Cricketweb Green vs Cricketweb Black
@ CWBCC Stadium
Scorecard
Ball By Ball
Green took on Black in this round 8 affair, both teams were missing players through A team duties so it was a chance for a few of the fringe players to shine, Cameron Burge was getting his first outing of the season in either form for Black while Age Sellaro and Chris Raftery were the noteable inclusions for Green, also making a return was regular skipper Mat Mitchell.
Dan Smith won the toss for Black and certainly couldn't have been too upset with the start after choosing the bat first, Smith and James Stedman put on an opening stand of 155 before Stedman departed for 63, Andrew Cloete and Daniel Speirs didn't make many in the middle order but there were useful contributions by Ash Chaulk and Sam Morris who both made 40 odd. The star of the show though was undoubtedly captain Dam Smith who has run into a great patch of form leading into the test series, his 177 ball stay included 14 fours and 3 sixes as he went on to make 123. It was a good bowling effort by green to restrict Black to a score of 351, this was largely thanks to three wickets apiece from Mat Mitchell and Josh Forner.
Green's reply was fairly unimpressive to say the least, on what was a belter of a track they were reduced to 64/5 in no time mainly due to some excellent bowling for star quick Nick Borcich, his three top order wickets to go with the two from Nath Patrick exposed the weaknesses in the line up badly missing Nick Scott, no one in the top 6 made it above 30 and it was only thanks to an exceptional counter attack from all rounder Chris Raftery for made 71 not out that they were able to scramble to 190. Neil Pickup got himself three late wickets to go with the three that Borcich took up top and it was no surprise when Dan Smith asked Green to bat again.
It was a much better start for the home side as they raced to 100 without loss, however soon after it was young opener Age Sellaro that departed for 65 after impressing in a rare match for him, Dylan Cole and Ben Read made decent contributions but nothing you'd write a book about, Henry Pearce battled hard and was unlucky not to make a century, his near six hour innings came to an end with him on 84 as he played on to Cameron Burge. Andrew Garven who is desperately hoping to retain his spot in the Cricketweb XI side played Green into a mildly competitive position with a score of 75. There wasn't much else to speak of in the lower order as Cameron Burge celebrated his return to first class cricket with five wickets and Green were all out for 365.
With 205 needed to win and the best part of 2 and a half sessions to play it was a case of Green having to be attacking and bowl Black out to win the match, a miracle win was on the cards at the end of the first over as Xavier Rose struck twice to have Black 0/2, a steadying 102 run stand between Dan Smith and Ash Chaulk should have been enough to ensure victory, however another minor collapse saw Black still require 29 runs to win with 5 wickets in hand, it was left up to the unassuming Sam Morris to guide the team home and he did with ease, despite Rose's three wickets it was a fairly comfortable victory in the end for Black.
Cricketweb Black 351
DP Smith 123, JE Stedman 63, MT Mitchell 3/87, JNE Forner 3/89
Cricketweb Green 190
CP Raftery 71*, NA Borcich 3/24, NS Pickup 3/48
Cricketweb Green (following on) 365
H Pearce 84, AJ Garven 75, A Sellaro 65, CR Burge 5/108, NA Borcich 3/83
Cricketweb Black 205/5
DP Smith 73, AP Chaulk 48, XPA Rose 3/65
Cricketweb Black won by 5 wickets
Man of the Match: DP Smith (CW Black)
Cricketweb Red vs Cricketweb Blue
@ CW Oval
Scorecard
Ball By Ball
Cricketweb Blue travelled to Red in an attempt to reverse their round three loss at the hands of a David Watt inspired outfit, the good news for Blue was that Watt was off on A team duties for this match but on the otherside of the coin Blue were also missing a number of key players for the same reason.
