Comeback Greens Complete Sweep
Cricket Web Green completed a sweep of the trophies, as they cruised to an emphatic 8-wicket win over Cricket Web Blue in the Manuel Ramprakash Trophy final. In a game that had potential to be the closest of contests, poor bowling and fielding by Blue destroyed the prospect.
Liam Camps won the toss in absolutely perfect batting conditions, but his team could only manage 153 all out, of which Camps himself made a duck. As in the OD final, Xavier Rose was the main persecutor, rising to the occasion and leaving the Blue middle order with no answers. He and Nathan Hoy shared all 10 wickets, and only Simon Fitzsimmons and Tom Halsey crossed 30.
Batting in the same bright conditions, the Greens met the same difficulty. Nath Patrick bowled beautifully to take 3 wickets, as Green slumped to 87/6. From the dismay of an evenly balanced game, lone batswoman Bharat met Tarick Weber and set about to dramatically turn things around. Bharat was dropped three times, but romped to her maiden First Class century with aggressive batting. Her partner, Tarick Weber was dropped twice, but cast the fact aside, playing for a crucial half-century in the 160-run partnership for 7th wicket.
There was more pain yet on the cards. Though Camps dismissed Weber and Rose with successive deliveries, Nathan Hoy got stuck in aside Bharat, and a further 82 runs were added for the 9th wicket. Ultimately CW Green took a huge lead of 177 on first innings, and left the 5D Champions with a task to climb back into the timeless game.
Timeless was indeed the key word to the Blue approach, and they sought to grind down the Green bowlers with watchful, yet purposeful batting. Even as the batsmen attempted to lift the tempo and take the game to the Greens, they met struggle. Fitzsimmons and Young added 88 for the first wicket, and then Cameron made the crucial breakthrough. Though Young and Cribb registered painstaking half-centuries, the middle order failed once more, and Blue collapsed from 160/2 to 297 all out.
The lead of 120 runs was far more than seemed likely, as Dylan Jellett counterattacked for a pleasant half-century, then was second-to-last out.
Sajith began the final innings like man on a mission, and he and Lezama quickly added 40 for the first wicket. Camps bowled Lezama between bat and pad, but that only brought Brendon Goff to the crease - another batsman with a point to prove. The Cricket Web XI captain forgot his struggles of the 5D season, thumping a half-century off just 27 balls. Demeza had him caught at point, but it was far too little too late, and Rob Malone joined Sajith to see Green home.
Twice the celebration and twice the disappointment. Cricket Web Green continued their march as one of the powerhouses of Dev League cricket, whilst Cricket Web Blue meet headlines suggesting the least dramatic of chokes, albeit with the 5D and OD titles already in hand.
Cricket Web Blue 1st Innings 153 all out
Cricket Web Green 1st Innings 330 all out
Cricket Web Blue 2nd Innings 297 all out
Cricket Web Green 2nd Innings 121 for 2
Cricket Web Green won by 8 wkts.
Man and woman of the match: XPA Rose and P Bharat