Pakistan Cricket Club Taiwan (PCCT) won the Taiwan Sixes competition for the third straight year by beating Taiwan Southerners Cricketers Club A (TSCC) in Chiayi on Sunday.
TSCC A batted first, but only managed to score 21 off the first two overs. Things got worse in the third over as PCCT’s Mushtaq took two wickets while conceding only eight runs. TSCC’s batting big guns never managed to get going as they finished on 57 for 4.
The PCCT openers came out in a blaze of boundaries to win in only the fourth over without losing a wicket.
Chiayi Deputy Mayor David Lee had opened the annual sixes tournament on Saturday morning by bowling the ceremonial opening ball and nearly taking TSCC captain Duane Christie’s wicket. The tournament featured 10 teams playing in pool matches to decide who would make the final on Sunday.
In pool A, TSCC A advanced undefeated along with Badshahs A, whose only loss was to TSCC A. The Taiwan Swingers and the X-Bats qualified for the Plate round, leaving the Kings Eleven, who suffered three losses, to play for the Bowl on Sunday.
The biggest upset of the tournament came in pool B as Formosa Cricket Club (FCC), having narrowly won their opener against TSCC B, lost to PCCT and Badshahs B, failing to qualify for the elimination round.
PCCT and Badshahs B finished first and second, with FCC and TSCC B making the Plate competition, leaving the Scunners to vie for the Bowl.
Saturday’s action drew to a close with an 11-a-side invitational tournament that pitted the Pakistani players against a Rest of the World team. The Rest of the World batted first, making 84 for 3 in 12 overs before Pakistan scored 85 for 5 in 11 overs to claim the bragging rights.
Sunday’s Cup final round opened with Badshahs B forfeiting to TSCC A because of a lack of players. The forfeiture carried greater implications than TSCC A realized as it impacted their run rate. Next up were Badshahs A and PCCT. The Badshahs scored 59 for one, but it was not enough to stop PCCT, who reached their target with three balls to spare and four wickets in hand.
TSCC A and Badshahs A then took the field, with TSCC posting 75 for two. Badshahs A responded with 75 for three, forcing a tie.
In the fourth match, PCCT scored 82 for one while Badshahs B managed only 45 for 3.
PCCT’s win guaranteed them a spot in the final while eliminating Badshahs B from the chase.
This did not stop them from impacting the results. The fifth game of the day pitted Badshahs A against Badshahs B. If the B team had won, Badshahs A would have been out and TSCC A would have faced PCCT in the final.
For Badshahs A a win was not enough. They had to score enough runs to force TSCC A to have to win their next match or be bumped from the final because of a run rate affected by the earlier forfeit.
Badshahs A then scored 110, beating Badshahs B by an improbable 84 runs.
This forced TSCC A to make a valiant stand by defeating PCCT to secure their spot in the final against the very team they defeated to get there, PCCT.
The annual 11-a-side tournament will be held on Dec. 12 and Dec. 13 in Pingtung.
For more information, contact Andrew Carrick at thetscc@gmail.com.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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