ME On-line - Match Reports December 2002

Round 16 - 21st December 2002

Crusaders v. Police at Police Training School
Result: Crusaders unable to raise a side

Saracens v. Centaurs at Kowloon Cricket Club
Result: Match abandoned due to wet conditions

Tartars v. Nomads at Hong Kong Cricket Club
Result: Match abandoned due to wet conditions

Round 15 - 14th December 2002

Crusaders v. Kai Tak at Mission Road
Result: Crusaders won by 6 wkts

The eagerly awaited clash between Crusaders and Kai Tak took off at Mission Road on Saturday, 14th December. Could Crusaders recent form overcome Chris Williams, centurion from the previous week, and the rest of Cathay's finest?

The answer was an emphatic "Yes".

Batting first, Kai Tak were decimated by a stonking performance from Beefy Baker, who claimed his best Hong Kong figures of 5-37. Not only did he bowl with a vigour not seen for a number of seasons, but he bowled straight and was rewarded with three of his victims being cleaned bowled and the others caught behind. He was ably supported by the other bowlers, with Don the best of the rest with 3-26. Another excellent performance in the field saw all catchable catches caught and a spiffy piece of fielding by Jardine to run out a straggler. Kai Tak had crashed and burned - all out for 141.

The chase for victory didn't get off to the best of starts with Mojo suffering a rare failure. With Killer hobbled by an injury earlier in the week and unwilling to bat and the Toad having to leave early, skip had to do double time juggling the batting order. He needn't have worried as the Barnacle played one of those magical cameos that he has become famous for, peppering the boundary ropes around mid-on and mid-wicket with 4's and 6's. His quickfire 58 rushed Crusaders to their target with useful contributions also coming from Brewbags, Johnsen, Pittman and Jardine.

At Mission Road: Crusaders 142-4 (T Barnacle 58) beat Kai Tak 141 (C Beattie 32; A Baker 5-37, D Mohammad 3-26) by 6 wkts

[Top]

Saracens v. St George's at Kowloon Cricket Club
Result: Saracens lost by 7 wkts

No report received.

At Kowloon Cricket Club: St George's 250-3 (Ankur 134*, Bertram 53*) beat Saracens 246-5 (T Heild 59, Y Mathani 65*, Z Mohammad 47*) by 7wkts

[Top]

Tartars v. HKU at Sandy Bay
Result: Tartars lost by 8 wkts

No report received.

At Sandy Bay: HKU 105-2 (M Sabine 31, I Saeed 50) beat Tartars 103 (M Hafeez 5-33, G Thomas 3-9) by 8wkts

[Top]

Round 14 - 7th December 2002

Crusaders v. Centaurs at Po Kong Village Road
Result: Crusaders won by 8 wkts

Crusaders scored a comfortable victory over Centaurs at PKVR in warm, fine conditions on Saturday, 7th December 2002.

Despite many gaps in the field as a result of the usual late arrivals, the Centaurs batting failed to fire in the early going, with Beefy Baker and Killer Kelleher keeping them pinned down. Brewbags was the only one silly enough to dive on the gravelly ground, but he came up with a great catch for his efforts. With the top order knocked over, Donny 'Come Lately' tore the heart out of the middle and lower order claiming four wickets. The Centaurs innings was built around a smash-and-grab knock from Rafqat Ali who finished with 65.

A target of 188 at PKVR was never going to test a batting line-up of the quality of the 2002-03 Crusaders. Despite the early loss of Killer and Barney, Mojo and Scanners brought the team home without too much trouble, with 8 wickets and plenty of overs to spare.

At Po Kong Village Road: Crusaders 188-2 (Manoj Cheruparambil 63*, Simon Scanlon 71*) beat Centaurs 187 (S Brammar 41, Ali 65; Don Mohammad 4-51) by 8 wkts

[Top]