Saturday Cup/Plate Semi Final Round - 8th April 2000

Tartars v. St George's at Mission Road (Cup Semi-final)
Result: Tartars lost by 2 wkts

No report received.

At Mission Road: St George's 190-8 (J Iqbal 39, Amjad 37*; P Butani 3-38) beat Tartars 189-9 (Farouk 33, Lama 35; Gohar 4-42) by 2 wkts

Saracens v. CCC at DBS (Plate Semi-final)
Result: Saracens won by 9 wkts

No report received.

At DBS: Saracens 146-1 (R Sharma 77, B Shroff 35*) beat CCC 145-8 (M Eames 69) by 9 wkts

Saturday Cup/Plate Quarter Final Round - 4th April 2000

Saracens v. DBS at DBS
Result: Saracens won by 9 wkts

No report received.

At DBS: Saracens 136-1 (R Sharma 68*) beat DBS 133 (Zimen 55; Rahul Sharma 4-17) by 9 wkts

Saturday Cup/Plate Quarter Final Round - 1st April 2000

Crusaders v. St George's at KCC
Result: Crusaders lost by 5 wkts

No report received.

At KCC: St George's 138-5 (Ahmed 48) beat Crusaders 133 (G Jardine 33; A Goher 4-16) by 5 wkts

Tartars v. Witherers at Mission Road
Result: Tartars won by 66 runs

No report received.

At Mission Road: Tartars 197-9 (A Nainani 33; Deuler 3-67) beat Witherers 131 (Booler 48; Lama 3-20, B Gohel 3-29) by 66 runs

Sunday Cup/Plate - 16th April 2000

Infidels v. Scorpions at HKCC (Cup Semi-Final)
Result: Infidels lost by 104 runs

Infidels looked forward to the clash with Scorpions with guarded optimism. The defection of Iscariot was seen as an obvious plus. The loss of Eames, Scanlon and Patidar were more concerning although covered in part by Lamsam and new boy Mark Hill.

The toss was regrettable in that we won it and elected to field citing our successes when chasing.We did not however plan to be chasing 330 runs. 230 to 250 was our upper limit on what we considered a none too easy pitch to force the pace. It is hard to pin down where exactly we fell down. The bowling appeared better than other times when we have conceded far smaller totals. Therefore we must look to the opposition batting. We were on the receiving end of 2 of the better 100's seen this season. The pacing and running were highlights of a partnership which only saw slogging at the very end yet still managed to motor along at 8 an over. Perhaps we followed instuctions too closely and bowled too full. Particularly Green who was palookered many times. Baker was the pick of the bowlers and Williams was steady. Hill's debut promises a lot but his hamstrings may need amputating. The catches that mattered went begging - especially Smart, dropped before he had opened his account.

As usual we got a flyer and 50 off 7 fluttered a few memories of DBS circa early March. But Green fell to a long hop which Long Cannell hopped up to. Jardine played well to keep us in it only to fall to a dodgy one. The partnership of Brewster ( a little ray of sunshine) and Lamsam gathered until an incident that summed it all up. As mentioned, the running of Smart and Mallinson was urgent and skilful and it was suggested that our batsmen take note. Until his dismissal Roy's running had been tardy at best. The ball before he got out he turned down a blatant single. The result was that the next ball he skied a long hop. Had things gone the way they should have the single would have been taken and Ray (a drop of golden sun) would have hit the long hop onto court no.2. So a wicket and 7 runs were sacrificed. Both skipper and veteran keeper were livid. To make matters worse Ray (a single line or narrow beam of light from a small or distant source) went crazy for the next 10 to put us ahead of their rate but we suffered because wickets fell. We stayed on the rate but keeping that up means wickets will likely fall and they did. Ray (a cartilaginous fish) was last out for 65. When will the sands of time catch up with this man Ray (the second note of a major scale )?

