PRESS RELEASE – MCA FAST TRACK INTER-STATE LEAGUE 2017

Penang will once again this year participate in the Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA) Fast Track State League.   This tournament which is a two (2) day innings format competition kicks off on 5 February 2017.  It will change to a 3 day innings format at the super league stage (upon qualification) whereby only 2 top teams from each group will take part. Among the participating teams are Selangor, Johor, Sarawak, Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, Negeri Sembilan, Sabah and Penang. At the preliminary rounds stage, Penang will take on Kuala Lumpur on   4-5 February 2017, Negeri Sembilan on 11 – 12 February and Sabah on 18-19 February 2017.  

For this year, Penang  Cricket Association has managed for the first time to secure an official sponsor.  The official sponsor is Ming Engineering Plastic Sdn Bhd and this company has pledged to contribute RM15,000 towards Penang State team’s participation in this Fast Track League. This certainly goes a long way to enhance our participation & efforts to strengthen our State team, which comprises mainly junior local Penang born players.

Ming Engineering Plastic Sdn Bhd is a company involved in total waste management (dedicated to recovery & recycling of all types of waste materials) since 2005. The company is headquartered at Plot 167A, Lorong Perindustrian Bukit Minyak, Kawasan Perindustrian Bukit Minyak 13, Penang.  The company is an ISO 14001:2004 (Environmental Management Standard), ISO 9001:2008 (the Quality System) and OHSAS 18001:2007 certified.  The company’s network of operations includes a 50,000-sq. ft. purpose built processing plant and warehouse in Penang.  It also has facilities in Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru and expanded overseas to Hong Kong and Thailand.

Penang will be skippered by the big hitting Pavithren Nadesan.  The team will be buoyed by current international players in the squad such as Kavintheran Kumar, Keithan Goonasagaran, Varun Nadesh and ex-international, Darvin Muralitharan. Penang have also secured the services of pacey, Ibrahim Hassan, whom is presently a Maldivian national player.

Penang Cricket Association

25 January 2017

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PCA Annual General Meeting

Dear Affiliates, Life Members and Members,

PCA Management Committee would like to invite you to the upcoming Penang Cricket Association Annual General Meeting.

The meeting details as follows;

DATE     :   Wednesday, 12th October 2016
TIME     :   7.00pm
VENUE  :   Multipurpose Hall, Penang Sports Club

Your presence is very much appreciated.

Thank You.

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Penang T20 Cricket League 2015 Summary Report

Penang T20 Cricket League 2015

Post Tournament Report 

(May to August 2015)

The PCA T20 Cricket League was organized by Penang Cricket Association. It commenced in May and culminated in August 2015. The month of Ramadan caused the delay in this league. The matches were played between five teams, namely Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang Sports Club (PSC), India Pakistan Lovers Cricket Club (IPLCC), Penang Sports Development Team (PSDT)and Australain Defence Force (ADF). These matches were played on the USM and PSC cricket grounds. The teams were managed by their respective captains Muhammad Talha (USM), Shahul Hameed (PSC), Nadeem (IPLCC), Martin (ADF) and Vinay (PSDT). All the teams played one match each other and the final of the league was played between the top two teams. Eleven matches were played and one was washed out due to rain in this league. All the matches in this tournament were played on the weekends due to the unavailability of players and grounds.

A full range of cricketing ability was on show at the tournament from all the cricketers to the keenest total novice, with players of every ability able to soak up the atmosphere and give it their best out in the middle. The inaugural match of this league was played between Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and India Pakistan Lovers Cricket Club (IPLCC) at USM cricket ground. The match was won by the USM cricket team. During the whole tournament, a number of people came to the ground to witness the true spirit of the game. They enjoyed the whole tournament under the outstanding weather conditions. 

The final match was the real crunch and nail-biting game played between USM and PSC. USM set a total of 93 on the board in 20 overs. Since from the word go PSC had been the hot favorite for that tournament, but USM could reach the victory stand by the margin of only 4 runs. The final match exhibited good cricket from both the teams with trophy falling into the lap of the USM cricket team. Mr Noor Hayat was the umpire throughout the tournament. Final ceremony was held at the end of the final match in which President of the Penang Cricket Association had given medals to both teams and trophy to the winners. Indeed, it was a successful tournament for Penang Cricket Association and an entertaining event for its participants.

