• Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.

*Official* Season XIII Discussion and Results

Mr Mxyzptlk

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Need to gauge the general opinion pretty quickly then. 7 minutes to a potential sim. 6+ willing spectators needed.
 

Mr Mxyzptlk

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Manuel Ramprakash Challenge Trophy Final
Cricket Web Blue vs Cricket Web Black
at Fardin Qayyumi CC

Cricket Web Black stood on the verge of an historic quadruple to complete their dominance of Season XIII. Having wrapped up the one-day championship two days ago, Dan Smith led his men onto the pitch, batting first after he won the toss. Smith and Arnold then got off to a quick and aggressive start against some nervous bowling from Cricket Web Blue.

Arnold in particular stepped into stride and crashed Adam Collins over midwicket for six to get to 28. But the next ball Collins pitched up and Arnold flashed loosely outside offstump to surrender his hand. Andrew Cloete arrived at the crease against his old team, and quickly got going, though he was dropped by Crampton on 21. By lunch the score was 136-1 and Smith had a healthy half-century to his name. Cloete opened the second session with a cover-driven boundary and he joined his captain with 50 of his own. But soon after Collins procured the edge of Smith's bat and Bowen held the first of three good catches in the innings, reacting smartly at slip.

Manan Shah then stepped in with the wickets of Alex Blackman (5) and Gerard Armstrong (0) with consecutive deliveries. The game came to life, though Shah was denied a hat-trick by the staunch defence of Ash Chaulk. On 91 Cloete offered a thick edge to Crampton, but the wicketkeeper continued to struggle for confidence, dropping the ball inexplicably. The fifth wicket stand stretched into the final session and Cloete brought up a fine century with a flowing cover drive to the boundary. But as the partnership reached 90, his luck ran out and he was caught well by Pete Young at slip off the hardworking Collins. Chaulk batted on with the help of Dave Richards, elevated to seven, and they ushered CW Black past 300. At 306 the 6th wicket fell - Richards for 20 - and Demeza removed Chaulk for 83 in the closing minutes of the day. CW Blue looked primed to finish off the innings well short of 350, but on the second morning they were denied such immediate joy. The bowlers were made to work hard by Nick Borcich (22) and Nath Patrick (4), who combined to bat more than 100 balls and carry the score to 355. Demeza ended up taking the last 4 wickets and improving his figures to 4-109, but Collins and Shah were the best of the attack, sharing 6 wickets.

The Blues began their response knowing the amount of time left in the game and playing carefully accordingly. They batted to lunch at 45-0 without any hassle, and then moved on to 75 when Richards initiated the breakthrough. With a quick arm ball he rattled the offstump of Pete Young, who had threatened with 45. His namesake Stephen Young continued the careful build with Mamesh, who reached 50 from 78 balls. Poor fielding cropped up again as Richards dropped Young on 22, off the bowling of his captain. The miss would prove costly, with a further 67 runs tacked on for the second wicket. At 220-1 CW Blue looked to be in total control of the game, but with mind of their temperamental middle order. Thus, when Mamesh gave away his hand with an ugly slog on 114, the Blacks sensed a comeback. Pickup confirmed such hopes by spinning the ball off the arm of Young and getting the decision his way. CW Blue lost 2 wickets without additon, and wobbled at 220-3 late in the day. Vice-captain Robert Cribb put his head down with former vice-captain Sean Fuller, and both men were entirely focused on defence in a tense final hour. They kept out the CW Black spin attack, going to stumps on with CW Blue on 233-3. The following day CW Black took the new ball as soon as it was offered for the second over, but they were continually defied by the hard nosed CW Blue tactics. As the batsmen stayed in they began to find confidence and their strokeplay blossomed through a partnership of 90.

They were finally separated by Borcich, inducing an edge from Fuller with a length ball. In the next over Cribb took a single to score his 50th run, but Borcich muted any celebrations by bowling Rob Bowen with a beautiful legcutter immediately after. The Blacks had battled back into the game and Nath Patrick was inspired to a spirited burst. All innings he was the most disciplined of the seamers, but when he finally started to threaten wickets, the fielding fell apart again. In the space of 3 runs Cribb was dropped thrice off the bowling of Patrick, twice by Armstrong. It seemed all fortune would favour the Blues, even as the weather intervened, breaking the rhythm of the Black bowlers. But Patrick finally got his man, taking the fielders out of the equation and trapping Cribb lbw for 70.

Poor weather continued to ruin the remains of the day and Crampton and Taylor survived to resist again on day four. CW Black needed a sharp start and received it from Patrick. The ex-Blue fast bowler searched out the edge of Crampton in his first over, then Smith took a good catch at slip to complete the dismissal. And as Taylor tried to shepherd the remains of the tail, Patrick pressed on with the wickets of Collins and Shah with consecutive balls. For the second time in the match a hat-trick ball was the focus of attention. But also for the second time in the match, even with Demeza at the crease, the hat-trick was avoided. It was barely so. Fielding at fifth slip, Davis dropped a very tough chance and ruined the hat-trick bid. CW Blue were all out soon after, leaving Taylor unbeaten on 13 and with a slim lead of 23.

