Formosa Cricket Club retained their champions crown in yesterday’s ninth Taiwan Annual Cricket Competition after beating Pakistan Cricket Club Taipei (PCCT) in a repeat of last year’s final at the Yang Ming Baseball Park in Kaohsiung.
South African Charl Esterhuizen was the hero for Formosa, playing a captain’s role with bat and ball as he took three for 12 off four overs, before knocking an unbeaten 42 to take Formosa past PCCT’s modest total of 72 for 7.
PCCT were confident going into the final as they had won all three games in the tournament’s round robin stage, including a victory over Formosa on Saturday.
PHOTO: RICHARD HAZELDINE, TAIPEI TIMES
But the form book went out the window as PCCT found it difficult to recover from a devastating opening spell from Formosa opening bowlers Esterhuizen and 17-year-old Australian Mark Turner (2-13 off four overs.)
First, opener Asif Iqbal Tanoli fell to a stunning catch from Andy Gupta off the fifth ball of Esterhuizen’s first over for just 1. But worse was to follow, as another four wickets fell quickly to leave PCCT reeling at nine for five off just four overs.
Moin and Shoaib Meer then came together to steady the ship and trouble the scorers with a succession of boundaries over the next 11 overs.
But Formosa’s Ikdeep Singh halted the momentum for PCCT with two quick wickets in the 15th over, restricting them to just 72 off their 16 overs.
PCCT required a good start and to put Formosa openers Paul Turner and Esterhuizen under pressure to stand any chance of victory, but that failed to materialize as some wild bowling from star all-rounder Shazad saw 16 runs come off the first over.
Formosa managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over despite losing Turner for 6 off the last ball of the third over. And when wicketkeeper Maidul Islam fell to the day’s best piece of cricket shortly after — run out for a duck by a stunning throw from mid-wicket — it looked like PCCT were in with a chance.
But Mark Turner (4 not out) arrived at the crease to provide solid support for man-of-the-match Esterhuizen, who finally finished the game off with a big four to long-on in the 11th over, bringing an end to the two-day, four-team tournament.
Taiwan Southerners Cricket Club (won 1, lost 2) came third, while new boys Pakistan Badshahs took home the wooden spoon (won 0, lost 3).
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but