Anthony Liu continued his good form at the Taipei T10 Cricket league, even putting the new-to-the-game technical crew in danger with one six over forward-square at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground yesterday.
The FCC Formosans opener cracked the first half-century of the tournament, although Vishwajit Tawar of the Chiayi Swingers later in the day bettered Liu’s innings of 51 against the ICCT Smashers.
However, the crew who are producing the livestream for the tournament — which was put together to serve cricket-starved fans worldwide amid the COVID-19 pandemic — were momentarily put at risk when Liu put one of his five sixes onto the roof of a tent covering them and their equipment.
Photo courtesy of Ashish Purswaney @ashish_747
His next maximum produced no such danger, easily clearing the long-off fence.
He reached 50 off the sixth delivery of the sixth over with another huge sixth straight down the ground that might have also put spectators in danger, but the organizers have asked that people stay away from the ground to help uphold proper social distancing.
At the other end, FCC captain Arun Parappagoudar was almost a spectator himself, his score being just 5 when Liu was bowled by the Smashers’ Dirvesh Jain after facing 28 deliveries.
Parappagoudar took over the six-hitting duties, teasing the fielders with his first, which the would-be catcher took before stepping on the boundary.
He had raced to 42 by the end of their 10 overs, pushing his team to 105-2.
Extras were the Formosans’ main worry in the first few overs of the chase, with wides setting the chasing Smashers on course. Then the batsmen took over, hitting sixes behind the wicket and losing one ball in vegetation beside the Keelung River.
Liu received some of his own medicine in the second innings as Sandeep Patel carted him for two sixes, but the restaurant owner had his revenge soon afterward, bowling Patel for 30.
Devang Shah added 35, but tight overs from Pintu Kumar and Parappagoudar kept the asking rate out of reach and sealed an 11-run win.
The victory kept the Formosans unbeaten through the initial group stage, booking them a semi-final, via a qualifier against the TCA Indians.
The Swingers won the second game yesterday, also against ICCT, on the back of Tawar’s 69 from 34, which featured five fours and five sixes.
The Smashers needed just five from the final over, but were restricted by Pruthvi More (1-9), who bowled Rajesh Mehta (56) and conceded just two runs.
In the last game of the second weekend, PCCT United beat the Swingers by 56 runs.
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