Gymkhana Juniors finished their league campaign with only one win to their credit but Floggers & Robbers are back on track after a powerful batting performance at Gymkhana Club
The Chiang Mai Senior League is now set for an exciting finish after Floggers & Robbers gave an impressive performance with the bat to overcome Gymkhana Juniors’ total of 171 for 5 with more than 10 overs to spare. Floggers now have two wins from three matches and can still catch league leaders Lanna.
The Thai boys had produced an admirable batting performance which included a century partnership from Anim and Choo but they were unable to stand up to the whirlwind of power-hitting unleashed by the Floggers’ batsmen. Seven wickets were lost in scoring 173 in 19.1 overs but victory came by 3 wickets at a remarkable scoring rate of more than nine runs an over.
Gymkhana Juniors had won the toss and elected to bat and made an impressive start thanks to Nikom who hit four fours in his 22 and Bunchuaai who took his tally of runs to 146 in five league matches. They shared an opening partnership of 47 but after John Wood had dismissed both openers even better was to follow for the Juniors.
Anim has been taking wickets with his leg-breaks but today he would flourish with the bat and Choo is proving a reliable cricketer with bat and ball. Both had opened the batting earlier in the season and they built their partnership steadily as Floggers tried a variety of bowlers to no avail.
When Anim reached his fifty from 60 balls with five boundaries he also raised the hundred partnership for the third wicket which is a notable achievement for two promising junior cricketers. Anim was required to retire on 53* with the partnership standing on 103* and Choo continued until the end of the innings to remain unbeaten on 40 from 53 balls.
The final total of 171 for 5 in 30 overs was an impressive one and should have been enough to put pressure on a batting line-up more suited to Sixes cricket than pacing an innings but things started poorly in the field for Gymkhana Juniors as Nikom bowled six wides and a no ball in an over that cost 16.
Chanchai bowled with much better control to take two wickets but Chris Coombes was playing confidently as he hit eight fours in his 39 and a barrage of sixes followed from Ant Jackson and Andy Paps as the chase was mounted at a breakneck pace.
Anim had had a day to remember with the bat but he followed it with a day to forget with the ball as the ball disappeared to all corners and a series of catches went down as the pressure on the fielding side was rising as quickly as the total.
Choo finished with excellent figures of 3 for 20 from his 5 overs but Floggers still managed a remarkable 3-wicket victory with 10.5 overs in hand. They now have two wins from three matches and now face two matches against CPP who will do well to stand up to this style of batting.
With two more victories to Floggers we would have two teams tied at the top of the table with four wins out of five and Lanna would then face Floggers with the league title at stake. The junior side from Doi Saket cannot be discounted as they have already two wins to their name and could also draw level with Lanna with two more victories.
It is all to play for in the Chiang Mai Senior League and Floggers & Robbers’ style of play with make for an exciting finish to the season at Gymkhana Club over the next few weeks.