KOWLOON Cricket Club's Bharat Gohel gave the Hongkong selectors a timely reminder of his match-winning ability by bowling his club to an easy 136-run victory over the Hongkong Cricket Club in the annual challenge match at Cox's Road yesterday. Gohel, the 37-year-old left-arm spinner who has been playing league cricket in Hongkong since 1967, produced man-of-the-match bowling figures of five for 58 off 15 overs on a flat batting track to help dismiss Hongkong for 140 in reply to KCC's 276 for seven in 50 overs. With Hongkong's chairman of selectors, Rod Eddington, among the sparse crowd on a dull, chilly day, Gohel's efforts will not have gone unnoticed as the build-up begins to the International Cricket Council Trophy in Kenya next February and March. On his day, Gohel can literally turn any match in his side's favour, like in the 1986 ICC Trophy in England when he took six for 11 against Fiji. Gohel's problem over the years, though, has been inconsistency, which cost him a place in Hongkong's squad for the 1990 ICC Trophy in The Netherlands. But yesterday he was back to his best, always in control and enticing five batsmen to hit him straight to a fielder. Gohel's first two victims came in the space of one run as Hongkong slipped from 67 for two to 68 for four. Opener Mike Speak mis-timed a straight drive and saw Ravi Sujanani hold on to a skyer at wide mid-off and, one run later, Bob Stiller offered a simple chance to the same fielder. With their best two batsmen, Stewart Brew and Steve Foster, already back in the pavilion, Hongkong had no option but to try and hit their way out of trouble. Mike Swift, skipper Tony Morgan and Tim Davies all tried to knock Gohel out of his stride but fell to catches by Jason Penrose, David Thompson and Damian O'Hara respectively. Sri Lankan all-rounder Riaz Farcy, who hit the top score of the day with 73 in the KCC innings, polished off the tail by clean-bowling Warren Symcox, Matthew Johnson and Bob Toes to finish with three for 31 off 9.5 overs. Needing to score at slightly over 5.5 an over, Hongkong were looking for a good start from Brew but he was dismissed off the last ball of the first over for four, caught by Thompson at second slip off KCC captain Glyn Davies. Foster, now Hongkong's main hope, joined Speak and took the total to 65 in the 21st over before being caught by Penrose at mid-on hitting across the line against the deceptively pacey Thompson.