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USM snatches victory from jaws of defeat

PSC Vs USM Match Summary 

(9th August 2015)

The final match of the Penang T20 Cricket League was played between Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and Penang Sports Club (PSC) on August 9, 2015 on the PSC Cricket ground. The coin was thrown in the air at 9:00am and the match was started after 15 minutes of the toss. Penang Sports Club (PSC) elected to field first after winning the toss. The weather was very much cricket friendly. This was the second time when both teams were playing each other in this league as previously USM had defeated PSC.

Najam and Junaid started the match, but Najam gave his wicket in the very first over of the innings. He was clean bowled by Lovely without opening his account. Ubaid came in and started crafting a partnership with Junaid. Ubaid hit two boundaries in the over of Arjun. They continued their aggression and perfectly utilized the first mandatory power play. They both played well and scored 15 runs each. Kashif and Irfan Shah tried their best in the middle overs of the innings to put a handsome total on the scoreboard. In the end, USM managed to put 92 runs on the scoreboard and lost 6 wickets. Lovely and Arjun took 2 wickets each.  

In reply, PSC openers could not provide solid start and lost their first wicket cheaply. USM kept on picking the wickets, even as PSC batsmen kept themselves within touching distance of the required run-rate. After fall of two wickets, Yasir and Lovely tried to come out from the pressure of USM pacers and started developing a good partnership for PSC. At that time USM took back their strength, but Shahul came in and hit beautiful shots and tried to drag back the match.  He set 25 runs. Junaid came on the strike with great energy and he sent two batsmen back to the pavilions and did great bowling by.  His over was a turning point of the match. This low scoring match turned into a thriller as in the last over PSC required 13 runs. PSC could not chase down the total and USM snatched the victory from the jaws of defeat. They won this final match by 4 runs.

                                                                                                

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PSC seal victory in T20 against PSDT

PSC Vs PSDT Match Summary 

(2nd August 2015)

The seventh match of Penang T20 league was played between Penang Sports Club (PSC) and Penang Sports Development Team (PSDT) at PSC ground. The match was started at 9 am. Penang Sports Club (PSC) won the toss and elected to field first. The weather was very much cricket friendly as it was a bright sunny day. This game was a must win for both teams to qualify for the final of this Penang T20 league. 

Vinnay and  Shakeel started the PSDT innings with a positive mindset. Shakeel went back early as he was caught behind after adding 4 runs. Vinnay took the challenge and started crafting  innings with Harven but could not succeed to impress. He  tried to clear the field, but the ball disturbed the timber. He went back to the pavilion after scoring 10 runs. Harven played a brilliant knock and made 46 runs. The bass came in the middle and hit a couple of nice boundaries. Harven and Baz controlled the damage and made the scoreboard ticking. They played well, but only could manage to set 99 runs target. Daud was the key bowler from PSC who took 4 wickets. 

The start of PSC batting was not much different from PSDT as their opener could not provide a solid stand and Yasir threw his wicket very early. In reply to PSDT meager target of 99, Shahul played a solid innings and hit a couple of good boundaries. He made quick 33 runs. After his wicket Lovely took the charge and started hitting good drives. He was bowled after adding 16 runs by Baz. His magical second spell was a key and put PSC under immense pressure. In his last over, Baz bowled very nicely and did not let the batsmen to score runs. The low total match turned into a thriller as PSC chased down the target with the second ball of the last over. They not only won this match, but also cement their place in the final.

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Penang bowled Sarawak for 162

Penang Vs Sarawak Match Summary 

(30th May 2015)

It was a gritty day for the boys as the bowlers were ready to shoot the balls to the stumps and the batsmen were ready to watch the opponent’s ball go pass the rope. It was them against the Sarawak which previously ripped KL apart. Penang skipper, Darvin Muralitharan had won the toss and decided to let the team feel the ball before they could start hitting it. The game had then started and the first wicket was taken in the 4^th overs. Later, one wicket kept falling and they resulted in a decent target of 163 runs for the Penang thunderbolts to chase.

