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Remarkable win for PKF Wanderers in GCA Cup Final
David Piesing
The 2006 domestic season was brought to a close on Saturday with the final of the Carey Olsen GCA Cup, a 50-over affair between league champions Clubhouse Optimists and PKF Wanderers, who had finished bottom of the league.
On a belter of a wicket and on a glorious late summer's day, Optimists' skipper Mark Jefferies won the toss and elected to bat first, despite the early morning dew. They lost 14-year old opener Adam Hindle for single figures, bowled by a pearler from Pierre Moody, but Tim de Putron and Ami Banerjee put together a half-century partnership before de Putron got a fine edge to Phil Challenger for another 14-year old, wicketkeeper Tim Ravenscroft, to take the catch. This dismissal only served to bring together Banerjee and the hard-hitting South African, GH Smit, who signalled his intentions with an aggressive boundary off his first ball. The pair compiled a century partnership and in desperation Wanderers' skipper turned to Ravenscroft's off-breaks. After shedding the pads, his very first ball was a full toss which Banerjee hammered straight down the throat of Mike Savage at deep square leg after making a solid 50.
Smit was joined by island captain, Andy Biggins, and the pair compiled another century partnership, with Smit playing some fine drives and pulls in reaching a very impressive 116 while Biggins played a fine supporting role. After Smit finally skied Savage to Ravenscroft at backward point, Biggins cut loose in the last few overs and smashed his away to an unbeaten 73 off just 49 balls as Optimists reached a massive score of 307 for 4 in their 50 overs.
With such a big target, Wanderers had to get off to a quick start and were duly helped by some very wayward bowling by the Optimists' openers. The third 14-year old playing in the match, Will Thompson, was bowled by a full toss by Chris Van Vliet early on, but fellow opener Tim Belton was looking in fine form along with Sher Khanagha in a brisk partnership before Belton was unfortunate to be run out after a calling mix-up. At 60 for 2 after 8 overs, Wanderers had the quick start that they wanted but losing two early wickets was not what the doctor ordered. Young Ravenscroft then joined Khanagha and the pair ticked the scoreboard over nicely at 5 an over before Banerjee, his coach at Elizabeth College, got his own back by getting Ravenscroft caught at mid-on.
The next partnership between Khanagha and skipper Veillard was always going to be pivotal to the result and the pair really took the game to Optimists with an excellent century partnership. Khanagha played some delightful drives all around the wicket in reaching a fine first century in Guernsey in only his second game, following up his seven-wicket haul on debut in the semi-final. As is so often the case, both men fell quickly in succession, in this case to the gentle pace of veteran seamer Mike de Haaff in the same over. Veillard was first to go for 44, and a tired Khanagha, suffering from cramp, was then bowled for 112 which came at a run a ball. Wanderers still had a lot to do, with just 5 wickets standing and more than a hundred still needed at a run rate starting to edge towards 8 an over.
Pierre Moody then became de Haaff's third victim, caught at extra cover by Jefferies, which brought together Spencer Noyon and Dave Piesing. The pair put on 30 at just below the required rate before Piesing was bowled by de Haaff, leaving Wanderers still 80 runs short and with the asking rate now around 8 an over with just three wickets in hand. Noyon was joined by left-hander Steve Birkett and the pair tucked into the Optimists' bowling. Three successive overs of double-figure runs brought the asking rate down dramatically and Optimists simply had no way of stemming the flow although Banerjee still had overs up his sleeve, having conceded just 3 an over off his first seven overs. Wanderers kept going though and having got the asking rate down to a run a ball off the last four overs, all they needed to do was bat sensibly to win the game. With just 6 needed off the last over, bowled by Van Vliet, Noyon struck two successive boundaries to seal a remarkable victory with four balls to spare.
Although the fielding of both sides left a lot to be desired, and on a day when most of the bowlers found it impossible to restrict the runs on a flat track and fast outfield, to successfully chase 307 in 50 overs was a remarkable achievement by Wanderers. Ironically, a lack of runs in the top order had been Wanderers' problem all season but man-of-the-match newcomer Khanagha made a huge impact and his team-mates were up to the task of supporting him in securing a memorable victory.
© Guernsey Cricket Board
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