Thursday, June 11, 2015
Penang bowled Sarawak for 162
The openers, Varun Nadesh and the skipper
himself gave a good kickoff of 19 runs.
Unfortunately, Skipper was bowled in the
7th 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.
Its Penang boys against Selangor this time
Penang Vs Selangor Match Summary
(6th June 2015)
It was an important match
for Penang boys against Selangor which was played at Kinrara on the 6th
of June 2015 because the Penang boys previously lost 2 and drew 1. It was a perfect day for cricket with excellent
conditions as the Penang skipper, Darvin won the toss and decided to bat first.
The innings started off with our Penang Ponting, Varun Nadesh to open
with our skipper, Darvin Muralitharan. The opening pair started off playing
some defensive shots. Not to play anything outside the stumps. As Varun was
dismissed in the second over itself, leaving only 3 runs on the board. Then, Penang
most promising batsmen Keithan Goona was brought into action to bat with
Darvin. Adding to add, as the ‘Brothers of Destruction’ were batting really
well, but somehow our Keithan played a really unlucky shot and got himself
caught at the boundary line by de Silva. Penang upcoming young star Kavintheran
Kuamr was up next to bat. Just when the right hand left hand combination
was starting to look well our skipper was out in the 9th Over and
added more pressure, putting the runs on the board.
Then Penang’s Chocolate boy Senalde Silva came into the crease, but he didn’t
last long as well as he was bowled in the 11th overs . As the run rate
was very low and having so much to offer Penang’s new promising Sri Lankan
talent Madushan Ravichandrakumar was next to bat. Just when a partnership was
started to get going Kavin was unlucky as he got out for a lbw . Vinay Singh was
in the crease this time and he didn’t last long as well as he was bowled by the
Selangor bowler. Madushan and Shahul Hameed, who came in the 19th overs
started to hit the ball hard and made batting look easy. Shahul’s
experience and Madushan’s ability with the bat helped Penang’s run rate
increase. As both were busy hitting the ball out of the park Madushan was
unlucky this time as he got caught by playing a silly shot at the 36th
overs . Bazeegh Zaka came into the crease to bat and was looking to put a great
partnership with Shahul but it didn’t end up well as Shahul was out in the next
over itself . Youngster Harventheran Kumar was at this time, but he didn’t stay
long as well. He got caught at square leg as he tried to play a flick shot.
The final and last batsman for Penang, Thevan Raj Kumar came in the 40th
overs but was bowled for a duck.
Then Penang’s Chocolate boy Senal
Penang boys had to defend their total which was 178 runs. For Selangor
side, their skipper Suhan Alagaratnam and Shankar Shathish opened the batting.
Senal de Silva opened the bowling for Penang and bowled 3 overs. He gave away
23 runs. On the other hand, Kavintheran Kumar, who bowled 4 overs with the
economy rate of 4.5. As the batsmen were only using those attacking shots, most
of our bowlers had no choice of bowling on the off side. A spinner was
introduced to reduce the run rate of the opposition. Madushan Ravichandrakumar
bowled 5 overs and gave away 28 runs with 2 no balls and 1 wide. Our Penang
skipper had no choice but he had to bring us Evergreen Bazeegh Zaka into the
bowling attack. He bowled 5 overs really well and didn’t give away as many runs
as we thought he would. Darvin Muralitharan our skipper with his experience
wanted to bowl a few overs by himself, which turned out to be costly as well. He
also introduced another leggie which was Varun Nadesh but he bowled 2
disappointing overs as he gave away 24 runs just in 2 overs. Penang dependable
left hand, orthodox, Thevan Raj bowled a few overs well and got a wicket
on the 17th overs . Unfortunately, he got smacked as well by Selangor
batsmen and he ended up with the economy rate of 7.94.
Finally, as the was two balls to spare in Thevan’s 6th overs ,
he got hit for a four and a six and the match ended in the 25th
overs . The player of the match was rewarded to Tharanga from Selangor.
By,
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Penang kicked off Malaysian Premier League 2015
Day 1 Penang Vs KL Match Summary
(23th May 2015)
Upon winning the toss, Kuala Lumpur put Penang in to bat. Penang’s innings got off to a sluggish start as the openers fought valiantly to weather the storm of KL’s opening duo of Neville Liyanage and Nazril Rahman.
