Formosa Cricket Club beat Pakistan Cricket Club Taiwan (PCCT) in a thrilling final to claim the Ali Baba’s Indian Kitchen Chunghwa PCCT Trophy yesterday.
A brilliant 89-run partnership for the second wicket by Andre de Klerk and Charl Esterhuizen saw Formosa to the brink of victory as they chased down PCCT’s total of 111 for 3 from their allocation of 16 overs.
Entering the final over, bowled by Mohammad Mujahid, Formosa needed six to win from six deliveries.
De Klerk launched into the first, but was brilliantly caught by Mushtaq at long off for 49.
The batsmen crossed leaving Esterhuizen to face the next ball. If he was nervous it didn’t show as he smashed it for four and followed that up with another boundary to win the trophy. He finished unbeaten on 37 with Mark Turner the other not out batsman.
Esterhuizen had a good match, having earlier bowled three tidy overs of off-spin to rein in the free-hitting PCCT batsmen. The Pakistanis’ innings had started badly when opener Amjad Zaffar was hit on the head by a short ball from pace man Henry Nothnagel in the first over and retired hurt.
This brought left-hander Shehzad Khan to the wicket and he played some exuberant strokes in an exciting innings of 65 not out, including three consecutive fours off Australian pace bowler Turner.
Skipper Mujahid contributed a hard-hit 24 and Zaffar bravely returned at the end of the innings to contribute a useful 11 not out.
The small, but boisterous crowd in Taipei’s Shezi district had earlier witnessed two contrasting semi-finals.
Formosa made short work of Taiwan Southerners despite another good innings by the losers Andrew Carrick. After sharing partnerships of 173 not out and 72 with Duane Christie in the their previous two games, he carried his bat in a disappointing total of 44 all out.
Nothnagel did most of the damage, taking four wickets for 9 runs off three overs, ably supported by Indian pace man S.I. Salim, who finished with three for 7.
The Southerners made an early breakthrough as quick bowler Jared Painter had Esterhuizen caught by wicketkeeper Dylan O’Brien for a duck in the first over. Fellow-opener Paul Turner fell for 10, but de Klerk and Mark Turner saw Formosa home in the ninth over.
In the other semi-final, Pakistan Badshahs gave PCCT a run for their money until pace man Zaheer took three wickets in an over to all but extinguish the Badshahs hopes. The Taichung-based Badshahs were dismissed for 91 chasing 139 for victory.
The two-day tournament, played on baseball and softball fields, involved all of the country’s clubs. The Hsinchu Scunners, Tainan Swingers, Indian Cricket Club and Taiwan Cricket Association were eliminated at the group stage.
For further information on joining a club call:
• Pakistan Badshahs (Ali) on 09-5529-1613
• Formosa Cricket Club (Charl) on 09-1735-1749
• Taiwan Southerners (Andrew) on 09-1955-7896
• Pakistan Cricket Club Taiwan (Amjad) on 09-2022-1793
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