Tuesday 2nd September
Masters XI vs Cricket Web Green
at Casston Reserve
Scorecard
Ball By Ball
As yesterday, The Masters opted to bat in decent conditions, but today there was little hope of a big score. Green bowled well and disciplined early on, but only got the one wicket in the new ball spell, Imran Farhat giving an easy caught and bowled chance. The Masters failed to cut loose, however, and only when Lara and Marshall fell in successive overs was there any real progress. Das struck four fours in a fine 38, showing signs of gaining form, while Lance Klusener batted well with the lower order to gather 40.
Green eventually needed 221 to win, and suffered an early setback as Rob Malone failed to play Shane Bond well. He was caught and bowled for a three-ball duck, but Nick Scott kept the pressure up, managing 32 in the first ten overs.
Warne delayed the second powerplay, taking it in the 21st over, yet chose to bowl himself and Saqlain through it. It was vindicated when the first powerplay over, from Saqlain to Corrin, was a wicket maiden; at the halfway stage, however, Scott was still there on 59. A brace of wickets from Henderson in the next over swung the game, however, and the hopes rested on Scott.
He took the responsibility. Despite Saqlain and Klusener keeping on taking wickets, Scott was nowhere near threatened by them, and instead kept on thumping boundaries and ensuring a high run rate. The winning four came in the 44th over, with Forner at the other end, and Scott had made 126 not out - of a total of 222.
Masters XI 220 for eight (50)
Marshall 46, Klusener 40, Das 38; Rose 3/57, Cunningham 2/33, Forner 2/35
Cricket Web Green 222 for eight (43.2)
Scott 126*, Corrin 35; Saqlain 3/53, Bond 2/25 (7.2)
Cricket Web Green won by two wickets
Man of the Match: N. G. Scott (Cricket Web Green)
Cricket Web Red vs Cricket Web Black
at CW Oval
Scorecard
Ball By Ball
Black lost their openers cheaply for a change, yet two spells of play helped them complete a fairly comfortable victory in the Oval. Magnificent death hitting from Daniel Speirs secured him the Man of the Match award, while Neil Pickup came back from an early battering to defend the target well.
The opening spell was remarkably subdued, with only 63 off the first 15 overs, and Black needed to smash out in the second powerplay. Instead, Matt Luff held a simple catch off Heads to dismis Chaulk, and four overs later it was West's turn to hold a key catch. Two down for 100, and the big dangermen back in the pavilion.
The mid-innings bowling was not especially threatening, save for one redeeming over from Clapham, when Smith and Cloete were both caught. This left Blackman and Speirs to rebuild, something they did easily, ticking the scoreboard over slowly. With six overs to go, Black were 209 for five, and looked to barely reach 250.
Then came the onslaught. Kennett's next over cost 19 - four successive fours by Speirs. West began the next over with a no ball, and five fours came off it - 250 passed already. Not to be outdone, Gelman took two fours off Kennett, and both seamers were taken out as Mørk turned desperate. In the end, 100 runs were taken off the final six overs, with Speirs making 61 off the last 20 and Gelman 34 off 15.
The chase was briefly on. Despite Gough getting the better of both openers, but Dauth and Robertson combined surprisingly well. The required rate never got above eight, and when Robertson took a Pickup over for 15, Red were a vaguely comfortable 178 for two.
It couldn't last. Dauth dragged on Pickup in the ginger spinner's next over, Robertson was caught by Blackman, and there was no one else to up the ante. Pickup ended with four wickets, while Gelman, Patrick and Gough also chipped in, bowling Red out 39 balls before the scheduled finish for a 92-run victory.
Cricket Web Black 309 for five (50)
Speirs 95*, Stedman 46, Blackman 44, Gelman 38*; Clapham 2/50
Cricket Web Red 217 all out (43.3)
Dauth 88, Robertson 66; Pickup 4/53, Gough 3/23 (6.3), Gelman 2/47
Cricket Web Colts vs Cricket Web Blue
at Fardin Qayyumi CC
Scorecard
Ball By Ball
Sam Morris continued to stamp his mark on the Dev League with an assured half-century to guide Blue to a modest target after early wobbles. A decent bowling and fielding effort was completed by a sufficiently good middle order performance.
Colts struggled after choosing to bat, with Sriram, Maina and Shah picking up a wicket each and only Kerr of the top five remaining after twenty overs. Mike Wilson chipped in with 49, batting through nearly 20 overs with Kerr, but was run out short of the half-ton, before Sriram had Pimpkins caught by Camps at square leg first ball.
With six men out, Colts had to approach with some caution, but Kerr still did a fine job of accelerating - including a remarkable 24-run over off Fuller. The umpires cruelly gave his last single of the match as a leg-bye, leaving Kerr stranded on 99 not out, as Colts posted 227 for eight.
Blue lost both openers within the first nine overs, but Pete Young and de Silva attacked the change bowlers, and Stephen Young took over the role seamlessly. With twenty overs remaining, Blue required a modest 96, with seven wickets in hand.
However, with the Green match fresh in the memory, some quick runs were needed to steady the nerves when Peter Young was caught for 62. Morris provided it flawlessly, taking 38 balls for the half-century, and by then 14 runs were required off 32 balls. There were no runs from Morris after that, as Weber plucked a fine catch in the next over, but Crampton and Popat could make it easily to the target.
Cricket Web Colts 227 for six (50)
Kerr 99*, Wilson 49; Sriram 3/59, Maina 2/19
Cricket Web Blue 228 for six (47)
P Young 62, Morris 50, de Silva 46; Spinks 3/37 (8)