ALAN PARKHOUSE

Mark Higgs, a former South Australia representative who opened the batting for the Vagrants, played an Adam Gilchrist-like innings, hitting a four off the first ball he faced, followed by five sixes in a row.

Higgs had to retire on 34 at the end of the first over. Under the rules governing six-a-side cricket a batsman must retire when he reaches 30, but Higgs hit his final six when on 28.

Higgs team-mates Steve Naylor and Jeremy Hinds also had to retire on 30 and 32 respectively after some big hitting.

The Shanghai Hot Dogs managed a respectable 70 in reply, but again Higgs did the damage, this time with his bowling.

He gave away only two runs from his over.

The Gloucestershire Gipsies, who won the Cup last year in a nail-biting final, are also playing very well and have made it into Saturday's semi-finals.

The Gipsies had a good win over the Mighty Spires yesterday, scoring a winning aggregate of 78 against the Spires 71.

One of the most amazing games yesterday was between local Chiang Mai team the Irish Pub Gang Green and Aussie side the Darwin Dillettantes, with the match going down to the last ball.

The game also featured the catch of the tournament and one player suffered a dislocated shoulder. The Irish Pub team hit the winning runs off the last ball of the match.

In the Shield division, the Moonshine Warathais, captained by former Australian representative Trevor Chappell, suffered a setback when they lost to the Lords Taverners in their first game yesterday.

Chappell, who had been in great form over the first few days, struggled yesterday and was bowled out for a meager five runs.

The Warathais managed a respectable 71 runs, but fell one run short of the Taverners total of 72.

In their second match yesterday, Chappell and Steve Crunch Christie opened the batting for the Warathais against Darjeeling, who started with some very tight bowling.

Chappell was back in form for this game and smacked a huge six over the boundary in the first over, while Christie also made sure the fielders got plenty of exercise.

Unfortunately Christie lost his wicket in the final over after a great innings, but Chappell continued on and hit the winning runs with a four off the last ball.

Another Australian player with perhaps not the same cricketing pedigree as Chappell had a great innings in the final match of the day yesterday. Last man in for the Yarambats, Michael Burns belted the ball all around the field and surprised many with his quick running between the wicket.

For a large man, Burns was surprisingly quick on his feet and was given a standing ovation when he came off.

The women and juniors were also in action yesterday and drew a good crowd around their small pitch on the field adjacent to the main ground.

Local women's side the Chiang Mai Chassies had a big team of lubricated fans cheering them on, which added to the wonderful atmosphere at the annual tournament, which is celebrating its 21st year.

All proceeds from the Chiang Mai International Cricket Sixes go towards promoting the game at the junior level in Thailand.

The action continues daily from 8.30am until dusk with the finals to be contested on Saturday. Entry to Chiengmai Gymkhana Club grounds is free. For more information, check out www.chiangmaisixes.com.