Review of 2017-2018 Saturday League Championship, Division 2
By Royce McDonald
Match 1, Lamma CC vs CCC Hung See
16th Sep '17
Eager anticipation awaited our first game of the new season. CCC Hung See won the toss and batted first, they got off to a good start and were going nicely until Akbar, our returning Junior to Lamma, got the first wicket of the season. Nikhil, Akash and Akbar were bowling well and tight. Enter the McDonalds, Big Mac and Cheeseburger. 4-21 off 7 overs to Cheeseburger and 4-11 off 5 overs including a hat-trick collapsed CC Hung See to all out for 79, losing their last 9 wickets for a measly 46 runs. Woodsy bowled very tightly for 1-0 off 21 deliveries. Unplayable was heard from the opposition. First innings over at 29.3 overs.
Lamma set about its run chase losing only one wicket in 11.5 overs at a run rate of 6.76 runs per over. Becksy, a solid 37, red ink for Mads, 25 no and Brenton 11 no. Great win and a great start to the season.
Lamma 1 win
Match 2, HKU vs Lamma CC
30th Sep '17
A traditional grudge match with many social beatings and wins between these two teams. Lamma CC won the toss and bowled. HKU got off to a flier with Akash and Ron tight in their overs but Royce, Brenton and Tom going for a collective 127 runs in 21 overs, Tom getting two wickets and Brenton one. HKU a competitive 4-191.
Lamma CC batted and started poorly losing 5 quick wickets tumbling to be a precarious 5-46. Enter Captain and Vice Captain. Both stood up for Lamma and showed their strong leadership and cricketing abilities to steer us within sight of victory. 126 run partnership changing the game. Akash came in to join Boots and see us win with 4 balls to spare. Outstanding 77 no by Boots, 47 by Sarge.
Great win against a tough opposition. Lamma 2 wins, 0 losses.
Match 3, Lamma CC vs Kai Tak
5th Oct '17
A game with risk as Kai Tak has over 45 pilots on its roster, and depending on availability, the team is always competitive and sometimes more so.
Lamma CC won the toss and elected to bowl. Royce picked up the two openers and Brenton got an early one to have Kai Tak at 3-45. A brief middle order recovery saw Kai Tak back in the game but wickets fell regularly with some excellent catching by Mads in slips a scorcher, Boots three catches behind the wicket, Sarge two in play and Brad Bester another scorcher. Kai Tak out for 139 in 33.3 overs. Woodsy 3-25, Royce 2-24, Brenton 2-29 and Ron 2-23 – a great bowling effort and total team effort.
The openers got off to a solid start losing the first wicket at 50, then losing two more to be 3-65, Kai Tak back in the game. Enter Brad Bester and Sarge, 63 run partnership and game over. Brad finishing 45 no, Becksy 31 and Sarge 22.
Another great win against good opposition. Lamma 3 wins, 0 losses.
Match 4, Lamma CC vs Pioneers
14th Oct '17
Lamma CC won the toss and batted. An expected win, but never a given.
Mads started well and another 50 run partnership between the dynamic duo saw a solid start by Lamma. Becksy first out at 1-57 with a run rate already past 9 runs per over, saw us off to a flyer. Wardy came in and continued the onslaught with Mads out at 2-126, Nikhil came in to keep the acceleration, Brad hit out strongly and 4 of the first 6 bats had strike rates in excess of 100 and Brad, Becksy and Nikhil in excess of 170. Lamma CC a very competitive 7-266.
The bowlers took charge and wickets fell quickly, Nikhil 1-8 off 6 exceptional overs, Woodsy 1-8 off 5, Brenton 3-14 off 6 and Royce 2-1 off 2.1 which rounded off a great bowling effort. Pioneers all out for 67 with extras top scoring at 17!
Lamma CC, clinical with a great all-round display. Lamma 4 wins, 0 losses.
Match 5, LSW Spartans vs Lamma CC
9th Dec '17
Mixed results vs LSW Spartans in previous years, always a tough team to beat, remembering we had them 9 wickets down with them 26 to get and lost.
