Parthiban Lingam and Stephen Bradley added their names to the SCC League Honour Board on Sunday, both taking five wickets in fine displays of seam and spin bowling. The two bowlers powered their respective teams to victory as the both the Division 2 Digital Devils and the Division 3 Bashers looked to regain the top of the table in their respective divisions.
Division 2
Digital Devils vs DPR Hot Dogs
On a hot and sultry day at Dulwich College, the Digital Devils and DPR Hot Dogs met each other for the second time in 2012. Winning the toss, the Digital Devils opted to bat. The opening partnership of Aravid Arasu (44) and Pandian Janarthanan (37) gave an explosive start and piled up 80 runs in mere 8 overs. Hot Dogs bowlers made a good comeback and dismissed Digitals top order in quick succession. A fifth wicket stand of 83 runs between S.K. De (61) and Amit Pandey (21), along with some lower order hitting took their score past 200. Sudhir Rai (6-0-21-3) and Rak Mistry (6-0-50-2) were best bowlers from Hot Dogs. The Digitals ended their 30 overs with 227 runs for the loss of 7 wickets.
Digital bowlers made an immediate impact from the 1st over and kept a regular check on Hot Dog batsmen. The Digital bowlers dismissed their top and middle order quickly with good assistance from the field. Parthiban Lingam (6-1-25-5) took five wickets and SriChaitanya Vanapali (5-0-12-3) added another three. Mandar Sathe (26*) and Chaitanya Reddy (25) provided late resistance for the seventh wicket but it could not last. In the end, Hot Dogs were all out for 88 in 20 overs.
Digital Devils 227/7, DPR Hot Dogs 88/10 – Digital Devils won by 139 runs.
Dynamite Devils vs Leopards
The Dynamite Devils won the toss and decided to put the Leopards to bat. Abdur Rahman (5.1-0-15-2) achieved an early breakthrough but the Leopards top order batsmen were in form and by drinks, had only conceded three wickets for 96 runs. Things turned around after drinks when Mike Williams and Adarsh Lobo paired up to bowl 12 overs, giving up only 54 runs and claiming four wickets. Wickets kept on falling and tight fielding restricted the Leopards to 169 for 10.
Biplav Pokhrel (6-0-24-3) and Manish Lohani (6-0-24-3) ripped through the Dynamites top order, putting the Dynamite in an early hole at 14 for 4. Megh Kalyanasundaram and Anurag Bisht paired to form the most crucial partnership of the match, with sensible batting punctuated with some exquisite strokes. When Kalyanasundaram’s wicket finally fell, the score was at 85 for 5. Bisht departed soon after hitting a huge six over long on. Abdur Rahman and Rana Guha contributed some useful runs, and after Guha was dismissed by Pokhrel, the Dynamite needed to score 15 off the last 16 deliveries to win the match. With one wicket in hand, a gritty effort by Adarsh Lobo (13*) and Manan Jhaveri (8*) allowed the Devils to reach the target with one over to spare.
Leopards 169/10, Dynamite Devils 170/9 – Dynamite Devils won by 1 wicket.
Division 3
DPR Hot Dogs vs Daredevils CC
The Daredevils won the toss and elected to bat first. They got off to a good start with Bijoy Chauhan (18) and Jon Crozier-Durham (9) getting boundaries with ease. Venki Eegapati (3-0-17-3) came in to bowl replacing Sunil Mandhania (3-0-13-1) and immediately got a lucky break with Crozier-Durham playing a full toss ball onto the stumps. Despite the loss, Chauhan continued to play well until Vaibhav Joshi bowled an excellent delivery coming around the stumps to get the important wicket for Hot Dogs. Pankaj Raut (29) played well with good support from Andy Sutherland (5) at the other end but the scoring rate was kept low by some tight bowling. In an attempt to accelerate the scoring rate Raut stepped out of his crease looking for a big shot, missed it and was stumped by Andy Steel. The Devils ended up scoring 106 for the loss of 9 wickets.
The Hot Dogs started their chase with Peter Roy and Manju Wijerama and were soon down one wicket down due to miscommunication which resulted in Wijerama being run out on 0. Sunil Mandhani came in and struggled to get his timing right, edging one to gully. Sai Korukonda joined Peter at the crease and the two set about building a partnership that would score most of the runs required, with Roy reaching 36 and Korukonda an unbeaten 37. By the time Roy was caught and bowled by Andy Sutherland, the Hot Dogs were well in control, reaching the required total without losing another wicket. DPR Hot Dogs 107 for 3 in 15 overs.
Daredevils CC 106/9, DPR Hot Dogs 107/3 – DPR Hot Dogs won by 7 wickets.
Bashers CC vs Pudong Dream Team
The Bashers won the toss and elected to bat. Openers Denzyl Allwright (9) and Stephen Bradley (10) saw though the first five overs before losing their wickets to the opening bowlers Santosh Sequeira and Chirag Bhansali. Adam Baker (27) and Mark Henwood (20) added runs as the Bashers looked to exploit the first change bowlers. Vijay Manickavaasagam (4-0-39-3) was the pick of the Pudong bowlers, taking three wickets and breaking up the Baker/Henwood partnership. Richard Yates entered the match with the Bashers 5 wickets down and quickly invigorated the scoring, averaging almost two runs per ball. He would see the Bashers through to the end of their innings with 43*, the team total having reached 150 for the loss of 7 wickets.
Pudong Dream Team began the chase and opener and team captain Richard Wall held up his end soring boundaries and powering Pudong towards their target. Openers Denzyl Allwright and Thisura Wijepala bowled a tight opening spell, taking no wickets but conceding only 13 runs in five overs. Spinner Stephen Bradley soon notched the Bashers first wicket of the day with a superb caught and bowled effort, following it up an over later with a second wicket. By the end of his four-over spell, he had sent five Pudong batsmen back to the pavilion and added his name to the SCC League Honour Board (4-0-17-5). Paul Howard helped clean up the middle order with a four-over spell that resulted in another three wickets (4-0-21-3) and captain Jack Sheppard (1.4-0-5-2) cut off the tail before it was allowed to wag. Pudong were all out for 64.
Bashers CC 150/7, Pudong Dream Team 64/10 – Bashers won by 86 runs.