The Postels proved far too good for the Tigers, scoring 87 runs in their innings before bowling out the Tigers for 69 as the light faded.

Daniel Shaw, who is in his last year of high school in Australia, played a starring role in the Postels' win, taking two great catches in the field and also taking a crucial wicket with his bowling.

The second division Plate final saw another Australian team claim victory when the Moonshine Warathais, led by former international Trevor Chappell, defeated Malaysian side Kelawar.

The Warathais knocked up an impressive total of 113 with the bat and then managed to keep Kelawar down to 82 runs in their innings.

Chappell again played a leading role with bat and ball, retiring on 32 runs and taking a couple of great catches on the boundary.

The Warathais suffered a setback when the big-hitting Daniel Weekes was caught out in the first over, but recovered when Simon Porter belted an unbeaten 33.

Perth team Applecross completed a hat-trick of wins for the Australian teams yesterday when they defeated the Drifters from England in the Bowl final after hitting 108 in their innings.

The Drifters played well and were a touch unlucky to fall only two runs short with 106.

The lower division Spoon final went to local team the Phuket Cricket Union, who scored 70 in their match against the Bounty Buccaneers from Malaysia, who fell one short of victory with 69.

Watching the action from the stands were former England players Adam Hollioake and Alan Mullally, who both played some great cricket for their respective teams over the past few days.

The former England stars were flown to Phuket courtesy of Thai Airways International's Perth office and gave a big boost to the tournament.

Players in the 28 teams from 11 countries taking part in the tournament gave a big cheer when the organisers announced late in the afternoon that the ICC, world cricket's governing body, had just given the tournament an award for their efforts in promoting Phuket and helping the area recover from the deadly tsunami.

The award for last year's tournament came after the Asian Cricket Council had given a similar award to the tournament earlier in the year.

Awards were made to the winning teams and most outstanding player at  a gala dinner at the Hilton Hotel

Money was also raised for local orphans after Saturday night's Twenty/20 match between a selection of Australian players led by Trevor Chappell and leading players picked from the other teams and led by Hollioake.

The Australian team won by a narrow margin.

Alan Parkhouse

The Nation

Phuket