Lamma CC won the toss and bowled. Nikhil all fired up, decided today was his day. Nikhil went through LSW like a hot knife through butter. One batsman could muster 50 no for them, but all the rest single figures except extras on 12. Nikhil finished with 5-18 off 7 overs, an extraordinary performance, Brenton 3-24 off 6.3 overs and Royce 2-19 off 5 overs. Mads, Brad Bester, Sarge and Ritchie taking good catches.
The batting started shakily with Mads out without scoring, Wardy and Brad Bester taking us within 10 runs for victory when 2 quick wickets fell but Lamma CC was over the line.
A comprehensive win. Lamma CC 5 wins, 0 losses.
Match 6, Centaurs CC vs Lamma CC
13th Jan '18
Another tricky team with mixed results in the past, with Brenton and Royce former Centaurs players. Will Lamma CC stay on a roll?
A strong Lamma CC team on the park, Centaurs won the toss and bowled. Our top 4 players really shone with Mads and Becksy another 50+ run partnership. Mads out for 42, Becksy 27. Enter Akbar and Brad Bester, a 104 run partnership with Akbar out for 84, Brad not out 51. Lamma 3 for 216 after 35 overs.
Centaurs off to a strong start, run rate over 7 off the opening bowlers, enter Vinnie, Akbar and Royce. Nasir was batting well for Centaurs before a lightning throw ran him out by Royce. Vinnie chipped in with 3-24 off 7 overs, Akbar 3-2 off 3 overs and Royce 3-7 off 2.2 overs. Brad Bester taking his usual amazing catch much to the delight of Lamma. Excellent and well done considering Centaurs were 2-81 off 13 overs going strong to be all out for 116; the remainder at 8-35. Another outstanding team effort.
Good win. Lamma CC 6 wins, 0 losses.
Match 7, Laguna Gully CC vs Lamma CC
20th Jan '18
Lamma CC has had the wood on Laguna Gully for a couple of seasons now. Another traditional rival. Lamma CC won the toss and elected to bowl.
Laguna started well but was pegged back by Lamma bowlers. At 3-39 after 11 overs Lamma CC appeared in control. Pranav of Laguna CC, an excellent all-rounder, came in and together put on 107 run partnership to change the game. Our usually frugal bowlers were being hammered with Akbar 2-45 off 7 overs and Tom Woods 2-45 off 6. Brenton also had an off day going for 0-29 off 3 overs but took 4 good catches. Laguna CC 8-197 after 35 overs, but gettable.
Mads and Becksy again opened well, scoring 68 for the first wicket and after only 11 overs Lamma CC looked on target to win. At 1-92 Lamma CC slumped to 6-111 with the engine room of batting out to two direct hit run outs. Brenton 27 no and Vinnie 26 runs tried hard with a 38 run partnership but Brenton was left stranded after running out of partners. Mads 32, Becksy 34, Akbar 24 led the way. Lamma CC all out 170. The run rate was down a little which added extra pressure.
Beaten on the day. Lamma CC 6 wins, 1 loss.
Match 8, Lamma CC vs Taipans
27th Jan '18
A real test for Lamma as Taipans had recently come back from Division 1 and usually ended up on top of Lamma CC. Lamma CC was smarting from the previous week.
Taipans won the toss and batted first. Vinnie and Akash opened the bowling with wickets falling regularly. Taipans were 5-58 with the dangerous Manjinder out to Brenton; Lamma appeared on top. Some lower order resistance saw Taipans work their way to 133 all out after 34 overs. Great bowling to keep the run rate low, Vinnie 4-27 the star standout, with help from Woodsy 2-21 and Brenton 2-24, both off 7 overs. Catching again another great team effort, with Boots and Brenton taking two catches, Akash, Mads and Wardy adding another three catches.
Four key bats, Mads, Becksy, Ward and Bester back in the pavilion, we were struggling at 4-29. Enter Boots and Sarge, heroes against HKU repeating an excellent leadership partnership of 77 runs taking the game away from Taipans. Sarge 44no and Boots 41 runs the highlight of the batting.
Lamma CC a triumphant and comprehensive win. Lamma CC 7 wins, 1 loss.
