Saturday 26th January
Cricket Web Black v Masters XI
Pickford Reserve
Scorecard
Ball by Ball
Cricket Web Black doubled their dominance over the Masters XI by winning the one-day leg at the Pickford Reserve. James Stedman (97 not out) and Alex Blackman (49 not out) could not quite reach their respective milestones, but the Blacks had few problems in chasing down 216 with 7 wickets and 64 balls to spare.
In wet conditions the Masters were inserted by a confident Dan Smith. His bowlers were sloppy early on, allowing a solid start to the innings. Not until Nath Patrick came on in the 13th over did the breakthrough come - Hinds lbw for 21. He was replaced by Brian Lara, who involved himself in a partnership of 82 for the second wicket with Hamish Marshall (54). It would have been significantly less had Smith held on to a firm drive at cover when Lara had 25. His was a chancy innings, though he played with stunning shots, including two huge sixes off Dave Richards.
Following the second of the sixes Smith brought himself on to replace Richards and fill some overs. It was a masterstroke and quickly brought the wicket of Lara, caught behind for a top score of 62. Bowling a tight line and mixing in slower balls, Smith took 4 wickets and played a significant role in limiting the innings to a modest 215-8. The Blacks looked in good spirits as they followed their smiling captain off the field, inspired by his stunning 4-29.
That inspiration was translated into a confident start of 43 for the first wicket. Ash Chaulk (21) had just swatted Henderson for a four and a six when he was caught brilliantly by Marshall at backward point. The runs continued to flow so Shane Warne was summoned into the attack during the second powerplay. He took 8 balls to make an impact, fielding off his own bowling and running out Cloete for a quickfire 24. When he followed up with Armstrong's wicket at 133-3, it seemed the Masters XI would fight their way back into the game. Two overs later Stedman reached his 50 from 57, having been dropped by Streak when he had only 29.
The CW XI opener kept hold of his advantage in the share of an 83-run stand with Blackman. They were untroubled by any of the Masters bowling attack, and even Warne looked pedestrian on the slow wicket. The last 5 runs came in singles, proving the ease of victory in the 40th over.
Masters XI innings 215-8 (50 overs)
BC Lara 62 (80), HJH Marshall 54 (90), Inzamam-ul-Haq 25 (28)
DP Smith 4-29 (7), NL Patrick 2-39 (10)
Cricket Web Black innings 216-3 (39.2 overs)
JE Stedman 97* (119), AJ Blackman 49* (48), AP Cloete 24 (21)
SK Warne 1-50 (9.2)
Cricket Web Black won by 7 wickers.
Man of the Match: JE Stedman (Black)
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Cricket Web Colts v Cricket Web Red
Fardin Qayyumi CC
Scorecard
Ball by Ball
The experience of the Cricket Web Red attack paid huge dividends in a victory over the Cricket Web Colts. The Colts played two inexperienced seamers and they combined for figures of 3-123 from 19 overs. Internationals David Kennett and Kingsley Clapham shared 6 for 74. The Reds recovered from a poor start to post 274-4, and their bowlers proved the total more than enough against the reckless Colts batting.
Thad Bochat accounted for both Reds openers in his new ball spell, then Mike Wilson reduced the score to 58-3 with the wicket of David Kearsley (17). At number five Kenny Dobson joined Rob Dauth for the most influential partnership of the innings. The fourth wicket stand took shape of 141 before Dauth feathered Pares through to Jasotharan. He made way for Reddlapalli with 57 balls remaining in the innings. Big hitting was required and Reddlapalli obliged by belting two sixes off Bochat on his way to 43 from 31 balls. In the midst of the carnage Dobson drove Wilson over the cover boundary to bring up his hundred. The two conspired to smash 75 runs and power the score to 274.
The Colts faced a required rate of 5.5 at the start of their innings. And the pressure of the situation triggered the chaos of two needless run outs - first Jasotharan and then Das. Daniel Towns (32) stood firm with Chris Butler to add 46 for the third wicket, but edged a loose drive to Mork in the 18th over. The Colts never genuinely threatened, and though Butler and Griffen registered half-centuries, the chase floundered. They required 103 from the final 10 overs. After Kingsley Clapham took his 3rd wicket - Weber for 1 - the game appeared lost. Griffen was out three overs later to confirm such suspicions, and the Colts were all out for 207.
Cricket Web Red innings 274-4 (50 overs)
GKK Dobson 113* (117), RJ Dauth 70 (97), M Reddlapalli 43* (31)
T Bochat 2-72 (9)
Cricket Web Colts innings 207 (47.1 overs)
CR Butler 57 (76), J Griffen 52 (63), DP Towns 32 (56)
DM Kennett 3-29 (8.1), KR Clapham 3-45 (9)
Cricket Web Red won by 67 runs.
Man of the Match: GKK Dobson (Red)
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Cricket Web Blue v Cricket Web Green
PDV Dome
Scorecard
Ball by Ball
Cricket Web Blue were a clear second place at their home ground, collapsing to heavy defeat by 123 runs. The Blues looked clueless against Tom Halsey, who spent most of his formative days at the PDV Dome. The legspinner took 5 wickets and CW Blue only managed 147 in the chase of 271 for victory.
You would have been forgiven for mistaking Rob Malone jr. for his father during his debut List-A hundred. It was a chanceless knock of 104 and part of a top order performance that set up a large total of 270-8. Nick Scott opened the batting and joined Malone in a stand of 175. He eventually fell to Camps for 87 in the 33rd over, and it triggered a collapse of sorts in the Green camp. Largely behind the 4 wickets of Sriram, Blue pulled back 7 wickets for 95 runs in the final 17.3 overs.
Despite the fightback, the momentum was with CW Green and remained that way for the opening overs of the CW Blue chase. The Green openers started strongly and took 3 wickets for 26 runs. Dinu DeSila threatened through his innings of 44 from 49 balls, but he was the first wicket of the collapse to Halsey's spin. The Blues tattered to a disappointing end, long after the majority of the crowd had walked out. The run rate was hardly a problem, and the innings was undermined by incompetence of strokeplay rather than brilliance from the CW Green bowlers.
Cricket Web Green innings 270-8 (50 overs)
R Malone 104 (125), NG Scott 87 (105), AJ Garven 21 (17)
G Sriram 4-57 (10), LA Camps 2-46 (10), RG Dunn 2-48 (10)
Cricket Web Blue innings 147 (29.2 overs)
MW DeSilva 44 (49), L Tyson 27 (24), PE Young 27 (31)
TC Halsey 5-43 (10), XPA Rose 2-27 (7)
Cricket Web Green won by 123 runs.
Man of the Match: TC Halsey (Green)