Cricketweb Black vs Cricketweb Colts
@ Pickford Reserve
Scorecard
Ball By Ball
It was a battle of the titans vs the wannabe's as brash youngsters Cricketweb Colts made their way to the Pickford Reserve to take on the ever impressive Black's line up. Both sides made strong impressions in their opening matches of the season, for Black it was a spirited come from behind win over Green while the Bowlers lead the way in setting up a comfortable victory for Colts vs Blue, with top spot on the table up for grabs both sides were keen to continue their early season good form.
Colts skipper Greg Thomas won the toss and chose to bat first, however with the score at 9 young keeper Bosco Fitzsimmons set off for a suicidal single and Blake Donald made no mistakes in hitting the stumps from mid off, Fitzsimmons was on his way for 5. Dan Rai and Daniel Towns then set about building a solid foundation, their 70 run stand came to an end when the out of touch Rai skied one to that man Donald again and he was out for a scratchy 43. Solid contributions continued throughout the innings including 46 to Towns and a patient 75 from Will Kerr but it was star batsman and vice captain Chris Butler who stole the show to score his 27th first class hundred, in an innings that lasted 285 balls he was tested throughout by some top class bowling from the like of Borcich and Pickup but by the time he was dismissed for 104 his job was done. The tail folded with little resistence as Colts were all out for a hard fought 357. Dave Richards was outstanding with the economical figures of 3/25 from 20.1 overs, while spin twin Neil Pickup also grabbed three wickets.
Dan Smith and Josh Ritchie set out after the Colts first innings total, but it seemed evident that Ritchie is still in Twenty20 mode as he looked to go after everything, he was put out of his misery on 11 when he fell to Greg Thomas. Just two balls later Thomas struck again when Andrew Cloete was cleaned up by one that kept a little low, in scenes reminicent of round 1 the Colts bowlers looked confident of running through the Black's line up, however Sam Morris joined skipper Smith at the crease and the pair put on 45 runs before the later became Tarick Weber's first wicket, Weber got one to turn just a little bit more as Smith succeded in only hitting it down Kyle Wright's throat at point. A host of quick wickets saw a shellshocked Blacks side at 105/7 as Thomas and Weber destroyed the middle order, it was at this time that experienced duo of Dave Richards and Nick Borcich got their side back into the game with a brilliant 103 run stand, Wright finally broke the partnership when he had Borcich trying to hit one of over the top early on day three. The final two wickets added a further 68 runs, Richards was agonisingly run out for 95 as Black clawed their way back into contention with a total of 274, Greg Thomas and Tarick Weber combined to take eight of the wickets with Thomas contributing five.
Colts needed to consolidate their first innings lead with a good total in the second dig, however it didn't start well as Bosco Fitzsimmons failed for the second time in the match when he one straight back to Nath Patrick who made no mistake, Dan Rai and Daniel Towns again put together a good partnership but both generally defensive batsmen failed to up the scoring rate as they tried to hit out. Rai made 32 before Butler came and went in quick time it was up to Will Kerr to show the way and that he did. He smashed 13 boundaries in his quickfire knock of 97 as Colts played towards a declaration early on day 4, with rain forecast the visitors were hoping to give themselves as much time as possible to get through the fortress of a batting line up for a second time in the game. First class debutaunt Callum Laing was impressive in the lower order as he hit his way to 81, the batting all rounder hit three big sixes as he announced his arrival at this level of cricket with a bang. Greg Thomas called his players in with the score at 316/8 and with a lead of 399 and little over 70 overs to bowl it seemed like Colts were taking the draw as safety. Nick Borcich was the pick of the bowlers for Black with four wickets.
Black started aggressively and at some points of the chase were on target for an unlikely victory, however persistent rain put a stop to any thoughts of Dan Smith's men taking the points. Only 46 overs were possible as Blacks final total of 241/5 left them 158 runs behind when the game was called off. Andrew Cloete made up for his first innings failure with a run a ball 75 while Smith, Ash Chaulk and Blake Donald all made starts and looked in good touch. Marcuss Deane will be happy with his contribution with the ball in taking two wickets while Greg Thomas grabbed a couple of his own but was expensive.
Cricketweb Colts 357
CR Butler 104, WA Kerr 75, DP Richards 3/25, NS Pickup 3/80
Cricketweb Black 274
DP Richards 95, NA Borcich 37, GM Thomas 5/102, TV Weber 3/36
Cricketweb Colts 316/dec/8
WA Kerr 97, CJ Laing 81, NA Borcich 4/104, NL Patrick 2/63
Cricketweb Black 241/5
AP Cloete 75, DP Smith 38, MJ Deane 2/28, GM Thomas 2/86
Match Drawn
Man of the Match: DP Richards (CW Black)
Cricketweb Red vs Cricketweb Green
@ CW Oval
Scorecard
Ball By Ball
Cricketweb Green were making their first appearance of the new first class season as they travelled to the CW Oval to take on Red. For the home side it was an encouraging showing in round one but they were hoping not to squander the result if they get into a similar position against Green.
