PENANG Sports Club (PSC) has again displayed their cricket prowess on the oval to add two more trophies on the shelf.

The jubilant Penang Sports Club players (image credit)

Over the part two months, they have won the Saudagar Singh Challenge Trophy and the Super Sixes Cricket Challenge Trophy.

In their own backyard, PSC ousted Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) Ipoh by a comfortable 14 runs to clinch the Saugdagar Singh Challenge Trophy.

The trophy was a prize which came with the Penang Cricket Association’s (PCA) 30 Overs League title.

This feat was a relief since PSC came so close to winning the prestigious trophy after coming so close in 2014.

That year, PSC were made to play the bridesmaid’s role by Albhukhary International University in Alor Setar, Kedah.

PSC cricket captain Shahul Hameed did not hide his thrill at this latest success.

The string of victories started last year when they defeated their archrival Royal Bangkok Sports Club to grab the Elephant Trophy and Hayaty Nana Trophy in the annual inter-port clash, a tournament which had been on going for more than 80 years.

“With double honours at the end of last year and back-to-back honours to kickstart 2016, we are on song.

“I hope our streak will continue in this month’s PCA T-20 challenge and the Phuket Super Sixes tournament in Thailand this April,” he said.

Shahul added that his current squad was built around foreign players from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.

Penang Sports Club with their trophy (image credit)

They are not only PSC members but also cricket lovers willing to work hard to prepare for each tournament.

This year’s PCA 30 Overs League Challenge attracted four teams besides PSC – Universiti Sains Malaysia, UTP Ipoh, the Australian Defence Forces and the Penang State Development Team.

UTP Ipoh and PSC confirmed their place in the final but it was experience which gave PSC the edge.

UTP Ipoh, a side built around students from Bangladesh and Pakistan, won the toss and they sent PSC to open their final campaign by batting first.

PSC powered their way to 180 runs in 30 overs for a loss of eight wickets, with Venkat Raman emerging as their top scorer by contributing 56 runs in the process.

Hammad Khakwani, UTP’s best bowler, might have captured four wickets for 13 runs in six overs in the first inning but this still failed to stop PSC from trooping out with a comfortable lead.

That left UTP with the daunting task of chasing 181 runs in the second inning.

Even when Mohd Tahir scored with 56 runs when they took to the bats, PSC merely tightened their grip and restricted the Ipoh lads to just a 166-run reply to confirm their victory.