The PCL – currently seeking a title sponsor – will see four teams challenge for the top spot in a 30-over format at Phuket’s home of cricket each Sunday over the next two months.
Winning the inaugural coin-toss on Feb 8, KCC captain Imtiyaz Mushtaq, elected to bat in expectation of posting a total that would intimidate a CCC team full of raw talent, but with many not having played organised cricket for several years on an untested pitch.
Mushtaq’s plans, however, were immediately dealt a hammer blow, with CCC opening pace-bowler Peter Burges nailing his line and length, forcing two dropped catches within the first five balls of the game, before CCC captain Andrew McMillan ended Ubaid Bhat’s (0) brief visit to the crease by clawing a classic second slip catch off the final ball of the first over.
Burges’ bowling brought burgeoning consternation to KCC in the third over, with Martin Hill comfortably catching Hashim Ahmad (1) at mid-wicket, before a fifth over spotlighted Burges’ brilliant efforts in claiming the wicket of Sami Pir (15) and the league’s first wicket-maiden through the safe hands of Camdon Dicks, while the scoreboard suggested an upset in the making at 15 for 3 after 5 overs.
The following five overs saw KCC rally somewhat, securing 51 runs for the loss of just one wicket, that of Mushtaq (15) being superbly caught in the covers by Andrew Solomons off Dicks’ pace bowling in the eighth over.
Spellbinding
Drinks at 10 overs, and the score at 66 for 4, certainly enthused the subsequent performance of CCC and specifically that of Matt Heterick.
Heterick’s first PCL delivery took the scalp of Zahoor Ahmad (32) before his replacement, Mujeeb Noor, trucked his first ball to the boundary for 4; these, remarkably, being the only runs to come off the bat against Heterick in his miserly, four wicket, three-over, spellbinding spin spell.
Following Noor’s four, Heterick picked up his second wicket of the over, clean bowling Noor with his fourth ball, as if punishing the KCC batsman for daring to even think of scoring more runs off his bowling!
Heterick’s Scrooge-like bowling continued emphatically in his second over, securing the wicket of Sameer Khan (4) thanks to Camdon’s brother, Ashton, getting in on the catching action at point, and boldly claiming the game’s second wicket-maiden.
A second wicket-maiden for Heterick’s was only denied by a wayward wide before taking his fourth wicket, removing the inimitable Manoj ‘Guddu’ Yadav, clean bowled.
In addition to an exceptional bowling performance and sunny disposition throughout the game, Heterick also managed to help the experienced Hill to his first PCL wicket, taking a lively catch at first slip, sending the usually collected, now confused, Arif Mushtaq back to the Clubhouse.
Managing to prop up the score with a further 45 runs by the 18th over, KCC were mid-celebration on reaching 100, when a no-ball from Anthony Dupont presented an opportunity to add a second run off the free hit, but deft, accurate fielding allowed ’keeper Jacob King to whip the bails, ending his counterpart’s and KCC’s innings on a run-out and a meagre total of 101.
Bemusing
With 30 overs to reach a winning total of 102, McMillan’s CCC would have felt confident going into the innings break. However, a quality captain’s bowling spell through the opening five overs after the break from Mushtaq thoroughly turned the tables in favour of KCC.
A third over brace of wickets from Mustaq stampeded the stumps of both King (6) and Heterick (0) with bemusing, bat-beating, in-swinging yorkers, before a fifth over wicket-maiden, the game’s third, ended an edgy Solomons’ (13) innings with umpire Quail promptly affirming Mushtaq’s vociferous LBW appeal.
At 25 for 3 after five overs, CCC knew they were in a fight and it was KCC’s Pir who landed the next blow, three balls later, to further wobble CCC against the ropes, garnering the wicket of Ashton Dicks (0), caught behind by KCC keeper Mayur Deuskar.
Confusion clouded the claim to KCC’s fifth wicket just before the 10th over drinks’ break, when a well executed delivery from Khan found the edge off Camdon Dicks’ (4) bat, which in turn found the fingertips of Deuskar’s glove, whose deflected effort then fell agonisingly short of a diving first slip. Breathing a sigh of relief, Camdon was stunned to hear an appeal, and turning to see Burges – umpiring at square-leg – raising his finger, indicating that the batsman had unknowingly clipped his own wicket, following through with the bat.
At 41 for 5, CCC was now alarmingly trailing KCC comparatively at the same point in their opponent’s innings. And alarm bells rang louder still for CCC immediately upon their return after drinks, with Zahoor stamping his claim for man of the match in delivering the league’s first double-wicket-maiden, returning Dupont (6) and then Kevin Sharp for a duck in the same over, the latter’s American baseball batting address no match for Mushtaq’s pitching.
Zahoor continued his wicket haul in the 13th over, seeing Adam Victor (6) snapped up by Hashim, and with the score now on 48, just three CCC batsmen remained to achieve 54 more runs.
Skipper McMillan was next to the crease to accompany Hill (1*), but his effort to anchor the innings lasted 16 deliveries, yielding just two runs before edging a rising ball from Zahoor to the KCC keeper.
Having vacated his umpiring post at square-leg just minutes earlier, Burges replaced McMillan to face just four balls before he too fell victim to another rising Zahoor delivery, glancing his gloved grip for Deuskar to catch and ultimately seal victory for KCC .
Man of the match was awarded to Mushtaq for his all-round performance of 4 wickets for 7 runs, with second place going to Heterick (4 wickets for 5 runs) and Zahoor taking third spot (4 wickets for 8 runs).