Travis Demeza won the toss and elected to bat first on a nice day at the CW Oval, Blue started with positive intentions as they attempt to climb the ladder and crack the top two, Richard Langley Junior continued his good form but couldn't convert his 42 in a more meaningful score, overlooked for the A side Thamba Mamesh had a point to prove, but gave the selectors few things to think about in his brief stay at the crease, Jake Luffman and Liam Camps got together and put on a 123 run stand, young Luffman who is almost a certainty to be wearing under 19's colours next month continued his good form and became Kingsley Clapham's second wicket, he was out for 79. Camps then became the first of David Kennett's three wickets, he was out for 76 and Red had their noses in front in this clash. However the recalled Stephen Young batting lower down the order than he would have liked showed he still has what it takes at this level, a blistering score of 95 was his best effort of the season and he was somewhat unluckily given out when replays showed Muhammad Amir may have grassed the catch, still a good performance from Young. David Kennett, Kingsley Clapham and Sean Bennett all took three wickets but Muhammad Amir came in for the most critisim, not for his unsportsman like behaviour but for his bowling efforts which leaked 117 runs in 15 overs. Blue all out for 389.
A meaningful reply was all that David Kennett would have asked of his chargers before the innings and Hakon Mork was no doubt the man given the job to see that it happened. Mork's more aggressive partner Matt Luff looked like he had somewhere else to be as he came out swinging like a rusty gate, he made just 18 before Travis Demeza stunned the home crowd by taking the scalp of star batsman Rob Dauth next ball for a duck. Mork was joined by in form David Kearsley and the pair plodded along with Kearsley being the aggressor, the long partnership finally came to an end when Mork was out for 55 from 172 balls, Mitch Rapp made 25 but easily could have had more if not for his rash stoke play, David Kearsley would go on to make 120 but the best was yet to come for Red. Callum Dinnen has been one of the top batsman in the league this season, he had been out in the 90's twice to go with his one century but today was a whole new standard he was setting for himself, the often outspoken Dinnen is showing he is a real candidate for further honours in the future and the 190 runs he smashed Blue around for showed the sort of quality he does have. Red were eventually bowled out for 525 and it was an uphill battle for Blue to get back into the game.
Thanks to the fast scoring rates so far in the game there was still time for Blue to make something of it, rather than go into their shell and play for the draw Blue looked to play the sort of cricket they have all year and be attacking, it didn't start that well with Langley Jnr and Mamesh out in quick time, in a side that is missing star Rob Bowen someone else would needed to stand up and play that match winning innings. Jake Luffman tried to be that man and his 67 ball 92 went a long way to giving his bowlers something to bowl at, Liam Camps played the anchor role for another score in the 70's while Morgan Burridge and Angelo Loganthan both hit quicker than run a ball 40's, most of the bowlers were expensive but the Dev League's leading wicket taker David Kennett added another 5 to his collection as Blue were all out for 297 leaving Red 70 odd overs to make 162 runs.
Despite losing 5 wickets in the chase it was a fairly easy victory for a home side desperate for the points, Callum Dinnen again led the way with a quickfire 40 at the end to guide his team home, Hakon Mork again played a patient hand to make 34, Langley Jnr and Brenton Robb both bowled well to heap some pressure on but in the end it was Blue's first innings bowling effort that let them down. Sometimes you just have to say the opposition was too good and on this occasion it was David Kearsley and Callum Dinnen that were the stars of this game. Red finished 165/5 and the game was wrapped up with over a session to spare.
Cricketweb Blue 389
S Young 95, JRE Luffman 79, LA Camps 76, SA Bennett 3/71, DM Kennett 3/72
Cricketweb Red 525
CJ Dinnen 190, DA Kearsley 120, H Mork 55, TJ Demeza 3/95
Cricketweb Blue 297
JRE Luffman 92, LA Camps 77, DM Kennett 5/47
Cricketweb Red 165/5
CJ Dinnen 40*, RA Langley Jnr 2/19
Cricketweb Red won by 5 wickets
Man of the Match: CJ Dinnen (CW Red)