Match 9, Kowloon CC Tartars vs Lamma CC
3rd Mar '18
Epic moment, epic game – first vs second.
Lamma CC won the toss and elected to bowl. Vinnie struck early and a Brenton run out had KCC on the back foot. Things stabilised but a rush of wickets from Brenton and Akbar cleaned up KCC. Nikhil bowled well without luck with 7 overs 0-20. Brenton took 4-17 and Akbar 3-21 both off 7 overs and were the chief destroyers. Mads took two of his usual catches in slips and helped start us on our way and Vinnie took 2-19 off 5 overs.
Two early wickets gave hope to KCC and Lamma at 2-3 was reeling. Enter Justin Heathcote and Akbar who bought us home for an epic win in the 23rd over. Akbar a fine 51 no and Justin 43 no.
Lamma top of the table and celebrations until the wee hours. Lamma CC 8 wins, 1 Loss.
Match 10, Lamma CC vs Kowloon CC Tartars
14th Apr '18
Playoff time with the top 4 in a contest to finish the season. Could Lamma CC repeat their epic win?
Lamma CC won the toss and bowled. Wickets came quickly and at 5-47 it appeared a repeat of our March game vs KCC. Najeeb and Afzal out cheap, enter Captain Farooq hitting 110 no. Nikil took our first 4 wickets for 23 and Brenton took 2-17, both off 7 overs. Mads took a fine catch, as did Justin. Brenton and Boots our bucket catches did not let us down taking two catches each. KCC finished a respectable 7-191 off 35 overs.
Lamma got off to a good start with Ching hitting at a strike rate of 168. Unfortunately, wickets fell and scores were all under 10 except Sarge. At 7-104 Lamma CC’s position looked bleak. Enter two more Lamma heroes; Vinnie and Nikhil were determined to get Lamma promoted. Together they put on 79 runs for the 8th wicket partnership before Vinnie was caught behind. Nikhil was next to go with the win in sight. Two unlikely batsmen at the crease ... 5 to win, 4 to draw. A single put Woodsy on strike and with some wides and a bye 2 runs needed to win. A Royce cut deflected but 2 runs and a massive Lamma win. See the video below, all very exciting stuff!
Lamma CC promoted, a massive Club goal achieved. Lamma CC 9 wins, 1 loss.
Match 1, Lamma CC vs CCC Hung See
16th Sep '17
Eager anticipation awaited our first game of the new season. CCC Hung See won the toss and batted first, they got off to a good start and were going nicely until Akbar, our returning Junior to Lamma, got the first wicket of the season. Nikhil, Akash and Akbar were bowling well and tight. Enter the McDonalds, Big Mac and Cheeseburger. 4-21 off 7 overs to Cheeseburger and 4-11 off 5 overs including a hat-trick collapsed CC Hung See to all out for 79, losing their last 9 wickets for a measly 46 runs. Woodsy bowled very tightly for 1-0 off 21 deliveries. Unplayable was heard from the opposition. First innings over at 29.3 overs.
Lamma set about its run chase losing only one wicket in 11.5 overs at a run rate of 6.76 runs per over. Becksy, a solid 37, red ink for Mads, 25 no and Brenton 11 no. Great win and a great start to the season.
Lamma 1 win
Match 2, HKU vs Lamma CC
30th Sep '17
A traditional grudge match with many social beatings and wins between these two teams. Lamma CC won the toss and bowled. HKU got off to a flier with Akash and Ron tight in their overs but Royce, Brenton and Tom going for a collective 127 runs in 21 overs, Tom getting two wickets and Brenton one. HKU a competitive 4-191.
Lamma CC batted and started poorly losing 5 quick wickets tumbling to be a precarious 5-46. Enter Captain and Vice Captain. Both stood up for Lamma and showed their strong leadership and cricketing abilities to steer us within sight of victory. 126 run partnership changing the game. Akash came in to join Boots and see us win with 4 balls to spare. Outstanding 77 no by Boots, 47 by Sarge.
Great win against a tough opposition. Lamma 2 wins, 0 losses.
Match 3, Lamma CC vs Kai Tak
5th Oct '17
A game with risk as Kai Tak has over 45 pilots on its roster, and depending on availability, the team is always competitive and sometimes more so.
