Cricket Web Black v Cricket Web Green
Pickford Reserve
Scorecard
Ball by Ball
Cricket Web Green showed a lot of spirit against their more decorated rivals, but the quality of Cricket Web Black eventually shone brightly enough to inspire a 9-wicket win. After a first innings total of 385, the Greens had CW Black struggling on 136-4, but the Blacks showed incredible depth in batting and asserted their dominance in the second half of the match.
The story of the first innings was the achievement of Chris Raftery, scoring his maiden first-class ton and run out for 106. The final 3 wickets cost 123 runs, with Xavier Rose in particular offering staunch support to Raftery. The unusually plucky performance by CW Green looked to have surprised the Blacks, but no more so than the impact of Martyn Corrin with the ball. A partnership of 85 between Dan Smith and Ashley Arnold was broken by Corrin, and he took 2 more wickets in the same over with his legspin. When Smith (57) was caught soon after by his opposite number, CW Black looked in serious disarray, still trailing by 249.
The revival was started by Gerard Armstrong and Ash Chaulk, though the latter was a fourth victim of Corrin's shortly before the close. On day three the CW Black lower order were outstanding in support of Armstrong, ushering him to a second consecutive hundred and gradually deflating the spirits of CW Green. Dave Richards also looked set for a second hundred on the trot, but he was bowled around his legs by Halsey when all threats looked to have been nullified. And to reinforce the dominance of CW Black, Pickup and Patrick survived a combined 53 balls for the final wicket.
The Greens faced 4 overs and lost one wicket before stumps on day three. On day four they resumed trailing by 80 runs with 9 wickets intact. Whatever hope lay in that equation was fired out by some disciplined and aggressive bowling. Nath Patrick and Blake Donald reduced CW Green to 44-5 and then handed them over to the spinners. The next three wickets were accounted for by Neil Pickup, the last of which was Andrew Garven for 20. Again Rose put his head down, with some help from the poor catching of Donald, and CW Green managed to crawl to a meek 130 all out.
CW Black were left with 44 runs to win. Though Ethan McNamara trapped Arnold adjacent for 9, there were few hassles in the 18.3 overs of the chase.
Cricket Web Green 1st innings 385
CP Raftery 106, NG Scott 73, AJ Garven 48,
TC Halsey 47*
NA Borcich 3-103
Cricket Web Black 1st innings 472
GAJ Armstrong 145, DP Richards 74, DP Smith 57, AP Chaulk 48
M Corrin 4-101, EAP McNamara 3-107
Cricket Web Green 2nd innings 130
XPA Rose 33, AJ Garven 20
Cricket Web Black 2nd innings 44-1
AP Cloete 16*, DP Smith 13*
Cricket Web Black won 9 wickets.
Man of the Match: GAJ Armstrong (Black)
