Twenty20 Cup Warmup Round 1
Rabid Wolves v Trinidad & Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago allrounder Kieron Pollard demolished his Cricket Web franchise with a whirlwind 79 from 41 balls. Pollard hit 4 fours and 5 sixes and powered T&T to 181-4, which set up a comfortable victory for the tourists. Rabid Wolves had early success when Ryan Dunn snared Lendl Simmons for 8 in the 3rd over, but William Perkins and Daren Ganga rebuilt with a partnership of 42 for the second wicket. Dunn an Raghav hit back with quick wickets, setting the Wolves back at 64-3. However the home side could not maintain the pressure, and Andre Nel in particular was out of sorts, bowling swiftly, but often erring too short.
When Rabid Wolves set out to chase the large total they were met with immediate setbacks against the swinging ball. Ravi Rampaul procured the leading edge of Nick Scott's bat with his first ball, then Rayad Emrit trapped Dan Rai (3) in front early in the third over. Richard Kelly entered the fray and snapped up 2 quick wickets and left the innings in utter disarray at 30-4. From that low point there was no bouncing back. Following on from his impressive bowling Raghav smacked a coupe of boundaries in a combative top score of 20, but was ultimately 9th out. Nel tried to make up for his poor bowling with his contribution to a partnership of 22 for the last wicket. It made little difference, however, and a tragic mix up between the wickets brought the game to a close at 88 all out.
Trinidad and Tobago innings 181-4 (20 overs)
KA Pollard 79* (41), D Ganga 34 (33), W Perkins 29 (20)
SV Raghav 2-17 (4), RG Dunn 2-38 (4)
Rabid Wolves innings 88 ao (11.4 overs)
SV Raghav 20 (11), A Nel 12 (4), SA Bennett/MW DeSilva 12 (9)
RA Kelly 3-17 (4), RR Emrit 3-28 (3)
T&T won by 93 runs.
****atoos v Scotland
Fardingham ****atoos put in a solid performance to beat Scotland by a comfortable 25 runs. After the ****atoos won the toss, James Robertson stood firm at the top of the order with 49 from 44 balls. Around him wickets tumbled, but Robertson continued to push the ball into gaps, and though he scored only 2 boundaries, his innings was priceless. When he was finally run out in the 16th over, the score was 123-6. Gaurav Nayak joined David Kearsley at the crease with the need for acceleration. Kearsley was on 29 from 21 balls, but upped the tempo by clubbing Haq for consecutive sixes over midwiket. Nayak joined in with a straight six off Blain, and fashioned a brisk 21 off 12 balls. In the last over he was trapped in front of the stumps by Nel, and Weber skied the ball to long-on for a duck. The batsmen crossed and Kearsley took strike for the last ball of the innings, on 48. A Nel full toss was just what he needed, and Kearsley dispatched it into the stands at midwicket to end the innings in style.
Scotland looked to score 172, and started with a solid 41 in the first 7 overs. The first wicket came when Zac Ritchie snapped up Watson, attempting a cut shot. The breakthrough cracked the gate for the ****atoos, allowing the fast bowling to return and force it wide open. Heath Davis and Kyle Wright shared 5 wickets with aggressive and typically accurate bowling. Scotland never looked much of a threat and, despite some big hitting by Craig Wright at the end, they managed only 146-8 from 20 overs.
****atoos innings 171-8 (20 overs)
DA Kearsley 54* (33), JA Robertson 49 (44), GN Nayak 21 (12)
JD Nel 3-33 (4)
Scotland innings 146-8 (20 overs)
NFI McCallum 37 (29), DF Watts/CJO Smith 24 (20)
KS Wright 3-33 (4), HT Davis 2-28 (4)
****atoos won by 25 runs.
Upper Body v Kent
A super allround effort by Liam Camps Jr. pushed Upper Body to a comfortable 73-run win over Kent. Early on Camps was overshadowed by his explosive opening partner, Dan Smith, who smacked 41 off 18 balls before falling to Azhar Mahmood at 45-1. Bosco Fitzsimmons continued the positive play with two big sixes off Yasir Arafat in his cameo of 21 off 9 balls. And when he was out in the 9th over, Camps shifted gears and played strongly down the ground to reach 70 from 38 balls, with 5 fours and 4 sixes. He and Chris Dwyer added 87 for the third wicket, and Dwyer went on to score an unbeaten 64 and add 49 unbroken with Jay Gonzalez (18*).
A target of 219 was always going to be difficult for the tourists, and a crazy run out in the second over reinforced it. Captain Rob Key (2) was the man to go, then Camps chimed in to dismiss Martin van Jaarsveld and Darren Stevens for ducks. The middle order gave way to the promising spin of Rhys Williams, and although Amjad Khan and Cook rebuilt with a stand of 53, Upper Body was never under serious threat.
Upper Body innings 218-3 (20 overs)
LA Camps 70 (38), CR Dwyer 64* (39), DP Smith 41 (18)
SJ Cook 1-26 (3)
Kent innings 145-9 (20 overs)
JL Denly 49 (40), Amjad Khan 31* (25), SJ Cook 17* (10)
LA Camps 3-22 (4)
Upper Body won by 73 runs.
Ninjas v Jamaica
Careful batting by Danza Hyatt (64*) guided Jamaica to a 7-wicket win over Nixonstown Ninjas. After Adam Hollioake reduced the score to 37-2 with two early wickets, Hyatt was forced to rebuild with the help of Brendan Nash. The two played carefully and milked the bowling of James Nixon and Sean Fuller in the middle overs. Ultimately Nash dragged a Nixon slower ball onto his stumps for 39, but it only served to trigger Hyatt to another gear. He then hit a four an a six to start the 18th over by Wilson and closed the match swiftly. Thomas shared around the bowling duties between 7 bowlers, rather than relying heavily on his most potent options.
Earlier the Ninjas were troubled by the accurate medium pace of Nash, who took 4 for 26 in his allotment. In the 14th over they were struggling on 103-6, and required uncharacteristically watchful batting by Wilson (21*) and then the big hitting of Hollioake (26*) to climb to a competitive total of 142-6. Even so, it proved too little in the final line.
Ninjas innings 142-6 (20 overs)
RF Bowen 32 (26), AJ Hollioake 26* (14), SE Fuller 24 (30)
BP Nash 4-26 (4)
Jamaica innings 147-3 (17.2 overs)
DP Hyatt 67* (50), BP Nash 39 (34), BA Parchment 15 (8)
AJ Hollioake 2-22 (2)
Jamaica won by 7 wickets.