However, the run rate slowed and wickets started falling regularly once he was dismissed. Madushan Ravichandrakumar’s 11 runs and Thevan Raj’s brisk running due to enhanced aerodynamics with his head ensured that Penang put up a total of 138-9 off their allotted 42 overs, 20 runs or so short of what would have been ideal on the turning wicket. In Kuala Lumpur, skipper Neville Liyanage picked up 4-13 off his 9 overs. Nonetheless, the Penang team was pumped up and determined to fight all the way.
Bazeegh Zaka opened the bowling for Penang with his customary in-swinging leg cutters and at the other end was Senal de Silva with his tricky pace and swing. The Kuala Lumpur batsmen managed to keep the scoreboard ticking as they were comfortable with the ball coming on to their bats with the extra pace of Senal . A bold move by Penang’s captain in bringing on Harvindran Rajendran paid off handsomely as he removed Fikri Makram, Virandeep Singh and Manjula de Zoysa within 4 overs, reducing KL to 31-3 after 11.5 overs. KL had a minor revival, but when Madushan was brought into the attack, KL suffered another collapse. He bowled Syed Aziz in the 20th over, bringing the score to 61-4 and subsequently got the wickets of Prashan Wickramasinghe and Nazril Rahman in the 24th and 26th overs respectively, leaving KL reeling at 84-6. Neville Liyanage and Hassan Ghulam then shared a partnership of 28 runs to put the game right back in the balance, but Madushan had other ideas as he dismissed Neville in the 30th over and bowled Shahrulnizam Yusof around his legs in the 32nd over, leaving KL 8 down for 118 runs.
Penang’s win is a clear statement of intent and capability of going all the way this season as long as they continue to work hard as a team.
Day 2 Penang Vs KL Match Summary
(24th May 2015)
A perfect day for cricket with excellent conditions as the Penang skipper, Darvin eventually left the toss to fall upon Kuala Lumpur hands which led Penang to bat first. The first innings commenced right away as
Came into crease later on for Kavin was Chocolate Boy, Senal de Silva. Not long after, the dismissal of Darvin took place which had Penang’s keeper, Vinay Singh to take charge. Manjula’s incisive bowling allowed him to bag Vinay Singh’s wicket which had Penang with a total of 59 runs for 6 wickets in 22.4 overs allowed Bazeegh Zaka to unleash the beast in him. The partnership of 13 runs from Bazeegh and Senal gave Penang a composition of 72 runs. Bazeegh Zaka’s tip top batting was demolished by Hassan Ghulam as he had the ball hammering into the stumps having Baz with a total of 4 runs and right came along Senal’s wicket too. Bottom order batsmen threw off their wickets and left Penang all out in 30.4 overs with a total of 77 runs.
Bazeegh Zaka opened the bowling and at the other end was Penang’s Deadly Swinga, Harvindran. Kuala Lumpur batsmen were putting up runs on the scoreboard with a quick rate. Howev er a quick change of Harvindran’s bowling to Senal paid off as Senal’s pitch perfect Yorker got Fikri Rosdi walking off to the stands on the 3rd over and also the wicket of Syed Aziz coming in shortly after. Madushan’s bowling that bagged him 5 wickets the previous day seemingly did not work much as he only managed to seal off opening batsmen Virandeep’s wicket who had a total of 11 runs of 40 balls faced. Later on Orthodox, Thevan Raj decisive bowling spells had him bag Hassan Ghulam’s wicket from a marvelous catch by Madushan. Kuala Lumpur were on 4-48 in 15.2 overs. Penang lit up on fire as the game was back on Evens Stevens. Manjula came in and hammered himself for a total of 23 runs, leaving Kuala Lumpur on 5-58 after his dismissal by Thevan Raj’s bowling and to a catch by Harvindran.
However, PC Wickramasinghe and Nazril Rahman finished off the game and gave KL the victory after surpassing the target at 21.5 overs. Deservedly, Manjula de Zoysa was awarded man of the match.
By,
Vinay S.
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
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 withRSC’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,
Penang came back strongly after the water break.
Penang openers Varun and Tharek were faced with a tough task of chasing down the score with
By,
Varun N.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
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
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

The game was still far from over with the Penang boys taking the field and looking to strangle KL for anything below 129.
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. 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

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.
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,
(
Thursday, April 9, 2015
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
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,
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
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 “
Openers Varun "
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 b ad 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 “
Result:
The game ended with a draw, although Sarawak led by 2 runs in the first innings
By,








