PATTAYA, Thailand – PCC travelled to TCG for their 3rd match of the season and despite four players being unavailable (Aditya Goasavi, Sree Kuttan, Mike Gerits and Glen Roberts), there was the possibility of a win, but at this level lapses in concentration can have unpleasant consequences, ie a loss. There were some positives to be drawn from this loss: Jainish Parikh returned from baby leave (congratulations) with an excellent 46 not out, but in general the batting was poor with only 3 batsmen reaching double figures; fewer extras were given away; 6 catches were taken including 2 blinders by Luke Stokes, but 3 crucial catches were dropped, but there were some examples of fine bowling and a few maiden overs.
Andy won the toss and decided to bat first on a slow wicket but fast outfield. PCC opened with Luke and Harry Archer against Sheik Babu who struck on the 3rd ball when Harry got an edge to short third man for a duck. Nagoor Meeran bowled a maiden over to keep things tight as Karan Mehta hit out against Sheik, but not for long as he was caught on the long on boundary by Annon Ansari for 8 and PCC were 10 for 2 in the 3rd over. Luke was finding runs hard to come by as Nagoor in particular bowled well. Neither Ali Garnsworth nor Andre Human could get the bowlers away and both fell cheaply, Andre to a dubious LBW, PCC were struggling at 25 for 4.
Deepak Pandy joined Luke and Syed Sultan gave away wides by the dozen as the run rate picked up without loss from the 7th over. 54 for 4 at 10 overs. Disaster struck in the 12th when Luke played a lazy shot and was caught behind for 20 (off 35 balls) and a wicket maiden for Captain Ibrahim Sahib, 59 for 5. This brought Jainish to the crease and a recovery in the run-rate and retention of wickets as PCC reached 84 for 5 at drinks, some 30 runs below par. Deepak went in the 16th over for a creditable 25, well caught by Babu off Ramiz Raja, 86 for 6. Andy joined Jainish who did most of the damage until Andy departed for 9 as PCC passed 122 for 7 in the 20th.
Another wheel fell off as Dvij Sharma and Marcus Chalkey came and went cheaply but Jainish was still hammering away. Terry Paiva was the last man in at 127 for 9 and whilst being keen to return the strike to Jainish, he set off on a ridiculous run. Jainish had been batting for an hour and was disinclined to sprint like Usain Bolt and refused to run. Terry never made it back. The run out was not the crippler, it was the 9 balls left unbowled. I said that would be crucial and so it was. 151 all out with Jainish 46 not out (he was miffed). The 35 extras, including 33 wides were appreciated. TMNC’s best bowlers were Sheik Babu 3 for 31 and Syed Sultan 3 for 21.
TMNCC were in with a chance as 151 was not too big a score to chase, but neither was it too small for PCC to defend. To their credit TMNCC showed dogged determination, and whilst PCC almost snatched a victory, their dropped catches came with a cost.
Annon opened with and Anucha against Andre and Andy. TMNCC made steady progress with the help of a few streaky 4s and got to 28 from 5 overs without loss. Harry took over from Andy in the 6th over but it was Andre that struck in the 7th when Anucha was comfortably taken by Luke at mid-off for 14, 42 for 1. Jainul Arsath entered the crease and battered Harry for 12 before Dvij took over from Andy and immediately bowls Annon for 36, 56 for 2 in the 9th over. Marcus relieved the expensive Harry as TNMCC reached 63 for 2 off 10, ahead by 9 runs and 2 wickets. Marcus and Dvij bowled quite tidily at 5 an over for the next 4 overs when relieved by Terry and Harry.
Harry struck in the 15th with Babu on 10, excellently caught by Luke at long off, 88 for 3 and a wicket maiden. Early drinks. Terry, not wishing to be left out, has Jainul caught next over by the catching machine, Luke for 22, 88 for 4. Nothing between the two teams. Terry had an expensive over, battered by Mabas Khan. Andy managed to drop Safwan on 11 but made amends 2 runs later at 107 for 5 off Harry in the 19th. Another over and another wicket as Terry had Syed caught by Andy for his second catch, and TMNC were making it interesting at 114 for 6 in the 20th. TMNCC needed 36 from 5 overs. Ramiz and Mabas kept TMNCC’s hopes alive with a terrible over from Dvij which cost 12 runs and although it took the wicket of Ramiz for 11, it was runs that could not be spared.
During the final hectic overs Karan dropped 2 catches and Harry dropped one, all which might have squeezed a victory. Nonetheless, PCC kept fighting. Andy bowled an over and had Mabas caught behind for 19 with the score on 147 for 8. Dvij bowled that last over but 3 wides did not help and TMNCC finally reached 152 for 8 with 3 balls to spare and a win by 2 wickets. As they say, defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. PCC are now 1 from 3 with the more accomplished teams yet to play. Life is harder in the Premier Division.
PCC would like to thank their sponsors, the Outback Bar, the Magic Bar and the PSG for their support.