With Hakon Mork missing through injury Matt Luff got his chance to open up with Swaranjeet Singh and the pair looked on track to giving the home side a solid foundation, they saw off the new ball and were generally looking pretty comfortable, but then disaster struck. A tiring Xavier Rose had bowled without luck for the first hour but his hard work paid off when Robert Cribb took a fine catch off his bowling to dismiss Singh, Rose then continued to torment the Red's top order as he removed Dauth and then Goff to go with a run out as they slumped from 60/0 to 65/4. Luff was out soon after for 44 as he became Bryce Cunningham's first wicket. Despite having a first class average of just over 27 Luff looked in good touch and can be confident that will rise this season if he continues to show form like today. However at 88/5 more was needed and thats what Red got as their two most in form batsmen in Heads and Dinnen combined for yet another excellent partnership, the 173 run stand was highlighted by a maiden first class century by Heads after narrowley missing out on one against Blacks, his 112 was complimented by Dinnen's 96 as the pair were largely responsible for Red's total of all out 314. Cunningham cleaned up the lower order after toiling hard his 4/56 were the pick of the figures while it was Rose who got things going and probably deserved better than his 3/82.
Cricketweb Green looked confident of at least matching Red's first up total, with plenty of new faces in their batting line up there is re-newed vigour in the way they are approaching their cricket. Nick Scott continues to look in good touch at the top of the order and his 51 today was key in the visitors getting away, Robert Cribb playing his maiden first class game for Green since his move from CW Blue also looked in good touch and will be satisfied with his knock of 64. The star of the show though was little known number six Ben Hawker, the seventeen year old is barely recognisable to his own team mates but today they were indebted to him as he hit a swashbuckling ton and managed to finish 134 not out. He had good support in the lower order from Bryce Cunningham who made 39 before he inside edged one onto his pads only for the umpire to ajudge him Leg before. Martin West was the best of the bowlers with four wickets while fellow seamers Dave Watt and David Kennett shared the other six. Green's final total of 415 had them in a comanding position in this game.
It looked game over for Red at 28/3 but a fighting century from star batsman David Kearsley gave them some hope in this game, his 123 was a lone hand in the top order as he failed to get any support, most disappointingly for the home side Rob Dauth failed again and despite being in excellent form in the pre season he now looks a bit short of a gallop. Callum Dinnen made his fourth consecutive contribution but his 44 was probably about half as many as his team needed from him, he however will be pleased with his match efforts and can maybe expect to be batting higher in the order next time around. A modest chase was facing Green when they had Red 280/9 however a brilliant display of power from Watt and West got Red's up to 333, West in particular was brutal on anything as he smashed 40 from just 18 balls. Martyn Corrin worked hard for his four wickets in the second innings but his highlight was no doubt when he got the prized wicket of former Green batsman Dinnen, Xavier Rose collected his second three wicket haul of the match and again was most likely the pick of the bowlers.
A tricky chase was looking fairly comfortable for Green as they made their way without fuss to 214/4, but the re-introduction of skipper David Kennett breathed life into the fixture as he tore through the middle order to give his side a hope, however it was Robert Cribb who against stood tallest as he complied a well composed 82 not out to guide his side home. Nick Scott also made his second half century of the match but will be disappointed in missing out on his hundred after doing all the hard work in getting to 58. Kennett though will take most praise away from this game as his 6/101 almost snatched it, unfortunately for him the rest of the attack looked listless in the second innings and Callum Dinnen was given the chance to snatch it with the ball, however nothing else worked. A three wicket win in the end as Green grabbed their maiden victory of season XV.
Cricketweb Red 314
JJD Heads 112, CJ Dinnen 96, BC Cunningham 4/56, XA Rose 3/82
Cricketweb Green 415
B Hawker 133*, RGEWS Cribb 64, NG Scott 51, MP West 4/99, DM Kennett 3/75
Cricketweb Red 333
DA Kearsley 123, CJ Dinnen 44, MP West 40, M Corrin 4/149, XA Rose 3/108
Cricketweb Green 236/7
RGEWS Cribb 82*, NG Scott 58, DM Kennett 6/101
Cricketweb Green won by 3 wickets
Man of the Match: B Hawker (CW Green)
Great effort from the bowlers to get us back into the game though, particularly Corrin. We might have lost this one but there are plenty of good signs there for the season 
It's funny cause it's true.
