Yesterday in Chiayi City saw a tough battle for top spot in the Formosa Cricket Cup. All five teams staked their claim for the title, to be decided today.
The Badshaws won a last-ball thriller over the Daredevils to start the day. They chased the 114 target set up by Daredevils captain Duane Christie (45) with some comfort until Caleb Kenyon bowled the last three balls of the last over for no runs. Mujahid Hamid (41 not out) scrambled the winning runs from the last ball.
It was the youngest player, James Daly (3-11), who set up the Daredevils’ fight with some good straight bowling in a pressure situation backed up by one stinging catch at point by Kenyon.
In the morning’s other match, Taipei’s Pakistan side saw off Taipei’s Indian side comfortably. Pakistan captain Mujahid Mohammad saw his side to 150-3 and despite a blazing 44 from Anant Patel, the Indian side fell 18 runs shy.
The host team took on the bruised egos of the Daredevils next, but fell victim to the wiles of Graham Terblanche (2-18) and Daly (1-17) trying to chase 144. Christie was again in the runs with a chancy 66.
The Badshaws made huge inroads into the Pakistan batting lineup in the other afternoon match, sending back the top order very cheaply. However, a fighting 40 from Amjad Zafar saw them to 130, which proved too much, especially against a fired-up Shezhad Khan, who claimed two big wickets and a catch.
Then came the biggest boilover of the day as the Indian side bowled up a storm to dismiss the Badshaws for only 66 runs. Sachin Bhimani (1-15) bowled with swing and Anant (3-2) sent down three unplayable overs. The match was completed with only 6 overs needed for the Indian batters to slam the runs needed.
Formosa kept up the upset trend by defeating the Pakistan side. Dhananjay Magar was the star, picking up 37 runs and buying the key wicket of Khan (35).
The standings, with four matches to be played today, are:
Pakistan Cicket Club Tapei: 7 points (3 matches); Daredevils (TSCC): 4 points (2); Formosa Cricket Club: 4 points (2); Indian Cricket Club Taipei: 4 points (2); Pakistan Badshaws Cricket Club: 5 points (3).
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