Thursday 17th March
The oops fixtures...
CW Black vs. CW Red
at the CW Oval
Youth paid off for Cricket Web Red, as a tremendous show of character crushed the spirits of Cricket Web Black with a 3-wicket victory. James Stedman was at his finest in scoring a century and half-century for a total of 200 runs in the game. His hundred was in the first innings and an integral part of Red's 387 all out, as they took a lead of 77 runs.
Stedman then anchored a chase that almost went sour at the end, as Red got to 209/7, despite losing a late 4 wickets for 25 runs. With the ball it was youth and experience that did the trick. Sean Bennett was superb in the first innings as he and Nick Borcich set the Blacks on the back foot. Only a glorious hundred by Darren Dubb-Lynch stood out, though Jones and Thompson got starts.
In the second Black innings, the experience came into play for Red. Having struggled with the ball all season long, Ghansar found some rhythm and claimed 4 Black wickets. Dubb-Lynch was again superb in the middle order, but again found little support elsewhere.
Set 209 to end the 5D dream of CW Black, the Reds cruised to 132/1 before finding a bit of difficulty against uneven bounce. Alas, Iyer and Bennett did enough to guide their team home.
Cricket Web Black 1st Innings 310 all out
Cricket Web Red 1st Innings 387 all out
Cricket Web Black 2nd Innings 285 all out
Cricket Web Red 2nd Innings 209 for 7
Cricket Web Red won by 3 wkts.
Man of the Match: JE Stedman
CW Green vs. CW Blue
at the PDV Dome
Setting out to defend their third place position, the Blues stayed glued to the television whilst not in the middle, checking the progress of rivals Red. Indeed the desire was such in the Blue camp that they inflicted one of the heaviest defeats upon Green this season.
Having lost the toss, Blue was inserted by Green in excellent bowling conditions. Cribb was out cheaply after surviving an hour, and Liam Camps promoted himself to number three. Batting with his experienced partner Peter Young, the captain sought to put the game out of the reach of Green. A middle order collapse removed such notions, but Camps stuck in for a patient hundred - his second of the season.
Peter Young continued to impress with a solid half-century, but it was the contribution of Sean Fuller that really caught the eye. Fuller partnered his skipper to raise the score from 186/6 to 287, scoring a mature half-century in the process. Hoy and Feeney ultimately took 4 wickets each though, and the Blues were all out for 298.
Green then appeared to be cruising to a first innings lead at 85/1, then 157/3. Yet the Blues never gave up. First Patrick got Walsh fending to the lone slip fielder, then Verghese was caught at leg gully off a Demeza cracker. Suddenly the game was back open. When Halsey entered the attack, he opened it further and took 4 cheap wickets to hasten the end at 253.
A lead of 45, Blue decided to bat carefully yet positively in the second innings. Young played another quality half-century and shared a good stand with Camps, but it was de Silva who really proved the hero. Capping off a good rookie season, de Silva attacked the bowling successfully and rattled off some exquisite square drives until departing in the 90s. Feeney took another 3 wickets for Green, but Blue had the luxury of declaring with 368 runs in the bank.
Green took a second turn at the crease and looked very secure for a draw at 68/0, then 120/2. The Blue bowlers just kept plugging away though. Demeza and Patrick were utilized in quick fiery spells and paid dividends with 5 wickets between them. Sean Fuller secured a handy Man of the Match award though, adding 3 wickets to his 2 in the first innings. Green collapsed to 176 all out.
Cricket Web Blue 1st Innings 298 all out
Cricket Web Green 1st Innings 253 all out
Cricket Web Blue 2nd Innings 323 for 8 dec.
Cricket Web Green 2nd Innings 176 all out
Cricket Web Blue won by 192 runs.
Man of the Match: SE Fuller
Alright... my plan to make less runs... you've found me out... guilty as charged 
