Lanna Juniors held their nerve to defeat United CC by by six wickets in their opening match in the Chiang Mai Senior League as Bunchuai and Chanchai shared an impressive opening partnership of 91 but United fought hard in the field and victory for the boys came with only two balls to spare.
United were playing their third match in successive weeks and again they batted first but their batting line-up looked much stronger as Iqbal and Ishmail were welcome additions to the side. Jun has proved a handful in the last two matches when bowling against United for the two Lanna men’s sides, and he took a wicket with his first ball as Burhan was bowled to again put United on the back foot.
Iqbal and Tanveer batted sensibly and each hit important boundaries as they survived a difficult period against the new ball on a green wicket at Royals. Cher’s first over seemed to lift the pressure but Tanveer was caught by Chanchai at mid-wicket as the second wicket fell at 38.
Bunchuai brought himself on to bowl his leg-spin but Ishmail looked to settle in at the crease and Iqbal was playing more aggressively, sweeping Bunchuai for six, but he was beginning to tire and finally was bowled by Cher for 27 as the third wicket fell on 68.
Asif came to join Ishmail and started strongly as he hit Bunchuai for 464 and with two quality players at the wicket, United looked set for a formidable total. The Juniors needed a wicket and Jun returned for a second spell and again took a wicket with his first ball as he had Ishmail caught and bowled for 15 and had Suhail lbw two balls later. 88 for 3 had become 88 for 5 and the match had been transformed.
Asif still looked dangerous but Champ took a one-handed catch down the leg-side to remove him for 25 to leave the score on 104 for 6 and Por took a wicket in his first over to keep up the pressure. Sameer made 17 but his innings was ended by Chanchai and the last two wickets fell to run outs as Shaffi tried to farm the strike.
United had made their highest total of the season as they reached 140 but had again been bowled out as Jun returned excellent figures of 3 for 19 and Cher backed him up with 2 for 34. A target of 141 in 30 overs would require some mature batting from the boys but Bunchuai had regularly shown he was capable of timing a run chase to perfection. Would the other boys be able to support him?
Chanchai is Bunchuai’s opening partner and he is also growing in experience and has been working hard on his game after coming back from the boys’ trip to Sri Lanka. Bunchuai took the lead role and showed he meant business by cutting the first ball for four but Chanchai also batted very sensibly and did very well to cut out the occasional impetuous shot that often marked his innings in the past.
The boys kept their run-rate close to five an over, running well between the wickets and pouncing on the bad ball as Tanveer tried out all his bowling options. Ishmail bowled very steadily and Burhan moved the ball away from the bat but nothing seemed to trouble the opening pair as they reached 80 for 0 after 15 overs at the drinks interval. Only 61 runs needed in 15 overs.
But the serene run chase suddenly became more difficult as Ishmail began to find the edge of the bat in his next over and although Bunchuai completed an excellent fifty in 58 balls with 7 fours he was dismissed soon afterwards as he was well caught by Burhan at short extra-cover as eighth bowler Firdous took the first wicket.
The opening partnership was an impressive 91 in just 18 overs so only 50 more runs were needed but batting had become more difficult with Formot searching for form and Chanchai trying so hard not to give his innings away. The second-wicket pair had managed 16 runs in 6 overs when Formot was run out. Jun had managed to get some impetus back into the chase but Chanchai was suffering from cramp and his fine innings finally ended on 45 from 74 balls with 3 fours.
It is undoubtedly the longest and most sensible innings of his career but his side still needed 11 runs to win and Jun then ran himself out for 10 to leave two new batsmen at the crease. Nine runs were needed from two overs and Burhan bowled a fine over that allowed only one run.
Eight were needed from the last over as Cher faced up to Firdous and Cher was able to hit the first ball away for two and the bowler followed with a wide. A crucial boundary meant that scores were level and the field was brought in and Cher was able to hit over mid-on to score the winning run with two balls left.
Lanna Juniors had won by six wickets and although United had lost for the third week in succession they had again contributed greatly to a fine match played in good spirit. The three Lanna teams all have one win apiece with three out of six matches played so the top three places in the league will be filled by Lanna. The boys should have a great chance of winning the league as they seem to be improving week by week and could be well pleased with a fine win against a strong adult team.