PINATAR PIRATES CROWNED LAST MAN STANDS
“SPANISH CHAMPIONS”
Almost a year to the day, The Pinatar Pirates Cricket Club took part in their first ever Last Man Stands (LMS) tournament held at the La Manga Resort. At this event, “The European Last Man Stands” tournament, they remarkably made it all the way to the final where they were to stumble at the last hurdle.
Becoming hooked on this format of the game they were looking forward to this next event, “The Spanish LMS Championship” also being held at the famous La Manga Resort. The Pirates captain, Gopi Singh, was hoping that his team’s knowledge and experience from last year’s tournament would help his side go one further than that of their previous encounter and add another trophy to the clubs already impressive collection of silverware in only its 4th season.
The Pinatar pirates were in impressive form, weekly training sessions in, “The pirates training cave” ensured they continued on the field in the kind of form that saw them win the Cartama T20 trophy in Malaga, The La Manga T20 cup and also the league title in 2017.
First game was on Friday 30th March against the Marin Socials, PPCC showed its batting strength posting a score of 191, which proved too much for their opponents who finished on 133.
Pinatar Pirates CC Scored 191 for 3 after 20.0 overs
Marin Socials Scored 133 for 3 after 20.0 overs
Pinatar Pirates CC Won by 58 Runs
Good Pinatar performances:
Vinod Singh 50, Gopi Singh 48
Man of the Match – Lovejit Singh 45 and 1 wicket
The next day they had two matches, in the first they had a close game against the Black Eagles, PPCC posted 172 and in a close finish, the Eagles finished just 7 short on 165. The 2nd game of the day was a little easier, after posting 195 their opponents, South West Bandits, finished on 168.
Pinatar Pirates CC Scored 172 for 3 after 20.0 overs
Black Eagles Scored 165 for 7 after 20.0 overs
Pinatar Pirates CC Won by 7 Runs
Good Pinatar performances:
Paul Hennesingh 50, Vinod Singh 39, Lovejit Singh 38
Pinatar Pirates CC Scored 195 for 3 after 20.0 overs
South West Bandits Scored 168 for 5 after 20.0 overs
Pinatar Pirates CC Won By 27 Runs
Good Pinatar performances:
Gopi Singh 53, Vinod Singh 43, Paul Hennesingh 45, Lovejit Singh 38
Man of the Match – Kuldeep Lal 31 runs and 3 wickets
With all the round robin games played, the local side and representing Spain, Pinatar Pirates were drawn against Marin Socials who they had beaten once already. However, playing for a place in the final, this was a much closer, and much tenser game. The Marin Socials posted a modest score of 112 thanks mainly due to a fine spell of bowling by L.Singh and a tremendous fielding performance. The Pirates stuck well to the task at hand and reached the target on the 14th over.Marin Socials Scored 112 for 6 after 20.0 overs
Pinatar Pirates CC Scored 116 for 2 after 13.4 overs
Pinatar Pirates CC Won by 6 Wickets
Good Pinatar performances:
Gopi Singh 55
Man of the Match – Lovejit Singh 15 and 2 wickets
That victory took them into their second Last man Stands final in only their 2nd tournament, and this time they were determined to do one better than the last time!!
The Final was against the Black Eagles who felt that they perhaps should have beaten the local side when they lost to them by just 7 runs in their first meeting. Unfortunately for them, they came up against a different, more focused Pinatar team led by a captain that wanted his hands on the winner’s trophy. The Pirates batsman had been in great form all the way though this tournament and they did not disappoint in the final. An explosive display saw them post an impressive 210 runs which the Eagles had to be at their best to chase down. In reply the Black Eagles started well and were up with the run rate but lost key wickets at crucial times and eventually fell well short of the target.
Batted First: Pinatar Pirates CC
Pinatar Pirates CC Scored 210 for 8 after 19.2 overs
Black Eagles Scored 146 for 7 after 20.0 overs
Pinatar Pirates CC Won by 64 Runs
Good Pinatar performances:
Kuldeep Lal 67, Gopi Singh 33
Man of the Match – Vinod Singh 62 and 1 wicket
So it was a day to remember for the pirates, April the 1st, but there were no fools in the Pinatar camp, just very proud and joyful players. The Pinatar Pirates Cricket Club did Spain proud by winning the first Spanish Last Man Stands championship, and rightly so they were in a party mood, and celebrations continued well into the night at the tournaments closing gala dinner and presentations evening.
The Pinatar Pirates would like to thank the LMS organisers for making the tournament possible, the La Manga Resort, all the officials and all the teams that took part, making it a truly enjoyable 3 days of cricket. Well done Pinatar Pirates Cricket Club, and take a bow the players listed below:
Gopi Singh (Captain), Balwant Singh, Sukhi Singh, Tom Vine, Lovejit Singh, Kuldeep Lal, Vinod Singh and Paul Hennesingh. Reported by the twelfth man.
Reported by the twelfth man.
