali Khan (28) and opener Manish Sadarangani (87) steadied the innings before Khan fell in the 15th over. Laguna lost Pao (3) cheaply and then Nadeem Yousuf (8) was run out with a communication mix up and at 102-5 in the 23rd over, ICC were in the ascendency.
This brought Stuart Reading (38) to the crease, and with Sadarangani, the pair put on a valuable 95 run partnership before Sadarangani was caught with the score on 197-6 in the 36th over. Reading fell just three balls later holing out at deep fine leg. Stroke maker Sameer Khan (4) didn’t last long being clean bowled by Divan Mydeen and Damian Clowes’ time at the crease was even shorter being removed the very next ball for a golden duck. ICC then claimed a hatrick after Kishore Sadarangani (2) and Simon Betts (1 not out) coming up short on an attempted 3rd run, upon which Laguna’s innings came to a premature ending after 37.5 overs being all out with 212-10. Pick of the bowlers for ICC were Divan Mydeen (4 for 37 from 5.5 overs) and Arun Virdikar (2 for 39 from 8.0 overs).
After the lunch break, ICC set about their run chase. However, in the 4th over, after top-edging a ball, which was subsequently dropped by wicketkeeper Clowes at backward square leg, and the ICC openers then setting off for a run, nearby fielder, Roly Cooper gathered the ball and made a direct hit, with batsman Junaid Mohammad (16) being adjudged short of his ground by the square leg umpire. Not initially accepting the umpire’s decision and walking immediately back to the clubhouse, the umpires awarded 5 penalty runs, upon which the ICC captain recalled his batsmen from the field and as a result the match was forfeited and awarded to Laguna.