The openers, Varun Nadesh and the skipper himself  gave a good kickoff of 19 runs. Unfortunately, Skipper  was bowled in the 7^th overs. 2 other important wickets, Keithan Goonasagaran and Harventheran Kumar fell after him, which was a horrifying vision for Penang. But still there was one of Lanka’s best, Madushan Ravichandrakumar  who started back the confidence for Penang and made a good partnership with Kavintheran Kumar together spiking 70 runs on the board. Then again started the falling wickets and resulted in 110 runs on the board which was insufficient to feed the target by 52 runs.

The main highlights for Penang was Madushan Ravichandrakumar who made 38 off 49 balls and Senal de Silva, who scored 20 runs off 47 balls. For Sarawak, there was Shafiq Sharif, who made 51of 81 balls and HIA Jayaratne with his 47 off 37 balls. Sarawak’s reliable DK Ranaweera was awarded man of the match for his marvelous 5 wickets. Also Thevan Raj took 3 wickets, Baazegh 2 and Kavintheran Kumar 2 which was really outstanding and glorious for Penang.

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RSC Mercilessly Slaughtered Penang State

Penang vs RSC

It was a wonderful Sunday morning at the Royal Selangor Club (RSC) as the teams arrived. Penang was faced with a tough task of toppling the home side on a pitch that favored neither side. Stand in captain for Penang, Varun Nadesh won the toss and elected to field on what looked to be a fairly poor batting track. The Penang team had a younger side than usual, as a few of the top guns were unavailable for this match up.

One of the top wicket takers of the recent MCA 2-day tournament, Kavin Kumar opened the bowling attack for Penang and was well supported by Harvind from the other end. RSC’s captain Rohan Vishnu was looking to try out all the foreigners that Kuala Lumpur (KL) had signed for the upcoming 50 over league and sent in one of the few Sri Lankans who had played first class cricket. Prashant opened the batting with youngster Virandeep Singh. Both batsmen had very shaky starts to their innings as they found it very difficult to find the middle of the bat. Despite all their efforts, the Penang side was deemed unlucky, as they could not find a way to break the opening partnership that was slowly setting in. A few edges that went through slips and gully eased the pressure of the batsmen. After a 4 over spell, Kavin was replaced by the left-arm orthodox, Thevan who had a very rough start as he failed to find his line or length, was hit for 2 fours in his first over that cost him 12 runs in total. Tharek Aziz was one of the KL juniors that were asked to play for the Penang Side that had an incomplete side and he was soon brought into the attack to replace Harvind after a 5-over spell. Just before the water break, Prashant showed why he’s not playing for Sri Lanka as he was struggling for breath by the 10th over and had to leave the field. The next batsman in was Suresh Singh who played off the remaining over before the water break. RSC was 56 for no loss in 13 overs.

Penang came back strongly after the water break. Thevan picked up two quick wickets. First to depart was Suresh Singh who has caught behind and Virandeep who was caught at covers the very next over. Vinay Singh was soon brought into the attack to create a left arm / right arm combination. Manjula who was another foreigner was in next with RSC veteran Suresh Sakadevan. Both new batsmen at the crease and the Penang bowlers were making it very tough for the duo to get on with proceedings. However a few drop catches behind the stumps and a few others, proved to be very costly as both new batsmen made it count. Nevertheless, Thevan and Vinay contained the batting duo as much as possible. Thevan ended woth figures of 2-32 and Vinay gave away 30 runs in his 8 overs with no wickets. Vinay Singh soon took over the gloves from Varun after the batting power play. Kavin was brought back into the attack for a quick and economical 2 over spell. Varun brought himself into the attack but was dispatched to the boundary with ease by the set batsman, Manjula. Suresh retired on 46 and foreigner Dulanga came to the crease. Set batsman Manjula went on to make his half-century and was supported by new batsmen Dulanga. Penang bowlers still fought back with Harvind and Kavin causing a lot of difficulties for the set batsmen. Towards the end of the innings, young left-arm orthodox bowler, Raakesh was brought into the attack and proved to be effective in his first over with Kavin running out set batsman Manjula. Durgesh was the next youngster to bowl as he picked up the wicket of Vivegan who has taken beautifully by the one of the RSC juniors, Saifullah. RSC ended with a whopping score of 236 in 40 overs.