The season is over now and the progress on paper is negative. We dropped down a few rungs in the league and failed to make the cup final. I feel this is a poor reflection on Simon as his efforts against the odds were commendable. Whilst a lot has been said on an official and unofficial level about our failure to get sides out I don' think the finger can be pointed at any player. Indeed, it is generally the case that guys put themselves out to play sometimes at the expense of their families or jobs or when nursing broken bones or other wounds. The problem is that 16 players doesn't seem to be enough and if we can expand the player base by 4-5 with at least 3 of these additions to be week in week outers then we have the ability to go places in this league. If we can't do this and with natural attrition then each year will become more difficult .There also seems to be some disenchantment in the section. We as Infidels must work with the committee to create a more positive atmosphere and recover some respect.

At HKCC: Scorpions 330-4 (T Smart 108, D Mallison 135, Hodgson 33*; D Green 3-84) beat Infidels 226 (G Jardine 40, R Brewster 65; G Erasmus 3-25) by 104 runs

Templars v. Pakistan Association at Mission Road (Cup Semi-Final)
Result: Templars lost by 48 runs

No report received.

At Mission Road: Pakistan Association 255-9 (S Hussain 90, S Malik 87, Abbas 39; R Sujanani 3-45, S Lama 3-37) beat Templars 207 (TR Kalyamraman 35, R Sujanani 67; N Amir 4-37) by 48 runs

Colts v. Optimists at DBS (Plate Semi-Final)
Result: Colts won by 3 wkts

No report received.

At DBS (played 16.4.2000) : KCC Colts 268-7 (D Chaudhuri 49, M Ling 41, N Savalani 86, Z Nizami 34; S Brew 3-33) beat Optimists 266 (A Ashman 134, Roxburgh 72; N Savalani 4-51, D Qureshi 3-20) by 3 wkts

Sunday Cup/Plate - 9th April 2000

Templars v. LSW at Mission Road (Cup First Round)
Result: Templars won by 123 runs

No report received.

At Mission Road: Templars 270-7 (R Sharma 90, B Shroff 48, R Sujanani 43) beat JKN LSW 147 (T Dar 39; Y Vachha 3-38) by 123 runs

Sunday Cup/Plate First Round - 2nd April 2000

Infidels v Colts
Result: Infidels won by 138 runs

Something amazing occurred at Cox's Road.I can hear people saying that Graeme Jardine smiled but believe me it was even more outrageous. There were 2 sides of KCC players almost all members and 11 on each side. Whatsmore most of them were dressed and dressed well in the new garb. Added to this we had a scorer and 2 umpires well 1 umpire and THE FAT CONTROLLER. I am not prepared to divulge the identity of THE FAT CONTROLLER other than to say it is not Farmy.

MR MILD MANNERED LETHBRIDGE won the toss and put us in. We started well against some honest bowling. The Tank Engine was sedate as he settled into the realisation that Mrs Muddy had actually left.Green was the agressor but fell to the pull shot. This bought Eames to the crease who dealt with all bowling. His shots behind square leg were regular and well executed (a bit like one of Jim Cannel's 10 o'clock dumps).Waters and then Jardine perished to the leggie leaving the veterans to keep it going. The Colts continued to bowl well with the former MR O shining through.we had useful contributions from Tarr and Davern and a cameo from Tiku. All this combined to get us to a formidable 284. The highlights were 58 to Eames and 60 not out to Brewster who is finally showing signs of maturity.

We dined out on lunch and dinner at lunchtime and this had some affect on Tarr and Mcgill. The Colts raced to 61 off 6 overs and an upset loomed. The introduction of Jiggy turned it around.Whilst Jiggy was bowling to Tony Correa the grass grew at least an inch.With the demise of a couple of batsmen the Colts folded to the spin of Tailor and Waters and the licorice of Davern. Jardine was inspirational on the boundary and later awesome as he berated THE FAT CONTROLLER. I will leave you with a thought:

If you ever get on a DB ferry and
find Jardine hiding under the seats
prepare thyself!!!!!!!!!!

Oh yes and before I forget. Kev you will be at 11next game.

At KCC: Infidels 284-6 (D Green 44, M Eames 60, R Brewster 66*) beat KCC Colts 146 (R Boghani 50; J Tailor 3-31, D Davern 3-20) by 138 runs

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