Lamphun who were the first winners of the Gymkhana Sixes in 2020 became champions for the second time by beating Team Zen Spirit in the Players Final.
Lamphun became Gymkhana Sixes champions for the second time by beating Team Zen Spirit in the Players Final as they defended a total of 60 for 4 by restricting the opposition to 39 for 5. The Gents Section was won by Darjeeling Juniors who were another local team sponsored by Darjeeling CC in Dubai who beat last year’s champions Koh Chang Juniors as they chased down a total of 45 for 2 for the loss of only one wicket on a great afternoon for junior cricket. This was a great credit to all the fundraising work carried out by Jenny Morgan, the original duck lady, who sadly died two days after the tournament.
Team Zen Spirit had dominated the Players league as they won all four of their matches against Lamphun, Lanna CC, Lao Elephants and then Pattaya CC when they chased down a seemingly dominant total of 90 for 0 in just four overs as Abaid, Naveed and Tariq all batted with brutal power.
Lamphun recovered well from their defeat to Team Zen Spirit in their opening match as they beat Lao Elephants and Lanna CC and then unexpectedly defeated Pattaya CC who were the defending champions. Having also lost to Team Zen Spirit Pattaya finished in third place even with superb batting from Luke Stokes and Wez Masterton. Cher took 2 for 6 in his over to restrict Pattaya to 69 for 2 and then supported Chanchai who made 34 as they won with a ball to spare.
Lao Elephants were welcome new entrants to the Gymkhana Sixes and having come all the way from Vientiane very much enjoyed their weekend. They won the battle for fourth place against Lanna CC thanks to an impressive batting line up that had done well all weekend only for Lao to be overpowered when bowling. Here Lao reached 74 for 0 thanks to Michael Simcock’s 34 and held on to win by 11 runs despite Gregg Chambers also making 34.
The Players final was eventful as a total of nine wickets were lost as Lamphun overcame the early loss of Chanchai with Cher making a determined 28 to guide his side to 60 for 4. Abaid hit the first ball of the innings for six but was caught at long off by Feem off Chanchai from his second ball. Team Zen Spirt were 26 for 1 after 2 overs thanks to Tariq but he was stumped by Andy off Pit’s off-spin. Insha was then dropped by the bowler only for Pit to pick up the ball and run out Naveed to make it 26 for 3 and there was only one more boundary in the innings as Frame and Cher also took wickets. A fine all-round performance from Lamphun saw them awarded the Players trophy by Gymkhana Club chairman Varan.
The Gents competition took a similar course with Koh Chang Juniors looking the most impressive team as they won all four of their league matches with Bodhi and Johnny impressive with the bat. Darjeeling recovered from their early defeat to Koh Chang by winning their next three matches to also reach the Gents final. Black Swans came third after winning two matches and losing two while Shrewsbury Sloggers came fourth with one win. Gymkhana CC with Eddie Joyner returning to Chiang Mai to lead another young team lost all their matches but two very narrowly and young left-hander Patter showed off some real power.
The two best teams faced off in the final with many of the players having played in last year’s final between Koh Chang and CMSCA and the Darjeeling team had all taken part in the Koh Chang Beach Cricket competition in August. Johnny was out in the first over bowled by Duan but Bodhi reached 17 before he was lbw to Leng as Koh Chang made 45 for 2. Leng then guided his team to victory with an unbeaten 16 from 7 balls as Darjeeling reached their target for the loss of one wicket in four overs. Darjeeling had won the Gents competition and Leng was named player of the tournament for scoring 112 runs and claiming two wickets as he led his side to victory.