Penang openers Varun and Tharek were faced with a tough task of chasing down the score with RSC’s deadly bowling attack. Current National A coach, Thusara Kodikara opened the bowling with KL opening bowler, Neville. The duo made batting very difficult for the openers as the both got the ball to swing and seam from the first ball. A misunderstanding between the openers had Tharek run out bringing in Jeeven who was given a stroke of luck when he had an inside edge that merely missed the stumps and eventually ran away to the boundary. Both batsmen showed some resistance but Varun was soon caught at covers trying to dispatch Pavandeep. Vinay was the next man in but was trapped LBW by Pavandeep. Unfortunately for the Penang boys, these wickets caused a chain like reaction causing the rest of the batting order to collapse. Kodikara soon bowled Jeeven and Harvind was welcomed to the crease. Bobby soon joined him and both batsmen had a small partnership but foreigner Dulanga soon ripped through the Penang batting line-up claiming 4 wickets. Penang was soon bundled out for 68 runs in 23 overs. The Penang Boys made no mentionable contributions with the bat. Final result, Penang lost by 169 runs.

By,

Varun N.

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Fighting Penang goes down to KL

Day 1 Penang Vs KL Match Summary (18th April 2015)

It was a big day for the boys as it was the semi-finals against KL at the Kinrara Oval. Penang loss the toss and was put into bat, which was what skipper, Darvin intended to do if he had won the toss. 

Penang openers, Harinder Singh and Harventheran Kumar walked in looking to torment the bowlers on a nice flat track. Unfortunately, Harinder was bowled of the 3rd ball of the 1st over by an inswinger. Keithan then came in at number 3 and had a small partnership with Harven before he was out caught making a positive 20. Darvin in at number 4 played positively against the spinners but didn’t last long either before he was out caught in the covers. 19 year old Harven was still at the crease and played a couple of elegant strokes before he was dismissed for a useful 23.

Vinay Flying Singh got off to a decent start, but an ugly mix up between him and Kavin resulted in a run-out. Wickets then kept falling at regular intervals for Penang and what was of our most concern is that most batsmen got off to a good start but fail to covert those starts to bigger scores.Penang was eventually bundled out for 129 runs.

The game was still far from over with the Penang boys taking the field and looking to strangle KL for anything below 129. Kavin and Baz opened the bowling and bowled with a lot discipline resulting in Kavin plucking the 1st wicket. KL batsmen were playing very safe trying to see off the bowlers till the end of days play. Darvin kept rotating the bowlers and has his field checked in an attacking mode. Vinay Flying Singh came to the rescue and snapped up 2 wickets in his first over, including the big wicket of Suhan. KL were immediately pushed back and sent in a nightwatchmen to see off the day. Just before the end of the days play, Keithan was introduced with his handy off breaks and bagged 2 wickets to leave KL at 140-5 at the end of day 1. Credit has to be given to KL’s opening bat, Virandeep who parried the team’s score and was unbeaten on 55 on day 1.

Day 2 Penang Vs KL Match Summary (19th April 2015)

Knowing KL has surpassed our team’s score, mastermind Darvin came up with a game plan of trying to bundle out KL as fast as possible, put up a defendable score in quick time and then try to snap up another 10 wickets to seal the deal. As there was no other route, the Penang boys took the field with a positive intent of accomplishing the game plan. Virandeep was batting alongside the KL skipper, Neville and was very lucky to have survived a few drop catches early on. Penang looked a little sloppy at the beginning with a few missed chances and a brainless over-throw by Thevan Mangga Raj. Vinay Flying Singh came to the rescue again snaring Neville and in no time bagging Rosman to finish off with 4 wickets. KL was dismissed for 262 in 74 overs with opening bat, Virandeep remaining unbeaten with a sensible century to his name.

Penang is now looking to pile up quick runs in no time and decided to promote Pavithren up the order in an attempt to see some fireworks. Unfortunately, Pavithren continued his sublime form over the weekend with another duck to his name. Opening bat, Harven was a joy to watch with his elegant drives and flicks as he and superstar, Keithan put up a decent partnership for the 2nd wicket. They both played with positive intent looking to attack the KL bowlers resulting in a wide-spread field placement. 

