Monaghan stars in low scoring thriller
The pre season friendlies started off with a thriller in Karachi, as the home side managed to steal victory by a solitary run from their fellow Division 2 side Hampshire. Karachi opened proceedings, and after looking promising at 4/103, collapsed to be all out for 118. Experienced opener Mark Jenkins was the only batsmen to make any kind of score, his quickfire 38 the only thing saving Karachi from complete embarrasment.
After losing 4 quick wickets to opening bowler J Bennett (3/18), Hampshire steadied, thanks to contributions from the lower order. Despite a steady loss of wickets, Hampshire looked to be in control of the match. Enter Brad Monaghan. The young allrounder, who only joined the club last year from the rookie list, took the last 4 wickets to fall, and finished the match on a hat-trick as Karachi snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
Coach Myles Hutchinson, while happy with the win, did not want his side to get to excited by the win. "It was good to win a game which could have gone either way easily, and its good to see the boys never give up, but we have to be realistic about what happened today. Our batting failed, quite extravagantly, and we can't be relying on our bowlers time and time again."