Pattaya CC make it a hat-trick of wins at the Chiang Mai Big Bash when they beat Gymkhana CC by seven wickets in the Cup final. Lamphun defeated Lanna CC by seven wickets to win the Shield Final.
The format of the Chiang Mai Big Bash was adjusted to allow for seven teams to play in the competition with cach eight aside team playing four seven-over matches in the league stage followed by two finals for the top four teams, the Cup Final where first played second and the Shield Final where thrird played fourth.
The competition was contested by three visiting teams, Pattaya, Patong and Siam Parrots, being joined by four local teams, the adults from Lanna CC and Gymkhana CC, the Thai cricketers from Lamphun and CMSCA. Gymkhana was a combined team from All Stars and CMCC along with Stephen Robertson (Divine Felons) and Ian ‘Curly’ Gason (Tokyo Dingbats) who represented the Chiang Mai Sixes in the tournament.
Pattaya CC had won the last two editions of the Chiang Mai Big Bash and they never looked troubled as they duly completed their hat-trick of success by heading the league table with four wins out of four and then defeated Gymkhana in the Cup Final by seven wickets.
The two finals were played over eight overs which gave Stephen Robertson plenty of time to roll back the years in retiring on 32 from 20 balls but a total of 72 for 1 looked well within Pattaya’s reach. Luke Stokes scored the maximum 36 from 17 before retiring and it was left to captain Wezley Masterton to see his side home to victory with only one wicket down with an unbeaten 26 from 19 balls as Pattaya won with an over to spare.
Although Pattaya dominated the competition the battle for second, third and fourth places was very close with Gymkhana only gaining a place in the Cup Final ahead of Lanna on net run-rate after they claimed a bowling bonus pont by taking two wickets from the last two balls of the final league match against the youngsters of CMSCA.
Gymkhana, Lanna and Lamphun all won three matches out of four and it was Lanna who finished third and Lamphun who finished fourth. Lanna’s batting looked very strong throughout the tournament withNick Janes and Jon Scales battling it out to finish as the leading run-scorer in the tournament. Nick Janes took the honours as he finished on an unbeaten 29 in the Shield Final against Lamphun while Nev McLean also imoressed by retiring on 31.
Lanna reached 80 for 1 in 8 overs but Chanchai reached 35* from just 13 balls to put Lamphun on course for victory. Cher and Choo still had to hold their nerve to see Lamphun home to victory but Cher made 11* from 11 balls and Choo hit 15* from 7 balls and Lamphun reached their target with one wicket down with eight balls in hand.
The two finals crowned an entertaining weekend of cricket with all seven teams enjoying themselves on and off the field. Habby from Pattaya CC was named player of the tournament by taking six wickets to finish as leading wicket-taker as well as being the most economical bowler and taking the best figures in the tournament when he claimed three for four.
The Chiang Mai Big Bash was played over what would have been the final weekend of the 2022 Chiang Mai Sixes so it was great that Stephen Robertson and Ian Gason could take part in the final and bat extremely well during the tournament. We also welcomed Chris Love of Blythswood and the Armadillos players and the Awali spectators during the week so there was definitely a Sixes feel to the weekend.