The Penang dugout was anxious and excited as Harven was nearing his maiden fifty, but unfortunately he was dismissed for an excellent 48. Keithan and Darvin had another massive partnership as the two went past their fifties, scoring 63 and 60 respectively. Penang eventually piled up 209-5 in 40 odd overs when Darvin decided to declare upon his dismissal. 

Settling a tricky target score of 77, KL were sent in to bat with slightly about more than an hour of play left for the day. Kavin once again started the proceedings and bagged the 1st wicket as the batsman chipped the ball back on to his stumps. Vinay then trapped their number 3 batsmen in front and has KL reeling with 2 wickets down in no time. KL then shifted gears and were looking very defensive, trying to play for the draw. Bad light interrupted the last half hour of the last session and the umpires decided to call it off with the captain's approval.

It was the end of the road for the Penang boys as KL were through to the finals due to the 1st innings lead. Nevertheless, Penang had a lot of positives to take from this tournament and as Penang’s trademark is always fielding a young side with homegrown talent, this could be a learning curve for the boys. The boys are still fired up as the MPL kicks off end of next month.

Stay tuned.

By,
Pavithran.N

(Pictures credit goes to the Malaysian Cricket Association)

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Young side emerged as Runners-Up in Finals

PCA 35 Overs League Finals Summary

(5th April 2015)

I have been honored the privilege of another year of addressing a very important area of cricket in Penang, the 35 OVERS PREMIER LEAGUE COMPETITION organized by the PENANG CRICKET ASSOCIATION (PCA). On an annual basis, this particular tournament is to form a major factor in encouraging playing numbers and giving opportunity to cricketers to excel in their sporting field. In addition to that, for every year this event has been held out, the atmosphere has always taken up a notch higher. It is great to see people from all ages to come together and play this magnificent game. It is also great to see that all participants reiterate preparations for this event to be treated with utmost importance and urgency so as to ensure that it is not taken for granted and never without a fight. This inauguration event was organized from November 9th 2014 to April 5th 2015.

The matches were played between 4 teams, namely:

1) TENTERA LAUT DIRAJA MALAYSIA (NAVY)

2) PENANG SPORTS CLUB (PSC)

3) AUSTRALIAN DEFENSE FORCE (ADF)

4) PENANG SPORTS DEVELOPMENT TEAM (PSDT)

Having defended champions, NAVY clenches it away once again with a clean sweep of five wins from six matches. NAVY as always came up with their ever tight fielding and a pretty solid batting lineup. And next up having PSDT as defending runners-up having a go with a silver medal once again. Never for once forgetting a team that played off with only youngsters from the age of 14 and so. PSDT heavier on their bowling managed to pull it off with the advantage they had. Besides that, PSDT boys also had a solid batting side having one of the most promising batsmen with consistent performances coming from here. These boys are ever energetic and ever burning spirits infield as well as the outfield. Lastly, having PSC consists of ex state players finishing off third in the table and ADF, the white men on fourth.

By,

Durgesh T.

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Penang Finishes Second in Group A

Day 1 Penang Vs Sarawak Match Summary 

(28th March 2015)

Both teams were greeted with typical sunny and partly cloudy weather at the Kinrara Oval, Kuala Lumpur. The wicket looked like a beautiful batting track, but unfortunately the Penang skipper Darvin “dolly-dropper” Muralitharan lost the toss and as expected Sarawak had no hesitation in electing to bat first especially with National skipper Faiz Noor back in their starting XI.

Penang came out to the field pumped up and ready for battle! The first two wickets fell in quick succession with the score at 5 and 6 respectively. Opening bowlers Kavin “guns blazing” Kumar (6-0-16-0) and Baz Zaka (15-4-29-2) provided Penang with the perfect start. A gutsy decision by the Penang think-tanks who brought in the ever-so deceiving Harvindran “swinga” Rajendran (11-0-29-2) took two crucial wickets in his spell, the first coming in his very first over. At this stage Sarawak were reeling at 43/4 with Maxwell Stephen joining Faiz Noor in the middle. The introduction of Thevan “Mr Reliable” Raj at this stage further slowed down the scoring rate with a fantastic spell of 15-0-38-0 with an economy rate of 2.53 an over. Mr Reliable was unlucky not to pick up a wicket even though he frequently troubled the batsmen who got away with playing a few false strokes.The only noticeable partnership was 143 runs between Faiz and Maxwell. 

