The Taiwan Southerners Cricket Club (TSCC) beat Formosa Cricket Club (FCC) by five wickets in Taichung on Sunday to claim the Little India Peace Cup.
FCC batted first in the Twenty 20 encounter, but suffered an early blow when Charl Esterhuizen was caught behind off Jared Painter, who bowled his four overs for only 11 runs. Later, Gerhard Terblanche conceded just 16 off his quota while picking up four wickets. Useful contributions from Paul Spencer (34) and Heinrich Nothnagel (27) helped FCC to a below-par 106 for 7 from their 20 overs.
Ric McGrail sparked some hope for FCC by bowling Terblanche in the second over of TSCC’s innings. There were more celebrations in his next over when he had TSCC captain Duane Christie caught in the covers, but after an early reprieve for Painter, Jeff Black’s powerful hitting helped the pair add 54 for the third wicket. TSCC were able to coast to victory despite the loss of three late wickets.
TSCC had recovered from a defeat to the Taipei side on Saturday when they lost by 94 runs after Paul Turner scored an unbeaten 95.
Also on Saturday, FCC thrashed Taichung’s Scunners club by 73 runs, with captain Esterhuizen recording Taiwan’s highest-ever score, 121 from a scarcely believable 38 deliveries. TSCC beat the Scunners on Saturday by seven wickets and again in Sunday’s semi-final by 53 runs, helped by half centuries from Terblanche and Andrew Carrick.
Cricket action moves to Taipei over the next few months, with Pakistan Cricket Club working to establish a permanent venue at Guanshan Park in Songshan district.
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