There was great excitement at Gymkhana Club on the sixth day of the 2019 Chiang Mai Sixes thanks to the remarkable performances of two players. 20-year-old Thai international Chanchai stepped in when crowd favourites Thai Thevada looked to be on the way out of the Shield competition with Darjeeling seemingly on the way to a total likely to be out of reach.
First Chancai bowled a superb final over that brought him a wicket and conceded only seven runs to restrict Darjeeling to 68 even after Graeme Worth had hit 33 from 9 balls. But it was with the bat that Chanchai really stood out as he reached 34 from 10 balls as he hit the Flight of the Gibbon banner to give him a priceless ten runs and bring the crowd to its feet. Champ and Cher saw Thai Thevada home to victory with four balls to spare and Thai Thevada will face Clifton Hill Stray Cats in the Shield semi-finals while Yorkshire Puddings will meet Perth Postels who beat Lanna.
Even more drama followed soon afterwards thanks to the exploits of the giant Sri Lankan Sanjeev who sent ball after ball sailing over the leg-side boundary. 666466 brought him to 34 from the first over bowled by Margate's Graeme Young. Tanvir Ahmed and Rubaiyat Haq ensured that NCL Masters posted an imposing total of 95 for 2 in their five overs. Margate made a good fist of a near impossible chase as they made 80 for 1 as Clint Stewart hit 33. The Masters will face the Gipsies in the Cup semi-finals white the Dynamites will face UN Irish after the local side were too strong for Divine Felons.
The Plate semi-finals will feature Beijing Ducks against Red Lion Wombats followed by Tokyo Dingbats against Floggers and Robbers, while the semi-finals of the Bowl will see Awali face Lord's Taverners and Drifters meet Gymkhana Cavaliers.
Play on Saturday will start at 8.30 am as we will see eight semi-finals and six finals on a very exciting last day of the Chiang Mai Sixes. The semi-finals of the Spoon were played late on Friday so it will be Ios Malakas and NT Bushrangers who will contest the final, while the final of the Ladies Cup will feature Central Spirit against Thai Angels.