The Dick Wood Cup is one of the most treasured occasions in the Chiang Mai cricket calendar as the British Club have travelled from Bangkok to Chiang Mai to play their counterparts from Gymkhana Club since 1982.
In recent times Gymkhana Club had proved the masters over British Club as they had won the last nine fixtures but after a decade of hurt British Club finally triumphed to make 2020 a memorable year for the team from Bangkok as they beat Gymkhana Club by the narrow margin of nine runs.
Btitish Club chose to bat first and started well with an opening stand of 53 between Denzyl Alwright and Sunil Kumar but when Robert Raina was bowled by Leng British Club were wobbling at 92 for 5, but Dale Lamb and Pramodh led the recovery with a sixth wicket stand of 59.
But British Club’s last five wickets then fell for just seven runs as Tanveer and Asif Noor each claimed three wickets so Gymkhana Club looked to be favourites after being asked to score 159 to win in 30 overs. The match swung back in Bangkok Club’s favour again as both openers fell cheaply and Asif Noor and Tanveer were dismissed for ducks. Pramodh finished with the amazing figures of six overs two maidens three wickets for eight runs.
But it was Gymkhana Club’s turn to recover from a precarious 22 for 4 with Jon Scales hitting eight fours in his innings of 50 at which point he was required to retire. Nilesh had batted steadily as he made the most of a rare batting opportunity to score 22 from 43 balls. Peter Warner injected some urgency into the chase with 30 from 21 balls and Thai players Leng and Choo each hit boundaries to close in on the target.
Gymkhana Club’s efforts proved in vain as the all-round contribution from Pramodh proved too much to overcome as the home side finished on 149 for 7 and at last British Club had a victory to savour. The after match presentations were jovial as usual and buoyed by his team’s success Jack Dunford was already making plans for the 40th anniversary of British Club’s first visit which will happened in 2022.