Faiz remained not out with a brilliant 114 runs while Maxwell Stephen chipped in with a edgy 67, frequently playing in the ‘A’. Keithan "air ball" Goona (12-0-33-0) was brought into the attack but proved to be just as useless as Kevin Pietersens talks of a return. Vinay "Marilyn Manson" Singh (11-0-35-3) came on later in the day to claim 3 quick wickets to help reduce Sarawak to 208/7 in their 75 overs.Due to Penang's extremely good over rate, they were required to bat out the last session of the day. 

Openers Varun ".98" Nadesh and Harven "silly" Kumar put on a solid partnership of 73 before Varun was out followed shortly by Harven with the score reading 79/2. 

Nightwatchman Baz who went in at one down was joined with Harinder "satay-man" Sekhon who provided a calm and cool Dhoni like presence out in the middle to ensure Penang did not lose anymore wickets. The day ended with Penang at 91/2, still 117 runs behind.

Day 2 Penang Vs Sarawak Match Summary 

(29th March 2015)

It was another good day for cricket as the sun was shining down on the Kinrara Oval, Kuala Lumpur. Continuing where they left off from Day 1 Baz and Harinder gave Penang a good start by picking up singles. 

A bad call from Baz left him stranded mid-pitch and a cheeky bit of foul play saw him given out “obstructing the field”. In came Keithan who didn’t last as long as she’d like, getting out on 5.Darvin then chipped in with a quick and confident 20 before getting caught at cover to Penang’s utmost surprise and horror Harinder was stumped the very next ball for 22. Vinay Singh (27) and Pavithren “monstah” Nadesen (31) then helped Penang revive their innings with a partnership of 41 runs with Pavithren smashing two huge gayle-like sixes to keep Penang well in the chase. 

After putting up a good fight Vinay was bowled and Kavin Kumar joined Pavithren in the middle with Penang needing 10 runs from the last over to gain a first innings lead. Unfortunately Pavithren and Kavin (01) both got out and Penang were three runs short of gaining a first innings lead. Sarawak then started their second innings by losing an early wicket to Kavin Kumar with only 18 runs. 

The Penang bowlers bowled very well considering it was their second consecutive day on the field and took regular wickets. Varun “.98” Nadesh picked up 3/54 in his 14 overs, Vinay Singh picked up 2/23 in 5 overs and Thevan Raj, Kavin Kumar and Baz picking up 1 wicket each to leave Sarawak at 220/8 before the umpires called off the game as no result besides a draw was possible due to the time. 

Result:
The game ended with a draw, although Sarawak led by 2 runs in the first innings.Congratulations to all the Penang players who fought hard and never gave up till the very end! 

By,

Harinder S.

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Keithan Hits Century as Host Draws against Perak

Day 1 Penang vs Perak Match Summary
(21st March 2015)

It was a rainy Saturday morning, which resulted in a delay in the match. The Penang captain, Darvin, confident after winning the tosses in both the previous matches, eventually, lost the toss that morning which led Penang to bat first.

The first innings commenced at 1 p.m. After lunch with Harinderjit Singh and Varun leads the batting attack for Penang. Penang started off steadily with a run rate of  3 till Harinder miss-timed a cut shot only to be caught in the covers, leaving with a disappointing 13. Keithan Goona, who came in at 3, batted comfortably with Varun, forging a solid 73-run partnership between them till Varun, who was merely one run away from his half-century got caught at slips off Perak spinner, Khairul Iman.

Keithan and Harvindran looked promising in the middle as they slowly built their innings partnership only for Harvindran to miss-time a cut again straight to point ending his innings, making only 4 runs. The Penang skipper, Darvin looked spirited as he trotted to the middle to restore Penang's perfect start to the match replacing Harvindran. A shock decision from the umpire raising his finger to a foul appeal for a LBW going down the leg saw the Penang captain walking out of the ground frustrated. The awful decision from the umpire left everyone astonished including the Perak players.

