After 23 weeks, 111 league matches, 222 innings, and nearly 6,000 overs, the 2012 Shanghai Cricket League has reached its apex.
The semifinals, which began last week with a Division 2 match between the Digital Devils and Pudong Power, are in full swing this weekend with a Division 1 match between the Bashers CC and DPR Hot Dogs, a Division 2 match between the Leopards CC and Dynamite Devils, and a Division 3 match between Pudong Dream Team and the DPR Hot Dogs.
Waiting to meet the winners of these matches in the finals will be the Daredevils in Division 1, the Digital Devils in Division 2 and the Bashers in Division 3. The League Finals will be played on September 16.
From the start of the season on March 18, the SCC League again produced some top level cricket in 2012. In addition to the divisional play, which in many cases came down to the last game of the season to determine semifinal berths, there were also many outstanding individual efforts that call for attention.
Waqar Khattak and Mike Tsesmelis both added their names to the League Honour Board with centuries (109 and 155 respectively). And while many other batsmen left their mark on the scoresheets with 50s and other high marks, but this season was one that belonged to the bowler.
Sixteen different bowlers took five or more wickets during a match this season. Pudong CC’s Para Khushalan added his name to the Honour Board three times, picking apart the Division 2 and Division 1 Bashers in 5/12 and 7/8 spells respectively, before taking his second 5 wicket haul (5/39) against the Leopards in Division 2. Sri Chaitanya Vanapali of the Digital Devils also had two 5 wicket outings in Division 2, 5/15 against the Bashers and 5/26 against the Hot Dogs. Other honourees include: Irfan Idrees, DPR Hot Dogs, 5/25; John L’Epagniol, Bashers CC, 5/40; Tim Bebb, Dulwich Knights, 5/24; Stephen Bradley, Bashers CC, 5/17; Lingham Parthiban, Digital Devils, 5/25; Kaylan D’Silva, Bashers CC, 5/18; Tim O’Connell, Bashers CC, 5/14; Pratik Gadecha, Pudong CC, 5/20; Vashist Kommunuri, Pudong Dream Team, 5/9; Thiagarajan Subramanian, Digital Devils, 5/29; Travis Weir, Bashers CC, 5/34; Nick Bangs, Bashers CC, 5/33; James Gooding, Pudong CC, 5/35; and Waqar Khattak, K2 CCC, 5/31.