KOH CHANG, Thailand – Welcome back, readers. The day before, Friday, had been a disaster for the Pattaya teams. Neither The Stallions nor The Thoroughbreds had managed a victory, the scorers had hardly been bothered and the Duck Pond had seen several PCC players get the cold shock treatment, some more than once. Could either team reset the results board?
The Stallions were first up against the Bangkok Bandooks. The Bandooks batted first, with Jaswinder being held to 2 by good bowling from Deepak. However, Sunny took Tony to the cleaners with 23 runs, while Harry saw his bowling disappear over the boundary rope for 16 by Ney. Andy E kept things quiet, but three wides from Andy S pushed the score to 66. Luckily, Noddy took Kavi’s wicket for a minus score, and the Bandooks finished at 63.
The Stallions started well, with Deepak getting 24 from Ney. Tony and Harry added 19, but Andy E was stumped and caught and bowled by Manak for -7 and a trip to the Duck Pond. Back to 36. Andy S added 10 after being dropped at long on, but The Stallions were looking at another loss. Noddy, however, played a blinder with four 6s, scoring 21 and securing their first win by 4 runs.
The Stallions were up again soon after against stiff opposition from a new team, The Legacy Sixers. Andy won the toss and batted first. Champ bowled really fast and kept Deepak to just 1 run. Nizi Zain did the same to Harry for 5, but Tony had success against Timi with 14. The Andys were also restrained, and it took some boundaries from Noddy to push the score to 52, with a valuable 19.
Legacy Sixers responded well with 15 from Hutch and Timi, but Tony got walloped for 23 by Nizi. Andy was held to -5 by Andy E, who bowled him and kept The Stallions in the hunt. Andy S kept Gary to only 4, and the Sixers needed 15 to win.
Adam got confused and tried to help Champ with a No Ball 6 off the last ball for a win, but Andy made a brilliant one-handed catch over the boundary to remove the 6 runs. The No Ball counted, however, as did the 1 run taken. The Stallions won by 1 run for their second victory, but their 8 points were nowhere near enough for a place in the finals.
The Thoroughbreds had their final pool match against Lanna and were still looking for a victory. Lanna batted first, with Yok and Leng making steady progress and scoring 22. Vishnu bowled Isaac, who evaded the Duck Pond with a score of 1. Captain Coombes got 9, but Salman bowled Liam for -2 and Lanna stumbled to 30.
Animal bowled a corker of an over for -5, as he bowled Curly twice and reduced Lanna to 25. Surely a score the Thoroughbreds could achieve! It didn’t start well, as Yok kept Daryll under wraps and bowled him for -1. Jainish made up ground with 10 from Leng, and Vishnu got 7, having been run out for a ridiculous run, bringing the score to 17.
Simon did well for his 13, but the tailenders went for -7, with Salman bowled by Liam and Animal bowled by Curly. Animal’s -5 got him his third swim in the Duck Pond. The Thoroughbreds finished on 23 after losing 5 wickets, ending up with another doughnut on the score sheet.
The tournament was not over, as the finals were yet to come. Alibaba, another Pattaya-based team, beat Pitch Please 32 to 28 for the Cup, while the Mutant Misfits beat the Koh Chang Hornbills 45 to 30 to win the Shield.
The presentation was held on the beach, where the organisers, sponsors, support staff – umpires, commentators, scorers, etc. – and the venues that hosted the socials – 15 Palms Beach Resort, Zoom Zoom Bar and Joom Joom Bar – were thanked.
Prizes were awarded for the best bowler, best batter and Player of the Tournament.
Yet another great weekend of cricket at one of the world’s premier events.
PCC wishes to thank its sponsors, the Outback Bar, the Majic Bar and the Pattaya Sports Group, for their continued support.
