May 31
Cricket Web Black v Cricket Web Red
CW Oval
Scorecard
Ball by Ball
Even in their weakened state, Cricket Web Black mixed the solid and the spectacular to comfortably overcome Cricket Web Red at the Oval. Corey McMeekin finally made his mark with the bat, grabbing hold of a rare opportunity and scoring 67 not out to ensure the victory. The most stunning display of the day came from Alex Blackman, however. He struck 7 delightful boundaries in 40 from 35 balls, his strongest signs of his best form since his return to the team.
CW Red scored 237-8 in their turn at the crease, as the middle order once again failed to show any real quality at the crease. Again Matt Luff starred with 79, though Sean Bennett also looked in good form for 42 at the number three slot. The Reds were well-placed at 104-2, then came undone in slipping to 159-6. Down the order Manjunath Reddlapalli put his hand up with another good innings, scoring 30 from 34 balls, and David Kennett and Mohammad Amir added 21 for the last wicket against some sharp death bowling. Ben Fox impressed again, taking 3-43. The spinners - Richards and Roberts - shared 4 wickets with some tidy bowling.
With the ball the Reds were off to a horror start. While Amir struggled to find his length, Kennett bowled two noballs and a wide in a rhythmless first two overs. He pitched up to get the wicket of Smith and new confidence was breathed into the team. Amir bowled Markus with a beauty, but suffered at the hands of Blackman in his next over. Two short balls were hammered through the offside field. Raghav came into the attack and conceded two more fours to Blackman, who raced to 18 from 9 balls. A yorker dealt for Arnold in Raghav's return over, and again the Reds took heart.
But Blackman, Armstrong and McMeekin eased forward with the chase. Things got interesting again when Bennett struck twice to remove Armstrong and Gelman, and CW Black then needed 58 from 80 balls with 4 wickets in hand. But Richards, in the form of his life, was adequate company for the then settled McMeekin. The seventh wicket stand took shape of 57 runs. Marc Robbins had his appeal upheld with the scores level, denying Richards the chance to celebrate the win at the crease. But an over later, McMeekin calmly turned Kennett off his hips to end the game.
Cricket Web Red 237-8 (50 overs)
MD Luff 79 [108], SA Bennett 42 [51], M Reddlapalli 30 [34]
BB Fox 3-43 [10], GM Roberts 2-41 [10]
Cricket Web Black 238-7 (46.3 overs)
CR McMeeki 67* [80], AJ Blackman 40 [35], GAJ Armstrong 36 [56]
MJ Robbins 2-37 [8], SA Bennett 2-44 [10]
Cricket Web Black won by 3 wickets.
Man of the Match: CR McMeekin
Cricket Web Colts v Cricket Web Green
CWBCC Stadium
Scorecard
Ball by Ball
In a tense finish, Cricket Web Colts beat Cricket Web Green in a major upset, continuing the dramatic slide of the Greens from the top of the one-day table. The Colts, dead last before the game, got home by 2 wickets with 4 balls to spare.
The Greens chose to bat first and looked intent on laying into the inexperienced attack of Manan Shah and Thad Bochat. Malone and Lezama rallied for 40 runs from the first 6 overs of the innings. The ball was rushed to Mike Wilson, and with immediate returns. The allrounder found some seam movement to get Malone lbw, then seamed the ball away from Scott first up to present a slip catch to Fitzsimmons. The hat-trick ball was edged short of Fitzsimmons, and Corrin scrambled a single to get off strike. Wilson brought an element of control to the Colts attack, and Bochat tightened up somewhat from his poor start.
McNamara entered the attack with a maiden and the pressure mounted. Not for long, however, as the batsmen improvised to cut loose against Wilson and the spinners. Lezama launched McNamara over long-on for his third six to reach fifty, then Corrin turned Weber off his legs for his half-century. The partnership was ended when Weber slipped a googly passed Lezama's prod, bowled for 73, and he beat Dubb-Lynch with a similar delivery to have him stumped for 8. Wilson dropped Corrin off Weber, but the spinner bowled him two overs later with a yet another excellent googly. The innings was in freefall as Garven hit his first ball to Wilson in the deep, then Rose was run out for 2. Ben Read and Bryce Cunningham kept things together with a stand of 35 from 39 balls, and CW Green ultimately scored 250-9, with Read unbeaten on 31.
The third over of the Colts innings went for 12 runs, and the score raced along to 29-1 at the fall of Towns at the start of the 6th over. Cunningham followed up with the quick wickets of Jasotharan (19) and Hopgood (0), leaving CW Colts in trouble at 45-3. Das and Bharat attacked young Forner, then settled down against Mitchell and Corrin. Das brought up his 50 from 70 balls, and Bharat followed later with a 72-ball effort. The required run rate was creeping toward 6 per over when Das belted a Corrin noball to the midwicket boundary. Garven brought Forner back, then received a catch off the same bowler, ending Das' effort at 77.
Fitzsimmons brought urgency with his 9-ball 14, caught at deep midwicket to give Forner a second wicket. Mitchell followed up with the wicket of Wilson for 2 and an out-of-form Weber came to the middle with 46 still needed from the final 8.1 overs. Stunningly, Weber was bowled by Mitchell for 1, but for the outstretched arm of the umpire notifying of a noball. Then unbelievably, he was bowled again in the following over, this time by a Forner noball. Mitchell did manage to stay behind the line when he yorked Bharat for 75, but the dangerman was in the form of Weber. He lofted Mitchell over extra-cover - an extraordinary shot - for six. He and Bochat then motored along with singles toward the target.
Crucially, Cunningham slipped a ball down the legside to end the 49th over, and it clipped the pad and then raced away to the boundary. The Colts were then left needing 1 run from the final over. Weber was bowled for the third time, by Rose then, out for 16 with the scores level. A firm push past point from McNamara ensured no further drama.
Cricket Web Green 250-9 (50 overs)
A Lezama 73 [73], M Corrin 67 [93], BS Read 31* [48]
MW Wilson 3-39 [10], TV Weber 3-41 [10]
Cricket Web Colts 251-8 [49.2 overs]
AS Das 77 [106], P Bharat 75 [106]
BC Cunningham 2-41 [9], MT Mitchell 2-42 [10]
Cricket Web Colts won by 2 wickets.
Man of the Match: TV Weber
