Justin Moseley – Chiang Mai

Thai Thevada score exciting win at Chiang Mai Sixes

Eric Little greets the victorious Thai Thevada team

The San Miguel Chiang Mai International Cricket Sixes entered its fourth day and saw the final games of Round 1 and the tournament move into Round 2 when the performances of the teams thus far determine which trophy they will be trying to win; the Cup, Bowl, Shield, Plate or Spoon. In the opening game the Perth Postels took 3 wickets and batted well enough to beat the Tokyo Dingbats. The splendid boundary-bashing partnership of Maki and Zeshan ensured the local Irish Pub had a comfortable victory over the Kiwi Divine Felons. The Lords Taverners from Australia easily overcame the Lanka Lions. Despite some gritty fielding Darjeeling from the UAE found the Bangladeshi Bashundhara too tough for them.  Despite a good effort, the Awali Taverners from Bahrain were losers to Almar from South Africa. With both undefeated, something had to give between the Drifters from England and the local Gymkhana Cavaliers, and it was the Drifters who triumphed after good fielding gave them an easy target to beat.  One of the visual highlights of the day was the only ladies game which saw the delightful Thai Angels topple the once dominant Chiang Mai Chassies. 

With places determined, the tournament moved into Round 2 and the first match was in the Shield, an all Antipodean affair between the Lords Taverners and Yarrambat. Michael Burns of Yarrambat made a fine start as he took the wicket of “Scratcher” O’Brien, but the Taverners went on to make a score that their fellow countrymen could not reach.  The next Shield encounter saw the Yorkshire Puddings batter the Shanghai Hot Dogs, scoring 70 and then taking 5 wickets.  Competition for the Plate began with the Ashwell Martlets from England taking on Sa Pa from Vietnam. In spite of some excellent boundary-stopping fielding, the score Sa Pa proved not particularly difficult for the Martlets to surpass. The second Plate game saw an easy victory for the Taranaki Taverners from New Zealand over the Bangkok Postels from Australia. The first Bowl match put the Tokyo Dingbats against the English Drifters.  Including a retirement from Nick Goold, the Dingbats scored 76, which could have been more but for some great fielding from George Hamilton. The Drifters responded well with some excellent hitting, but the boundary eluded them too often and an effective last over from the Dingbats’ Jarrad Shearer put paid to their chance of a fourth win in the tournament. The final game of the day, the second in the Bowl, produced by far the most exciting finish of the day as the local lads of Thai Thevada beat the vastly more experienced Darjeeling of the UAE.  Darjeeling opened strongly with Rudi Bisschoff attaining retirement, but great fielding including a great catch and a wicket from Ded contained the score to 67. Thai Thevada responded magnificently, with fearless batting against some fast bowling and only lost 1 wicket.  It all came down to the last ball and the Thai lads managed to level the scores and, by dint of having lost fewer wickets, won the game to loud applause from all around the ground.

For more information on the tournament, go to: www.chiangmaisixes.com.