Lamma CC won the toss and elected to bowl. Royce picked up the two openers and Brenton got an early one to have Kai Tak at 3-45. A brief middle order recovery saw Kai Tak back in the game but wickets fell regularly with some excellent catching by Mads in slips a scorcher, Boots three catches behind the wicket, Sarge two in play and Brad Bester another scorcher. Kai Tak out for 139 in 33.3 overs. Woodsy 3-25, Royce 2-24, Brenton 2-29 and Ron 2-23 – a great bowling effort and total team effort.
The openers got off to a solid start losing the first wicket at 50, then losing two more to be 3-65, Kai Tak back in the game. Enter Brad Bester and Sarge, 63 run partnership and game over. Brad finishing 45 no, Becksy 31 and Sarge 22.
Another great win against good opposition. Lamma 3 wins, 0 losses.
Match 4, Lamma CC vs Pioneers
14th Oct '17
Lamma CC won the toss and batted. An expected win, but never a given.
Mads started well and another 50 run partnership between the dynamic duo saw a solid start by Lamma. Becksy first out at 1-57 with a run rate already past 9 runs per over, saw us off to a flyer. Wardy came in and continued the onslaught with Mads out at 2-126, Nikhil came in to keep the acceleration, Brad hit out strongly and 4 of the first 6 bats had strike rates in excess of 100 and Brad, Becksy and Nikhil in excess of 170. Lamma CC a very competitive 7-266.
The bowlers took charge and wickets fell quickly, Nikhil 1-8 off 6 exceptional overs, Woodsy 1-8 off 5, Brenton 3-14 off 6 and Royce 2-1 off 2.1 which rounded off a great bowling effort. Pioneers all out for 67 with extras top scoring at 17!
Lamma CC, clinical with a great all-round display. Lamma 4 wins, 0 losses.
Match 5, LSW Spartans vs Lamma CC
9th Dec '17
Mixed results vs LSW Spartans in previous years, always a tough team to beat, remembering we had them 9 wickets down with them 26 to get and lost.
Lamma CC won the toss and bowled. Nikhil all fired up, decided today was his day. Nikhil went through LSW like a hot knife through butter. One batsman could muster 50 no for them, but all the rest single figures except extras on 12. Nikhil finished with 5-18 off 7 overs, an extraordinary performance, Brenton 3-24 off 6.3 overs and Royce 2-19 off 5 overs. Mads, Brad Bester, Sarge and Ritchie taking good catches.
The batting started shakily with Mads out without scoring, Wardy and Brad Bester taking us within 10 runs for victory when 2 quick wickets fell but Lamma CC was over the line.
A comprehensive win. Lamma CC 5 wins, 0 losses.
Match 6, Centaurs CC vs Lamma CC
13th Jan '18
Another tricky team with mixed results in the past, with Brenton and Royce former Centaurs players. Will Lamma CC stay on a roll?
A strong Lamma CC team on the park, Centaurs won the toss and bowled. Our top 4 players really shone with Mads and Becksy another 50+ run partnership. Mads out for 42, Becksy 27. Enter Akbar and Brad Bester, a 104 run partnership with Akbar out for 84, Brad not out 51. Lamma 3 for 216 after 35 overs.
Centaurs off to a strong start, run rate over 7 off the opening bowlers, enter Vinnie, Akbar and Royce. Nasir was batting well for Centaurs before a lightning throw ran him out by Royce. Vinnie chipped in with 3-24 off 7 overs, Akbar 3-2 off 3 overs and Royce 3-7 off 2.2 overs. Brad Bester taking his usual amazing catch much to the delight of Lamma. Excellent and well done considering Centaurs were 2-81 off 13 overs going strong to be all out for 116; the remainder at 8-35. Another outstanding team effort.
Good win. Lamma CC 6 wins, 0 losses.
Match 7, Laguna Gully CC vs Lamma CC
20th Jan '18
Lamma CC has had the wood on Laguna Gully for a couple of seasons now. Another traditional rival. Lamma CC won the toss and elected to bowl.
