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.  Continue reading “The SCC League Semifinals Have Arrived” →

The dog days of August are giving way to September and the SCC League is nearing its apex. With just one more week and two more games to go before the semifinals, the season is coming into stark relief. The match-ups in Division 1 and Division 2 were already set last week, but it will take the final game of the Division 3 season to determine the division’s semifinal matchup.

A Bashers win will see them at the top of the D3 table, with the DPR Hot Dogs and Pudong Dream Team left to battle it out in the September 9 semifinal. A loss, and Pudong will go through top and the Bashers will play the Hot Dogs for the second time in three weeks.

The defending Division 1 champion Daredevils CC lost only 1 match in a 2012 campaign that saw them advance to a second straight finals with an impressive 10-1-1 record. The Bashers, who were the only team to defeat the Daredevils, will meet their greatest opponent in the semifinals, the DPR Hot Dogs, a team they have beaten only once in their eight year history.

Defending Division 2 champion Pudong Power eked into the semis on point differential. They will face the Digital Devils in a rematch of the 2011 final in the first of two semifinal matches. In the second match, a surging Dynamite Devils will face the Leopards CC, a team that appears to be suddenly vulnerable following the loss of stalwart Biplav Pokhrel.

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. Continue reading “SCC League Week 14 Review: Parthiban and Bradley Take Five Wickets, Add Names to Honour Board” →

Paras Khushulan added his name to the SCC League Honour Boards yet again with the performance of the season, taking apart the cream of the Division 1 Bashers for seven wickets. Conceding only 8 runs – with only two off the bat – Khushulan completed his stand with two maiden overs as Pudong dominated the Bashers at SRFC. Division 2 featured matches between the Bashers and the Leopards and between Pudong and the Hot Dogs. The Bashers, Daredevils, Hot Dogs and Pudong Dads & Lads were in action in Division 3.

Division 1

Pudong Power vs Bashers CC
Under very grey skies and in humid conditions, the Bashers won the toss and sent Pudong in to bat. Pudong openers Russell Cool (45) and Graeme McKim (33) took the score along to 94 before Mckim was out in Phil Mildenhall’s first over and the 17th of the innings. Martin Hanscombe and Cool took the total to 111 before Cool was out caught off John L’Epagniol. A few quick wickets saw Pudong 4 for 141 in the 26th over. Hanscombe and Bernie Hughes steadied the ship before Hanscombe was next out for a tidy 32 caught on the boundary trying to lift the scoring rate. Hughes and Ankit Kawatra (7) then took the score past the 200 mark before he was out LBW. Quick wickets followed as Pudong tried to lift the scoring rate in the final overs before finishing at 9 down for 235 off the allotted 40 overs. Hughes was out in the 38th over for a well-compiled 40 off 30 balls. For the Bashers, wickets were shared amongst Mildenhall with four and Mike Hall with three, while John L’Epagniol claimed one off his 8 overs. Jon Radford provided support in the field with three good catches.

The Bashers started badly, losing two early wickets to Pratik Gadecha in the first five overs for only seven runs before a quick partnership between Glenn Rowell and Manoj Zalpuri took the Bashers chase to 61 after 11 overs. Amogh Kasyap then claimed Zalpuri’s wicket before Paras Khushalan took a brace of wickets that soon saw the Bashers tumble to 5 for 67. Khushalan kept the pressure on, continuing to pile up scalps as the Bashers batting attack withered in the face of his deadly swing bowling. Only conceding two runs off the bat during his spell, he finished with the best bowling figures of the season so far: 7.2-2-8-7. The Bashers were all out for 94 in the 25th over. Pudong claimed seven catches with keeper Russell Cool taking three and Martin Hanscombe taking another great one-handed catch at point.

Pudong Power 235/9, Bashers CC 94/10 – Pudong won by 141 runs. Continue reading “SCC League Week 13 Review: Khushulan Takes Seven Wickets in Masterful Performance” →