Kai Tak Vs Centaurs, Mission Rd.

Centaurs  8 / 181  G.Laas 4-2-29, B.Haskett 5-2-18, M.Naqvi 3-2-17, M.Boss 10-0-29

Kai Tak 2 / 182  B.Haskett 76, S.Campbell 48*, M.Naqvi 38

Well what a start to the season for the TAK!!! Fielding a team of relative unknowns the TAK spirit shone through and we had a very decisive victory!!

Being the opening game, the ceremony began when we arrived at the the new Shark Fin Soup stadium. The dancers were there doing there thing and somehow they managed to get Gerhard (Go-hard) Laas, up on the wires running in the air around the ground...spectacular!! Bob Ward mimed the national anthem of all the playing nations, except Canada as they didnt realise they played cricket, sorry Geoff. The lighting of the HKCA flame didnt go as planned, a Cathay 777 was to dump fuel overhead and both skippers were to hit flaming balls into it. Unfortunately they got their math wrong and dumped too much and the near by housing estate was evacuated!!! So on with the cricket!!!

Looking around i was confident on our bowling but unsure of our batting so i sent them into bat first. Mitch Boss (Hugo) was on song from ball one and none of their players looked even close to hitting any of his deliveries. Bob Ward was given the task to open and he also got on to it right away. Their big Sri Lankan looked very dangerous but he got too cocky and tried to pull a rising ball off Bob and Mohsin made no mistake of it at point, a huge first wicket!! We had them 1 for 22 off 10!! They managed a few more runs before drinks but we were chipping away at their batting. Some very tidy bowling by Mark Blampeid and Go-Hard Laas kept the pressure on and some superb wicket keeping by the skipper kept it tight!! Fidel came on and with thoughts of Thai girlfriends fresh in his mind brought out some good ol Fidel action. The old schoolers Brad and Mohsin were given the task to reel them in a bit and they did so dutifully, backed up by some very good fielding. Our Canadian ring in Geoff Williamson-hey was a magnet and stopped everything that came his way. Some how they managed to get up a reasonable total, it was tough conditions in the wet and 181 was going to be a challenge.

The TAK have managed to make a meal of some of these low total games but Brad and Mohsin let us all know straight away this wasnt going to be one of those days!! Brad was superfluous and Mohsin could only watch in awe as Brad pretty much hogged all the batting!! The pace was well above what was needed but there was no way we were going to reel Brad in, he hit some sublime 6s and had the Centaurs dropping their heads after only a few overs. The confidence was rising in the dressing rooms when we passed 100 for no loss and the captain was starting to look around to give some new guys a run. No sooner had i done that when Haskett finally fell to a brilliant catch in the deep. Considering how wet the ball was and how far this guy had to run, we were backing the ground. So Campbell strolled out very unsure of how he was going to go about it, should i be sensible, should i let Mohsin get on with it, should i....4 balls and 14 runs later i pretty much figured it out. It was a field day out there and i managed my 48 not out off 19 balls. The bowling by this stage i must admit was all meat pies but anyway. Mohsin went out calypso style..AGAIN, trying to sweep a ball off middle and given lbw....AGAIN!!!! But a very valuable 38 runs for the TAK!!!

So we got 182 off only 22 overs, made an absolute mockery of it but it did mean early drinks at Stauntons!!! A great effort and a great way to start the season, well done boys. Thanks to the new guys, Mark Blampeid, Go-Hard Laas, Byron Thorley, Geoff Williamson-hey and Dave Jordaan. Thanks to Vanessa Williamson-hey, who turned up to watch her hubby and make friends with everyone there, i think she is even now in the mahjong group with the little old ladies there!!

Well done again lads, lets keep the ball rolling next week and get another 12 points on the board!!

Go the TAK!

Steve.