The Penang batting line up crumbled after the skipper's wicket as Vinay Singh Harventheran came in to bat and steadied Penang's innings with Keithan in the middle as the pair batted in harmony slowly bringing up the Penang's score. Keithan played a vital role in their innings by making good communication to assist Harven to slowly build the score for Penang. The promising partnership soon came to an end when Harven was caught off  Perak spinner, Khairul Iman making only 7 runs and Kavintheran were both dismissed for zero and one.

Jeeventhra coming in for Harven, kept his calm and supported Keithan in middle frustrating the Perak bowlers. Jeeven kept his head down and batted according to the orders sent by the skipper and Keithan in the middle looking really confident batting lower down the order under a demanding situation. The day
ended on a high with Penang making 190-7.

Keithan made a solid 92, batting responsibly and taking charge in the middle reviving the hope to add the runs on the board for Penang while Jeeven made a safe 9.

Day 2 Penang vs Perak Match Summary

(22nd March 2015)

A perfect day for cricket with excellent conditions saw the Penang batsmen, Keithan and Jeeven, going into the middle with confidence to continue their brilliant innings from the previous day.

The innings started off well as the pair continued to add the runs on the board, putting the Perak bowlers under pressure. Sensible batting from Keithan saw him make another  century, only this time under more pressure. Jeeven's innings soon came to an end as he carved a quality 14 as he was also caught off the bowling of Muniandy.

Keithan began to attack the Perak bowlers as the tail-enders entered. Keithan's impressive innings, however approached to a close as he lofted the ball right down into the safe palms of the mid-on walking out with a head-high 117. The Penang inning soon after coming to an end amassing a hefty total of 226 on a tough PSC wicket for the Perak team to chase.

Penang roared into the field confident of constricting Perak for less as the pitch Baz missed out on the match due to personal issues and the weather was on their side. Penang's left arm expresses, Kavintheran, opened the bowling for the side continuing his smashing form from recent matches. On the other side, a tactical change from the skipper saw Vinay Singh, the spinner, coming into the attack early on rather than the traditional option, Baz.

The Perak batsmen weren't troubled much by the opening bowlers and their run rate gradually increased up to almost 8 runs per over forcing the skipper to introduce a variation into the bowling attack. Kubeyran, making his bowling debut for Penang bowled impressively early on and got the breakthrough in his second over bowling out Amir  Khan. Thevan came into the attack and was quickfire 50 of 38 balls, then skied a slog sweep straight to Harven Kumar at deep mid wicket of Thevan's bowling keeping it tight with Vinay from the other end to create pressure to the batsmen. Anuar Aruddin who scored a

Thevan Raj, Vinay Singh and Harven Kumar then kept the bowling tight and brought the scoring rate down to 4 runs an over. A tactical move to bring Kavin Kumar paid off when he removed the in form Pasha Shafiq for 16. Perak then had a 90 run partnership through Norwira and Khasif taking the score to 191 before Khasif got caught on 47, edging the ball to skipper Darvin Murali off Vinay's bowling.


Vinay Singh bowled an impressive spell taking another wicket of Sharvin Muniandy finishing his allotted 15 overs with figures of 2 for 50. Kubeyran then took the wicket of Khairul Iman with an extraordinary catch by Harvendran Rajendran at short covers who cushioned the ball in between his legs to pull it off leaving the score at 202 for 6.

Norwira took Perak pass Penang's first innings score of 226 and eventually scored his century. Darvin Muralitharan again with his shrewd thinking brought his trump card, Keithan Goona to bowl. After scoring a brilliant 117, he also shined with the ball, picking up 3 quick wickets and finishing with figures of 3 for 19. He surprised everyone, including the skipper with his bowling efforts cementing his spot in the bowling line up.


Result:
The game resulted in a draw with Perak takes a lead of  57 at the end of play. It's a close finish to see which team tops the group with Penang yet to play their last group match against Sarawak next weekend.

By,

Thevan Raj

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