Updates from South Korea's expatriate competition
Olivier de Braekeleer - 21 May 1999

Sunday April 18th
India proves too strong for a depleted All Stars: Batting first, All Stars reached 91 all out with Simms, on his first outing of the season, top-scoring with 21; wickets were shared among the bowlers, Rajesh taking three. India took only eight overs to reach the target, losing one wicket on the way to a win, with Shammi on 32 n.o.

Rest of the World tames England: After a good start, England collapsed to 112 with L.Wilson unbeaten on 41; James took bowling honours with three wickets. In reply, the multinational team copied the previous game's scenario and reached 113-1 with Perera on 46 not out.

Sunday April 25th
Barry entertains the crowds: in the only game of the day, India outplayed Pakistan to remain unbeaten. Pakistan, assisted by world traveller Jason Barry on his 73rd country, amassed 120 runs in their allocated 20 overs, with skipper Mirza contributing 31. Good bowling by the Indians, led by Deepak taking 15-4 in his five overs. India looked in trouble at 28-4 in the eighth over but Shammi turned the tables on some excellent Pakistan bowling with another fiery half century (59) and assured his team of their third win.

Let the record state that Barry took a wicket in Seoul, and scored 11 runs. Good luck for the rest of your travels, Jason.

Sunday May 2nd
Records fall in All Stars win versus England: an opening partnership of 157 runs in 12 overs, with skipper Ross first man out on 36, gave the old men a new lease of life, thanks to a classical innings by Wotton who contributed 128 runs out of a final score of 255 in 20 overs. The man of the match was unable to recall the exact date of his previous century, except that "it was a long time ago..." The only bowler to make an impression was Moore with three of the four wickets that fell.

England's reply was fairly mute, the entire team being overwhelmed by the task ahead, and by accurate spells from Thomson (14-4) and Chadlow (27-3). Moore scored 19 out of the 92 runs for England.

The Aussies lull Pakistan into defeat: Batting first, Australia reached 154-9, led by a 33 from skipper Griffiths - who, after his magnificent all around performance, on and off the field in Shanghai, has received very attractive terms to further perform in China - and with a special contributions by Garner (21). Pick of the Pakistan bowling was Kashif with four wickets.

In reply, Pakistan's cause was not helped by opener Qadir's injury which slowed their run chase, and by some of the meanest bowling on offer in the league, Casey being away; Jaya added 13-3 to his tally, equal top scores for Pakistan with 18 were Bhat and Mujtaba.

Sunday May 9th
Pakistan bounces back: having won the toss, skipper Sikander Mirza opened the batting himself, kept one end safe for 14 overs, scoring 33 runs, debated how long he needed to get to the airport, fielded for 15 minutes and left vice captain Nasir in charge of operations... Pakistan reached 193, all batsmen contributing, in a reduced innings of 17 overs, against England; the bowling was duly dispatched and Wilson bought two of the six Pakistani wickets to fall.

The innings of England lost momentum too early, Spragg's run out unnecessarily pressured the rest of the team, with only Moore and Leeds reaching double figures in a disappointing total of 66. On the bowling side, Taimur and Rashif both took three wickets.

India squeezes past Rest of the World: in a rain affected and incident packed fixture, India remained unbeaten this season.

India scored well to reach 156 in 15 overs against the pace attack of RoW, with Raju top score on 36, and skipper Vijay whose quick knock of 33 not out was probably the winning margin.

Humayun with four wickets and Shah with two took the only wickets to fall to the bowlers. An unfortunate head injury to one of the RoW opener had a further dampening effect on the proceedings, but thanks mainly to Kamaar (35) and James (29), the Rest of the World kept up with the demanding run rate. With 132 on the board at the end of the 13th over, the result could have gone either way, it went to India who took the last four wickets for two runs. Sanjay (three wickets), Shammi and Rajesh (two each) shared the wickets.

The current league table is as follows:

1 India            8 points (4 wins)
2 Pakistan         4 points (2 wins, run rate: 8.43)
3 Rest of World    4 points (2 wins, run rate: 8.42)
4 All Stars        2 points (1 win, run rate: 8.67)
5 Australia        2 points (1 win, run rate: 8.22)
6 England          2 points (1 win, run rate: 6.40)

The visit to Korea of the Aussie Deputy Prime Minster had immediate benefits for the Rest of the World, when they met a decimated Aussie team and took full advantage to qualify for the semi-finals.

Batting first, Australia recalled Kaminski (21) to open with newcomer Ford (44), whom together with skipper Griffiths(38) led to a respectable score of 170 in 20 overs.

Only two bowlers captured wickets, Shah taking five and Humayun three. Rest of the World's reply was steady, staying with the necessary run rate, and leaving James (58 n.o.) to lead them to 171/5 with an over in hand. Jaya took two wickets.

In the other game of the day, India continued their unbeaten run this season, disposing of England and finishing top of the league table. England, with the exception of the Wilsons (father and son scoring respectively 36 and 13), batted as if the pub was open and early drinks were on order, folding for 87 in the 14th over.

Of the eight bowlers used by India, Sanjay took top honours with five wickets. Their bowling and fielding redeemed the English "fighting spirit" but the Indians did not their way and reached 92 in the 9th over, after Spragg with three wickets and Garrard with two caused some early concern; top score was Shazoo with 19 runs.

Next week's fixture between All Stars, who are recruiting hard to reinforce their line-up, and Australia will decide the last semi-finalists; will age and guile beat speed and raw power?

Current top scorers are Shammi with 179 runs, Wotton 178, Griffiths 154, James 134, Ross 105, Raju and Spragg 102 each.

Leading wicket takers are Jaya and Humayun with 11 each, Shah and Sanjay with nine apiece and Shammi, Spragg & Kashif with eight wickets.

India has already qualified for the semi-finals, the other berths to be decided in the next fortnight, with either of Pakistan and Rest of the World guaranteed a place as they have still to play each other, the last league game between Australia and All Stars is likely to decide the fourth semi-finalist.