One-day - 22 September
Cricket Web Black vs Masters XI
at Pickford Reserve
Scorecard
Ball By Ball
Cricket Web Black secured the league title in storming fashion, with no one except the match report writer taking care to remember the ten-ball over from Nath Patrick which gave the Masters a sniff. Matt Smith and Blake Donald were too good for the top order, and the Masters' bowling effort was one of the weakest seen on CWLand soil in years.
Though the sun shone down, Black put faith in their bowlers, which eventually came to fruition. Matt Smith's medium pace grew more effective as he accustomed to the conditions, ripping out a wicket in his sixth, seventh and eighth over of the new ball spell, but the definitive nail in the Masters coffin came when Lara was bowled by Donald at the midway stage of the innings. Odoyo and debutant Michael Johnson was brought together with the score on 124 for six, and few gave the Masters a fighting chance.
In the event, Odoyo played a fine innings, as Richards and Burge were unable to do anything with Johnson's bat - however, the strike rate was of necessity low, and he ended with a gritty 59. It helped the Masters total 230, a total which was quickly made to look inadequate by Cloete and Ritchie. The pair continued in the vein from yesterday, notching up 98 in the first 15 overs, and though Klusener managed to be parsimonious, both batsmen made untroubled centuries to secure the ten-wicket win. The result trickling in from Goffmouth an hour earlier had shown that the bonus point was unnecessary for another Black triumph.
Masters XI 230 for seven (50)
Odoyo 59*; Smith M 3/50, Donald 2/34
Cricket Web Black 231 for nought (45.5)
Cloete 112*, Ritchie 109*
Cricket Web Black won by ten wickets
Men of the Match: A. P. Cloete/J. J. Ritchie (Cricket Web Black)
Cricket Web Colts vs Cricket Web Red
at Fardin Qayyumi CC
Scorecard
Ball By Ball
Colts were humbled by Martin West, who recovered from yesterday's humiliation in the finest fashion possible, helping Red to a massive 170-run victory to increase their infinitesimal chance of a league final. A Colts side in dreadful form must now go into a virtual semi-final against Blue in two days.
It looked good for the hosts when Wright and Spinks had success with the new ball, removing both openers cheaply. However, Rob Dauth is back to his scintillating self, registering sixteen fours in a brutal innings to squeeze as many runs as possible out of a placid wicket. He was ably supported by Jamee Gray, who batted through the innings for a fighting 97, with Red milking the change bowlers expertly. Colts never looked able to produce wickets, and seemed happy to have escaped with conceding 322.
However, what followed can best be described as abject surrender. Five wickets fell in twenty-two deliveries, four of them to the resurgent West, and a disillusioned crowd turned to booing Mike Wilson as he slogged West to Dwyer for 5. With 292 required, and only five wickets in hand, the equation entered the realms of the insoluble, and it did not help that Colts' running between the wickets was truly abject. Four run outs followed the new ball collapse, largely due to a desperate wish to keep up with a spiralling run rate, before Martin West completed another five-wicket-haul to whittle Colts out for 152.
Cricket Web Red 322 for four (50)
Dauth 138, Gray 97*; Wright 2/65
Cricket Web Colts 152 all out (43.1)
Fjermestad 54; West 5/22
Cricket Web Red won by 170 runs
Man of the Match: M. P. West (Cricket Web Red)
Cricket Web Blue vs Cricket Web Green
at PDV Dome
Scorecard
Ball By Ball
Cricket Web Green were unable to reproduce yesterday's fine effort, and were outclassed despite a spirited effort with the bat. The bowling, so excellent against Colts yesterday, had taken collective leave, and Dinu de Silva had an easy time of keeping them out.
Ben Read and Rob Malone had given Green a serviceable start with their unchallenged stand of 129, but a brave decision to bring back Manan Shah after an appalling new-ball effort brought dividends, as Malone smashed out to Stephen Young at point. The Green innings never gained impetus again, with Sudeep Popat dominating the middle order, and Green finished with a slightly disappointing 229 for six.
It was never enough. Blue did exactly enough to win, as Rose only managed the one wicket with the new ball and the spinners failed to find threat on a bouncy Dome wicket; de Silva and Young looked in utter control as they put together 128 for the third wicket and took Blue across the line with nearly seven overs to spare.
Cricket Web Green 229 for six (50)
Read 82, Malone 65; Maina 2/40, Popat 2/41
Cricket Web Blue 231 for two (43.2)
de Silva 89*, Young 60*
Cricket Web Blue won by eight wickets
Man of the Match: M. W. de Silva (Cricket Web Blue)
Code:
Black 14 3 11 67 +1.30 League champions
Blue 11 6 5 49 -0.20
Colts 10 7 7 47 -0.19
Green 8 9 11 43 0.00
Red 7 10 9 37 +0.01
Boyd Rankin (Masters XI) suffered a broken jaw after getting into a fight with his girlfriend. No news on the relationship, though Rankin is travelling back to Ireland as soon as he is fully recovered.