Tuesday 15th March
CW Black v CW Red
at the CW Oval
Dave Watt was nothing short of inspirational in leading Cricket Web Red to an outstanding win over Black at the Oval. Not only did Watt take wickets at opportune times, but he shone with the bat for two entertaining and crucial innings.
Red was inserted and struggled to 43/4. Mørk, as usual, was solid at the top, but it appeared as though he would have no support. Watt entered at 157/7 and wasted little time in making his mark. His half-century came up off only 31 balls and in total he hit 7 fours and a towering six off Neil Pickup, as the Reds scrambled to 260 all out.
Watt then dismissed Jones and Butler in quick succession to set Black back. He faced a pounding from Wilson and Chaulk, but finished with 3 good wickets. Wilson's fiery half-century combined with much of the same from Dave Richards, as the two helped their team to a lead of 17 runs. Perhaps the least likely contributor though, was Neil Pickup, as he ended unbeaten on his season-high.
Red batted again and showed a lot more application. Dauth was the only man to pass 50, but almost everyone showed stickability. Ultimately Dauth was run out short of a century, but he did enough to push on to 317 all out. He got some handy support from none other than Dave Watt. The Waussie-born pacer cracked 6 fours off the spinners in another cameo.
Black then set out to chase 301 runs for victory. The openers did not last long, but Butler and Blackman rebuilt to 75, when the latter was dismissed. Soon after, Butler too was gone and it was 87/4. Wilson tried to settle in for a long innings, but seemed out of his element and was LBW for 17. A 92-run partnership then came from Dubb-Lynch and Chaulk, the two batsmen going hard at the bowlers.
Alas, it was not to be for Black. Watt returned to get Dubb-Lynch caught at point and the innings somewhat crumbled to 257 all out.
Cricket Web Red 1st Innings 260 all out
Cricket Web Black 1st Innings 277 all out
Cricket Web Red 2nd Innings 317 all out
Cricket Web Black 2nd Innings 257 all out
Cricket Web Red won by 43 runs.
Man of the Match: DJ Watt
CW Blue v CW Green
at the CWBCC Stadium
Cricket Web Blue maintained its third place position with a tame draw against Green. Blue was up against it, facing a deficit of 139 on first innings on a day four pitch, but a return to form for Simon Fitzsimmons went a long way toward ensuring that the Greens not get the result they desired.
Blue had batted first upon winning the toss, but only managed 316 all out. The score proved disappointing, as it had earlier been 254/2 when Young and Wilshere were at the crease. Young played exceptionally, but was struck in front by Weber whilst missing a sweep shot in the 90s. Wlshere too was very impressive, scoring a third consecutive half-century since his return.
In their turn, the Greens were very cautious from the outset. Brendon Goff came in and played a classy innings, allowing Feeney to play a bit more freely. The real hero though, was Anthony Lezama. He played for a second career FC hundred, after getting his first against Blue the last time the teams met. He was not without support though. Bryce Cunningham played maturely at the other end, but was unfortunately bowled before he could reach his ton.
The Green innings closed late on day four, with the pitch clearly not favouring strokeplay, yet not with anything for the seamers to speak of. Fitzsimmons and Young took the Blues to stumps at 87/0. The good play continued on day five, and de Silva cashed in for a half-century. Camps pondered a declaration in the final session, but decided safety would be the call of the day and batted out the remaining overs.
Cricket Web Blue 1st Innings 316 all out
Cricket Web Green 1st Innings 455 all out
Cricket Web Blue 2nd Innings 301 for 5
Test Match Drawn.
Man of the Match: SJ Fitzsimmons
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With its first draw of the season, Cricket Web Green puts pressure on Black to win the final 5D game of the season, against Blue. Green won the head-to-head matchup 5-3 this season, so Black must finish with more points than Green. This, of course means that Green has to lose against Red in addition to a Black victory, for Black to be 5D Champions. A draw for Green would secure the title, regardless of what Black does.
Cricket Web Red will look to win against Green, as it is the only way it can avoid a last place finish in 5D, despite cutting the margin between Blue and Red by 15 points with the most recent victory. Cricket Web Blue has won the season series with Red 3-2, with 2 draws.