In the context of a timeless game, there was no presumption of the importance of the 23-run difference. But given a wearing surface, CW Blue claimed the pyschological advantage. Demeza demanded a strong showing with the new ball, but rather than inspire it himself, he played second fiddle to Collins, who darted the ball around at his medium pace. Ironically then it was a long hop that accounted for the wicket of Smith, as he mistimed a short ball to the deep. Cloete took guard with a first innings century to his name and oozing confidence. He was dropped twice by Crampton in the first knock, so when he nicked his first ball behind, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Crampton grabbed hold of his second opportunity and amends by completing a sharp catch. Cloete walked for a rare first-ball duck while CW Black led by just 6.

CW Blue looked an inspired force, rising to the occasion as they rarely have against the Blacks before. A ball from Shah hugged the ground and clattered into Arnold's middle stump when he had 24, then Demeza gave the ball to Taylor for the last over before lunch. The spinner responded with the wicket of Alex Blackman for 10, and Ash Chaulk had walked halfway to the middle when the umpires called lunch. Taylor completed his over after resumption and it would prove his last of the match. CW Black were in tatters at 62-4 and it was up to Armstrong and Chaulk to rescue the dream. On 31 Armstrong was dropped by Shah off Demeza, but the Blue captain remained fired up and had Chaulk caught behind for 25 in his next over. Richards walked in with his team ahead by 85 with 5 wickets in hand. The ensuing partnership was positive but without risks. Gradually hope returned to the hearts of the supporters on hand, and then Fuller intervened. With two decisive blows he returned Armstrong and Richards to the pavilion and set the Blacks into freefall again. The most heroic show of the match then came from Patrick. When he arrived at the crease the lead was only 153, but he put his head down and scored 13 not out to give CW Black every possible chance of victory. With Pickup (10) he put on 23 for the 9th wicket, and CW Black eventually surrendered for 208 and a lead of 185.

Cracks had begun to appear on the surface, so CW Blue faced an uphill struggle to overhaul their fourth innings target of 186. Again Borcich looked a shadow of his Season XIII self and left the responsibility on the shoulders of Patrick. Mamesh survived an lbw appeal in the second over, but Patrick got him edging behind with 8 to his name. It was the early to lift the Blacks and a nervous Stephen Young was dropped by the bowler Heath Davis on 5. He doubled his score and then Patrick struck again, nipping the ball in at him and trapping him lbw. CW Blue went to stumps on 47-2 still needing 139 to win. Patrick started the fifth day with Pickup and again looked far the most likely to take wickets. He succeeded by frustrating Cribb into a loose drive, caught low at mid-off for 8. But the turning point came at the other end. Pete Young flashed at a short ball from Richards, then Chaulk dropped it off a bottom edge. Young survived on 49 and reached a half-century with a straight drive soon after. His partner Fuller was battling as hard as he could to hang around, but never got on top of the bowling before he was lbw for 18. Again Patrick was the man of the moment, lifting his team onto his shoulders with a long and passionate spell.

Bowen played wildly at a rising ball and presented him with a 5th wicket and 9th in the match. CW Black went up in celebration with 45 runs stil to defend. Alex Crampton was the last recognized batsman as he joined Pete Young, already entrenched on 76. But Young tried to ease the pressure on him by stepping up a gear advancing to the 90s. The deficit was reduced to 19 and the last roll of the dice landed on Davis. Options were running out for Smith, but Davis repaid his faith with a quick outswinger that Young edged to slip. There Smith took an excellent low catch and ended Young's innings on 93. The Blacks had the tail exposed to them and tried to finish the game off in quick and aggressive fashion. But that aggression was crucially misdirected and three noballs hardly helped the CW Black championship cause. The last of the noballs was doubly hurtful, as Davis also bowled Taylor with it.

In the same over the fast bowler slipped a ball down the legside and away for four legbyes, and the over completed by Taylor and a booming cover drive to the boundary. A total of 12 runs came from the over and the requirement was down to 4. Crampton calmly levelled the scores with a single to long leg but could not score the winning run in the next over by Pickup. So Taylor faced up to Patrick with a share of the trophy at stake. Patrick ran in and beat the bat twice before Chaulk dropped the last chance of the season. The game was summed up in the final few moments. After the dropped catch Patrick overstepped again to give away the winning run and send the crowd into rapture. Patrick collapsed on the ground having given his all with 30.4 overs of 71.4 in the fourth innings. His was one of the finest single-handed efforts and earned him the Man of the Match award.

Cricket Web Black 1st Innings 355 all out
Cloete 103, Chaulk 83, Demeza 4-109, Collins 3-60
Cricket Web Blue 1st Innings 378 all out
Mamesh 114, Cribb 70, Patrick 4-74, Richards 2-43
Cricket Web Black 2nd Innings 208 all out
Armstrong 48, Richards 34, Collins 4-67, Fuller 2-19
Cricket Web Blue 2nd Innings 186 for 6
Young P.E. 93, Patrick 5-70, Davis 1-32

Cricket Web Blue won by 4 wickets.
Man of the Final: NL Patrick (Black)

Scorecard
Ball by Ball
 

FaaipDeOiad

Hall of Fame Member
Great return after the OD loss, and playing second fiddle all season. Lost the battle(s) but won the war, as it were. Mamesh very impressive, as were Collins and Pete. Solid team effort.
 

Top