Laguna started well but was pegged back by Lamma bowlers. At 3-39 after 11 overs Lamma CC appeared in control. Pranav of Laguna CC, an excellent all-rounder, came in and together put on 107 run partnership to change the game. Our usually frugal bowlers were being hammered with Akbar 2-45 off 7 overs and Tom Woods 2-45 off 6. Brenton also had an off day going for 0-29 off 3 overs but took 4 good catches. Laguna CC 8-197 after 35 overs, but gettable.
Mads and Becksy again opened well, scoring 68 for the first wicket and after only 11 overs Lamma CC looked on target to win. At 1-92 Lamma CC slumped to 6-111 with the engine room of batting out to two direct hit run outs. Brenton 27 no and Vinnie 26 runs tried hard with a 38 run partnership but Brenton was left stranded after running out of partners. Mads 32, Becksy 34, Akbar 24 led the way. Lamma CC all out 170. The run rate was down a little which added extra pressure.
Beaten on the day. Lamma CC 6 wins, 1 loss.
Match 8, Lamma CC vs Taipans
27th Jan '18
A real test for Lamma as Taipans had recently come back from Division 1 and usually ended up on top of Lamma CC. Lamma CC was smarting from the previous week.
Taipans won the toss and batted first. Vinnie and Akash opened the bowling with wickets falling regularly. Taipans were 5-58 with the dangerous Manjinder out to Brenton; Lamma appeared on top. Some lower order resistance saw Taipans work their way to 133 all out after 34 overs. Great bowling to keep the run rate low, Vinnie 4-27 the star standout, with help from Woodsy 2-21 and Brenton 2-24, both off 7 overs. Catching again another great team effort, with Boots and Brenton taking two catches, Akash, Mads and Wardy adding another three catches.
Four key bats, Mads, Becksy, Ward and Bester back in the pavilion, we were struggling at 4-29. Enter Boots and Sarge, heroes against HKU repeating an excellent leadership partnership of 77 runs taking the game away from Taipans. Sarge 44no and Boots 41 runs the highlight of the batting.
Lamma CC a triumphant and comprehensive win. Lamma CC 7 wins, 1 loss.
Match 9, Kowloon CC Tartars vs Lamma CC
3rd Mar '18
Epic moment, epic game – first vs second.
Lamma CC won the toss and elected to bowl. Vinnie struck early and a Brenton run out had KCC on the back foot. Things stabilised but a rush of wickets from Brenton and Akbar cleaned up KCC. Nikhil bowled well without luck with 7 overs 0-20. Brenton took 4-17 and Akbar 3-21 both off 7 overs and were the chief destroyers. Mads took two of his usual catches in slips and helped start us on our way and Vinnie took 2-19 off 5 overs.
Two early wickets gave hope to KCC and Lamma at 2-3 was reeling. Enter Justin Heathcote and Akbar who bought us home for an epic win in the 23rd over. Akbar a fine 51 no and Justin 43 no.
Lamma top of the table and celebrations until the wee hours. Lamma CC 8 wins, 1 Loss.
Match 10, Lamma CC vs Kowloon CC Tartars
14th Apr '18
Playoff time with the top 4 in a contest to finish the season. Could Lamma CC repeat their epic win?
Lamma CC won the toss and bowled. Wickets came quickly and at 5-47 it appeared a repeat of our March game vs KCC. Najeeb and Afzal out cheap, enter Captain Farooq hitting 110 no. Nikil took our first 4 wickets for 23 and Brenton took 2-17, both off 7 overs. Mads took a fine catch, as did Justin. Brenton and Boots our bucket catches did not let us down taking two catches each. KCC finished a respectable 7-191 off 35 overs.
Lamma got off to a good start with Ching hitting at a strike rate of 168. Unfortunately, wickets fell and scores were all under 10 except Sarge. At 7-104 Lamma CC’s position looked bleak. Enter two more Lamma heroes; Vinnie and Nikhil were determined to get Lamma promoted. Together they put on 79 runs for the 8th wicket partnership before Vinnie was caught behind. Nikhil was next to go with the win in sight. Two unlikely batsmen at the crease ... 5 to win, 4 to draw. A single put Woodsy on strike and with some wides and a bye 2 runs needed to win. A Royce cut deflected but 2 runs and a massive Lamma win. See the video below, all very exciting stuff!
