Cricket Web Black vs Masters XI
at Pickford Reserve
Scorecard
Ball By Ball
A collective batting failure by Black helped the Masters to an upset 50-run win at Pickford, keeping the first class league exciting. In the absence of Smith, there was no glue to hold the innings together, and barring a massive first-innings hundred from Ash Chaulk, there was not even a half-century on show. The masters should get credit for bowling well as a unit, with Bond the expected star.
The Masters chose to bat, with both openers getting the benefit of a dropped catch early on. That helped them score 69 for the first wicket, before the returning Benkenstein was lbw for 7. The Masters gritted out runs through a rain-shortened second day, though they lost five wickets in eleven overs towards the end of the day to crash to 257 for nine.
Donald completed the five-for by trapping Henderson lbw early in the morning, after he and Bond had added 25, the bulk of which came on the previous evening. However, Bond's opening spell was a cut above most other bowling displayed in the match. A brace of yorkers took care of Ritchie and Cloete, Stedman was caught at third slip, and Speirs clean bowled after Ronchi failed to hold the catch - suddenly Black were four down for 35. Blackman and Chaulk recovered well, batting nearly through the entire afternoon session, but Saqlain and Odoyo struck before tea to leave Black reeling again.
The tail showed that batting wasn't particularly difficult, with Gough and Pickup recording the third and fourth highest scores of the day - though most of Gough's innings was against an old ball that wasn't doing much, and Pickup was dropped by Klusener on six. Pickup lasted until the third morning, leaving Chaulk with an impressive 122 not out, and the Masters with a 17-run lead.
More rain curtailed the third day's play, but there were glimmers of hope for Black, as there was a failure to go on by the entire Masters' lineup. No one managed 40 on the third day's play, with Richards, despite few overs, arguably the pick of the bowlers as he bamboozled Lara and trapped Ronchi. The Masters closed the day on 158 for six, and needed a big knock from one of their tailenders.
It came from Thomas Odoyo. Helped by friendly umpires, he strode to an unbeaten 56, eventually getting cut short as Pickup took out the tail immediately after lunch. His stand of 58 with Saqlain helped lift the target to 277. It didn't look excessively daunting, even on a fourth-day Pickford wicket - the consensus was that there was still more runs to get from Cloete and the tail, which would help them get across the line. Losing Ritchie and Stedman to early catches somewhat deterred the confidence, but Cloete rapidly went past 20 - and then failed to score for fifteen minutes before dragging on Warne. Before tea, both Speirs and Blackman benefited from a reprieve, and they were uncertainly perched on 89 for three.
Blackman stood tall, but at the other end, Speirs was bowled early and Chaulk failed to back up his form, becoming pair of a brace of caught-behinds to Saqlain which also included Donald. Six down for 119, and the target of 277 began to look like a pipe dream. And though there was considerable sting in the Black tail, no one could actually get past 30, as Saqlain got the final wicket on the morrow of day five.
Masters XI 282 all out
Lara 58; Donald 5/55, Pickup 3/67
Cricket Web Black 265 all out
Chaulk 122*; Bond 6/85
Masters XI 259 all out
Odoyo 56*; Pickup 2/37, Richards 2/42, Donald 2/46, Borcich 2/59
Cricket Web Black 226 all out
Blackman 47; Saqlain 3/41, Odoyo 2/32, Henderson 2/33
Masters XI won by 50 runs
Man of the Match: S. E. Bond (Masters)
Cricket Web Colts vs Cricket Web Red
at Fardin Qayyumi CC
Scorecard
Ball By Ball
Cricket Web Colts dominated for five days, yet fell an agonising three runs short of victory as Red stuck out stubbornly for a strange draw. The Red bowling attack completely fell away in front of a hostile crowd, and the captain had a shocker, but Colts were set 41 on the final evening and only managed 38.
The first day was dominated by Bosco Fitzsimmons and Chris Butler, as well as the rain and poor fielding. Butler was dropped twice at the wicket, both regulation catches, and cashed in for 56 runs after Rai and Das had been caught early. Fitzsimmons was the chief aggressor, however, smashing ten fours and four sixes on 117 not out at the end of the first day.
Despite overcast clouds, it took until the lunch break before Red got their next breakthrough, Raghav bowling Fitzsimmons for 199 - clearly lacking a sense of the occasion. However, Butler and Kerr kept going in much the same vein, and by stumps the total was 615 for four - the Red bowlers had gone completely flat, and just wished for the end of the five days to go home and train. Only Kearsley's freak catch had stopped Chris Butler from a triple, while Kerr remained on 115 overnight.
Raghav used the new ball well to finally dismiss Colts, taking Cole, Wilson, Weber and Bochat for figures of six for 130, but Colts had amassed 711 and left themselves with more than two and a half days to bowl out Red. With two wickets before lunch, Colts looked to wrap things up quickly, though 35 runs had flowed from just five overs.
