THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Gipsies and Rascals catch the eye on first day of 2019 Chiang Mai Sixes

Gipsies and Rascals catch the eye on first day of 2019 Chiang Mai Sixes

The 32nd edition of the Chiang Mai Sixes is underway with a fabulous Welcome Party on the Saturday evening at the Imperial Mae Ping Hotel where friends old and new caught up after an absence of a year or more.

A wonderful seven days of action on the field begin in style with former champions Gloucestershire Gipsies leading the way and RUC Rascals, the only new team this year, winning two matches on their first ever day at the Chiang Mai Sixes.

Gipsies made the highest score of the day as they reached 83 for 3 in their five overs against Clifton Hill with Henry Cooper leading the way. Not noted as 'white ball' player in T20 cricket, he quickly showed he could be the master of the pink ball in five-over cricket as he raced to 35 with five sixes, a four and a single from the seven balls he faced.

Impressive with the bat, at least the Gipsies did not have a fearsome bowling attack but it proved effective as Cooper and Tom Smith each took two wickets as the Stray Cats made 37 for 4. Defending champions NCL Dynamites had already won their opening contest as they had comfortably beaten Darjeeling by five wickets with more than an over to spare but they will be relishing the challenge of the quality Kiwi Gloucester combination.

In the Gentleman's Section, tribute was paid to absent friends with a special match between Wombats and Malakas who had each lost an important figure in the past year. Terry Skillett, always a Malaka, had been the heart beat of the Sixes while Alan Hobbs had been almost an ever present part of Wombats' 31 previous visits to the Chiang Mai Sixes.

RUC Rascals, representing a mining company in Indonesia and brought to the Sixes thanks to the efforts of local player Colin Harlow. were impressive debutants as they claimed victories over Blythswood by 15 runs and Stuffed Beavers by 5 wickets. James East led the way with scores of 31 retired and 15 not out as the Rascals enjoyed a fantastic first day.

The day concluded with a pair of ladies matches with Pin Papworth scoring 27* for Thai Angels as they were narrowly beaten by Central Spirit from Australia, and the Beaverettes enjoyed their victory over the Chaiang Mai Chassies and celebrated long into the night at the Beavers' opening night party.

 

 

The Players Section in the 2019 Chiang Mai Sixes is set for an exciting finish as all 12 teams taking part in the competition's first division have now played two matches. All teams play their third match on Tuesday as places in the Cup and the Shield will be decided. The top six teams will play in the Cup and those in seventh to twelfth places will compete in the Shield.

Five teams made it two wins out of two with Gloucestershire leading the way after their win against the NCL Masters. NCL Masters, Divine Felons and Margate also had two victories when we came to the last match of the day with UN Irish Pub facing Yorkshire Puddings. These were two strong sides with the 2016 champions facing the 2017 losing finalists and a close contest was expected.

Naveed Pathan took two wickets in the first over for the Irishstanis but Yorkshire Puddings recovered to a total of 69 thanks to an unbroken third wicket partnership of 61 between Awais Ejaz and Amjid Hussain. UN Irish looked to be cruising but runs were soon hard to come by after Naveed's retirement. 18 runs were needed off the final over and a wicket was lost to the first ball as Burhan was stumped.

Cometh the hour, cometh the main as Asim came to crease and he hit his first ball for six and followed with a two and a four. Six runs required from two balls and Asim sent the next ball sailing over mid-wicket for six and wild celebrations greeted the end of the match from the last ball of the day. UN Irish had grabbed victory from the jaws of defeat and moved into second place in the table.

There was also great excitement in the Gentlemen's Section where Neil Kirkwood hit the Flight of the Gibbon banner at deep mid-wicket to score the competition's first ten and it helped Beijing Ducks to victory over Tokyo Dingbats. Another unlikely hero was Kevin Wun of Blythswood who played the innings of his life to see his side home against Awali Taverners.

The third day gets underway and 9.00 am on Tuesday with all the places in the Cup and Shield to be decided.

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