A sunny and warm Sunday morning gave way to a cool afternoon as five clubs across all three divisions took to the fields at the Shanghai Football Rugby Club this past weekend for the second week of the Shanghai Cricket Club League. The day saw the debut of three Chinese national team players, several dominant batting performances, and plenty of drama as the outcome of one match came down to the last delivery of the game.
Division 1
Daredevils vs Bashers CC
The Daredevils began their defense of the 2011 championship on Sunday in a match against the Bashers that provided plenty of drama. The Devils won the toss and elected to bat, sending Vikas Vaswani (20) and Sanjay Anugula (28) to the crease. They quickly had the Devils out to a fast start before tight bowling from 2011’s MVP Darren Manning (8-1-23-1) and Sameer Jolly (7-0-45-1) sent them to the pavilion. Making his SCC League debut, Chinese national men’s team captain Zhang Yufei was the third man to the crease where he quickly made himself at home. Zhang nearly reached a half century before being sent back to the pavilion, caught out for 44 off John L’Epagniol’s (8-1-44-1) bowling. Jon Newton followed and stayed at the crease for the remainder of the match, scoring 87* and benefiting from some inopportune drops by Bashers fielders. The Daredevils reached the end of their 40 overs with a score of 241/7.
The Bashers set about the chase and were quickly down two wickets as Dave Rosenthal (9) and Hadleigh Churchill (9) were sent packing early. Oliver Austin (46) steadied the innings and Mike Hall turned the entire attack around with a swashbuckling 70 runs from just 39 deliveries. Zhang Yufei (8-0-33-4) kept the pressure on as the Bashers closed in on the Devils’ total. With just two overs to go and 3 wickets in hand, the win was in reach when Phil Mildenhall (6) took a thick edge off Zhang Yufei’s bowling to deep third man where Chinese national team all-rounder Li Jian took the catch. A run out early in the final over put the Bashers on 241/9 needing one run from two deliveries for the win. Sanjay Anugula (6-0-38-1) got the first ball past the Bashers tailender, John L’Epagniol, and on the final delivery, also beat the bat. Sameer Jolly, the non-striker, none-the-less called for a run and L’Epagniol was forced to scramble to the bowler’s end. Devils wicket keeper and Chinese national player Zhao Gaosheng fielded the delivery and quickly returned the ball to Anugula who took off the bails at the bowler’s end; Bashers all out for 241.
Daredevils CC 241/7, Bashers 241/10 – Tie.
Division 2
Pudong Power vs Digital Devils
The first match of the day for Division 2 was the highly anticipated rematch of the 2011 finals between Pudong Power and the Digital Devils. Pudong won the toss and sent Devils Digital in to bat. Sanjay Sharma (77*) and Amit Pandey (78) set up a big score in perfect batting conditions with assistance from Devils captain Bhaskar Vadlamani (30). The Digital Devils finished on 255 off their 30 overs. Pratik Gadhecha was the best of the Pudong bowlers ( 6-0-37-1).
Chasing 256 to win, the Pudong batsmen Graeme McKim (42) and Justin Jones (31) started well, and Mark Bernhard (48), Kane Coleman (44) and Sid Sinha (21) put the Power within striking distance with well place shots around the ground. Vadlamani (6-0-36-2) and Chandrasekar Rangarajan (3-0-19-1) helped restrict Pudong at key moments, and ultimately the Devils were able to defend their total as Pudong fell 11 runs short in the chase.
Digital Devils 255/5, Pudong Power 244/7 – Digital Devils won by 11 runs.
Bashers CC vs DPR Hot Dogs
In the second match of the afternoon on SRFC’s far pitch, the Bashers, fresh from a win against the Dynamite Devils, faced off against the DPR Hot Dogs. The Bashers won the toss and elected to field. The Bashers bowlers put the Hot Dogs immediately under pressure, taking out both opening batsmen early. Mandar Sathe (24) and Manoj Mehta (25) laid the foundation of the innings and Steve Levy (31), Karthick Lakkaraju (25) and JJ Lim (22) all added runs to the board as the Bashers bowlers kept the pressure on. Sam Finnerty (6-0-51-2) and Andy Scott (6-0-45-3) led the charge with the entire team contributing with fine fielding and two run outs. After 30 overs, the Hot Dogs were on a score of 190, their final wicket falling to a run out on the last ball of the over.
Andrew Yee (19) and Richard Yates (40) began a concerted chase as Hot Dogs bowlers Garlen Fredricks (3-1-17-1) and Dharmenda Dubay (4-0-43-2) took some early wickets. Unfortunately for the Hot Dogs, those would be the only wickets that the Bashers would concede; Travis Weir (66*) and Sean Malcon (25*) guided their side easily home to victory in the 23rd over.
DPR Hot Dogs 190/10, Bashers CC 191/3 – Bashers won by 7 wickets.
Division 3
Pudong Dream Team vs Dulwich Knights
Following last week’s close loss to Pudong Dads & Lads, the Dulwich Knights were looking to not only rebound, but also avenge the 2011 title loss to the newly renamed Pudong Dream Team. Pudong won the toss and elected to bowl. The Knights struggled with the bat and tight bowling from Vijay Maanickavasagam (3-1-10-3) and Sanotsh Sequeira (3-1-8-2) kept the run rate very low. Dulwich finished their 20 overs reaching 41 for 7.
The day didn’t progress any better for the school club as opening bats Richard Wall and Rao Karthick immediately starting hitting boundaries in the first overs. Wall retired voluntarily on 25 leaving Karthik and Harsh Chugh to carry the team to victory, 46 for none.
Dulwich Knights 41/7, Pudong Dream Team 46/0 – Pudong won by 10 wickets.
Upcoming matches
With the Qingming Festival in full swing this weekend, the SCC League will resume on April 8 with the following matchups: D1: K2 CCC vs Bashers CC at Dulwich College, Pudong Power vs Daredevils CC at SRFC Near; D2: Leopards CC vs Pudong Power at SRFC Far, Dynamite Devils vs Digital Devils at SRFC Far; D3: DPR Hot Dogs vs Pudong Dads & Lads at Dulwich College, Bashers CC be Daredevils CC at SRFC Near.