Lamma CC promoted, a massive Club goal achieved. Lamma CC 9 wins, 1 loss.
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Run You Idiots!
The thrilling end to last season's run chase at the KCC to win the Saturday Championship, Division 2 title and gain promotion to Division 1 |
Match 11, Taipans vs Lamma CC
21st Apr '18
Promotion assured, now for winning the league.
Lamma CC won the toss and elected to bat. Boots and Ching opened and quickly Lamma CC was precariously positioned at 2-31. Enter Akbar and Justin. To say these were the two best innings of the year would be unfair to some magnificent knocks, however, it was magic to watch them both put on a 185 run partnership, with Akbar finally out for 146 and Justin for 88. Their strike rates were both over 130+ the game went on its end with Lamma at 6-281 after 35 overs.
Taipans never really got going and were all out for 93 in 23.3 overs. Akash 3-19 off 5 overs, Brenton 6-28 off 6.3 overs and Woodsy 2-17 off 5 overs. A superb bowling effort.
Promotion assured, League won. Lamma CC 10 wins, 1 loss.
Match 12, LSW Spartans vs Lamma CC
28th Apr '18
A game to complete our season. A game to forget.
LSW won the toss and elected to bat. What stood out was the number of bowled in this game with seven bowled, one run out and one caught. Brenton 3-28, Ports 2-29 and Woodsy 2-42 all off 7 overs having an impact. With a mammoth 53 extras – yes 53, top scoring, LSW Spartans were 9-209 at 35 overs. A far departure for Lamma CC this season. A total of 34 wides for the game.
Lamma CC set off on task with a number of players getting a start but 32 our top score by Vinnie and 31 from Brenton was not enough. From 6-86, finally Lamma CC crumbled to be all out for 159, the 53 extras making a huge difference.
Lamma CC 10 wins, 2 losses.
Summary
An incredible year for Lamma CC and only the second time in its history winning a HK League Championship.
Some clear successes for the season:
- Catching generally was superb, as was the fielding
- Bowling, except the final game, was always 3-4 bowlers breaking the opposition
- Batting in partnerships – four times we were in diabolical realms only to see our Captain and Vice Captain bat us superbly back into the game, plus our three all-rounders contributed at stages. We had 3 opening partnerships over 50.
Improvements
Wides and no balls was better than the previous season but still resulted in almost 2 extra overs per game being bowled with wides our biggest challenge going forward
Some stats
- Lamma had 181 extras at an average of 15.1 per game (53 in the last game skewed this)
- Lamma bowled 129 wides at 10.8 per game (34 alone in our last game skewed this)
- Lamma bowled 10 no balls in only 4 games, the rest were unblemished
- 6 games Lamma had less than 10 extras
- 4 games Lamma had between 10 and 19 extras
- Our average run rate for the season was 5.63 or 197 runs at that average
- With the bat, our highest score was 146 and our top score was over 50, 5 times
- Bowling we took 5 wickets in only one game, we took one hat-trick and the top wicket-taker of 4 or more wickets on 5 occasions
- Best batting partnership was 185 and over 100 on 4 occasions
- Best bowling pair took 8-32 off 12 overs, and on 10 occasions we took 5 or more wickets with our best pair of bowlers
- Our total scores exceeded 200, 3 times
- Our total run score for the season was 2,033 for the loss of 68 wickets
- We kept our opposition to 1,614 runs for 107 wickets
- We took 54 catches average of 4.5 per game caught
- We bowled 30 batsmen average of 2.5 per game bowled
- We had 18 LBW given an average of 1.5 per game LBW
- We had 5 run-outs average < 0.5 per game
- We hit 33 sixes in 12 games, average 2.75 per game
- We hit 178 fours in 12 games, average 14.8 per game
- We scored 45% of our total with boundaries
- We had 1 top 20 batsman
- We had 5 Top 10 bowlers and 6 Top 20 bowlers
- We had 3 top 10 fielders
- We had 2 Top 10 MVP and 3 Top 20 MVP
- We won the league with the above stats!