Then the wickets stopped falling again. The pitch was admittedly a featherbed, but Colts had their chances - Wilson's overthrow to fail to run out Gray a particular embarrassment - and Gray and Dauth batted impeccably. When bad light stopped play for the first time, they had added 153 - they were forced back for 23 overs after six in the evening, but fought that off admirably, save for a couple more dropped catches.
At stumps, Red were 268 for two, and thoughts began to spin in the Red camp about a possible declaration. It was, of course, premature. Greg Thomas took three wickets in the morning session after Dauth had been caught behind and Dylan Cole had bowled Kearsley, and though Gray remained stubborn on 140, Red were seven down for 386, still trailing by more than 300. Amir, Kennett and Raghav held on for more than 90 minutes, though they could add few runs - Thomas' final over included two no-balls before he finally had Raghav caught.
Colts still had eight hours of cricket to work with, and again got Mørk early. Luff and Gray managed a two-hour stand, but both were dismissed in successive overs, and Kennett was sent up to the nightwatchman's job. This he did well enough, thanks to a drop by Cole, and Red finished the fourth day on 122 for three.
Thomas was magnificent on the fifth morning, finding energy from seemingly nowhere as he began his fifth-day stint. Dauth was dropped by Cole on 26, was then caught by Fitzsimmons at the wicket, before getting Kennett and Singh in successive overs. The lower middle order had utterly failed, Red were 149 for seven, and the match looked to meander towards the inevitable Colt victory.
However, the tide turned. Sean Bennett played an innings from out of the blue, lasting all the way through to the new ball before Thomas trapped him lbw as his eleventh victim of the match; Kearsley hit a six in the final over before tea to ensure a Red lead, but the team needed at least 60 more runs or a good 20 overs of batting to be safe.
They nearly got the second, despite Kearsley not being last out. Raghav and Amir lasted 25 minutes and 31 balls, before Wilson got the leg-before decision and left Amir not out on nine. Thus, Colts needed 41 off 13 overs.
It should have been a canter - yet Fitzsimmons was not in his best hitting form. In fading light, he missed too many deliveries, and Red took enough shine on the ball and fielded well enough to avoid the defeat. In the scorebook, at least, the match will go down with honours even - though no one who was there to witness the debacle will agree.
Cricket Web Colts 711 all out
Butler 219, Fitzsimmons 199, Kerr 160; Raghav 6/130, Amir 3/220
Cricket Web Red 428 all out
Gray 151, Dauth 132; Thomas 6/96
Cricket Web Red 323 all out (following on)
Kearsley 83, Luff 67, Bennett 63; Thomas 6/86, Wilson 2/31
Cricket Web Colts 38 for two
Match drawn
Man of the Match: C. R. Butler (Colts)
Cricket Web Blue vs Cricket Web Green
at PDV Dome
Scorecard
Ball By Ball
This match also included a massive score, but it was, if possible, even more one-sided. Blue dominatd on home soil, with Morris continuing his scintillating run of form and Cribb also finding form from seemingly nowhere.
The last sentence pretty much summed up the first day. Without Rose, Green's bowling was largely toothless, as Cribb and Young eased to 119 for one by lunch. Cunningham did have Peter Young bowled, exhausted from his Test match heroics, yet no one could have expected the massive score that was to come. From a Green perspective, Andy Cameron will surely be ruing the early chance; Morris smashed the first ball to Cameron at deep midwicket, yet Cameron misjudged his run and floored what should have been the easiest of chances of a golden duck.
Instead, Morris went on to make a hundred before the end of the day, as did Cribb, who remained not out on 148. The total of 350 for two was solid, though it needed backing up - which indeed came. Liam Camps became the third centurion of the innings, and Morris went on to 185, as no more wicket fell until the middle of the afternoon session. Cunningham and Raftery managed to get some control over the innings, but that was largely due to a helpful pitch - the damage had been done already.
In response, Green needed calm and measured batting. What they got was a hitting fest. Neither innings lasted more than fifty overs, as Green barely managed to bat for a day of the required three - Mamesh and Cunningham provided fifties at faster than a run a ball, and though Cunningham couldn't be faulted as he remained not out, Mamesh relaxed and let the toppie from Popat deceive him. Beginning the second innings more than 400 runs behind, Rob Malone was the sole source of hope, but with two middle order batsmen out for ducks there was really little he could do. A smattering of wickets all round ensured a hefty innings victory in front of delighted fans.
Cricket Web Blue 677 all out
Morris 185, Cribb 148, Camps 118, S Young 67; Cunningham 4/113, Mitchell 3/167
Cricket Web Green 258 all out
Cunningham 79*, Mamesh 69; Popat 3/66, Demeza 3/85
Cricket Web Green 198 all out (following on)
Malone 72; Shah 3/18, Camps 2/12, Collins 2/43, Demeza 2/72
Cricket Web Blue won by an innings and 221 runs
Man of the Match: S. C. Morris (Blue)