Twenty20 Cup Warmup Round 3
Upper Body v Jamaica
Mat Mitchell made a strong claim for Upper Body selection, bowling a sharp spell of swing bowling to set up a win for his team. Mitchell trapped Brenton Parchment with a clever inswinger and went on to take a hat-trick in his opening over. Jamaica were left stunned on 6-3 and required a rebuilding effort by Shawn Findlay (34) and his captain Tamar Lambert (44). But as is usually the case in this form of the game, that effort came in the form of a counterattack. Nath Patrick suffered greatest at the hands of the attacking batsmen, and conceded 35 from 3 wicketless overs in total. The backup bowlers chimed in well, however, and Jamaica managed only 138-8 from their 20 overs.
The Upper Body innings was off to a flying start when Bazid Khan flashed hard at Powell at the ball sailed over third man for six. Two balls later he was out, attempting the same shot and finding the fielder just inside the boundary. Darren Murphy then walked to the crease to a mixture of applause and boos - the latter led by Liam Camps in the middle. Initially he looked out of sorts, but managed to fire off a couple of cover drives in his 22-ball knock. In all he hit just 3 boundaries, but scored a handy 31 in a partnership of 54 with Camps. Nikita Miller ultimately dismissed both batsmen, then Powell chipped in with the wicket of Aseem Sharma (2). But Jay Gonzalez (21) and Bosco Fitzsimmons (23 not out) got the chase back on track with a partnership of 28. There were few worries even as a couple more late wickets fell, with only 14 were needed from the last 34 balls. A couple of keen blows - a four and a six - and a prosperous swat by Andy Maina over midwicket hurried the end.
Jamaica innings 138-8 (20 overs)
T Lambert 44 (26), SE Findlay 34 (20), CS Baugh 21 (25)
MT Mitchell 3-28 (4), R Williams 2-24 (4)
Upper Body innings 141-7 (15 overs)
DBM Murphy 31 (22), BC Fitzsimmons 23* (15), JP Gonzalez 21 (15)
DBL Powell 3-20 (3), NO Miller 2-28 (4)
Upper Body won by 3 wickets.
Rabid Wolves v Scotland
Håkon Mørk reinforced his Twenty20 qualifications with 5 sixes in an innings of 59 from 32 balls that earned him Man of the Match. He contributed exceptionally to a partnership of 111 with Ben Read, who can feel hard done by and overlooked, as his knock was equally stunning. Read only hit 3 sixes and 2 fours, but manipulated the ball beautifully, pushing into gaps and stretching ones into twos consistently in his time at the crease. The two were united with just over 8 overs remaining in the innings, and they elevated a modest 102-4 to a match-winnning 213-4 with some style.
The Scotland follow-up posed few challenges to the sizable total. The crowd got its first taste of the Trip of Rip, led by Dave Richards who took 4 wickets and is fast making his name as a T20 star. Again Scotland were in dire straits on 59-8, and again they required a big effort by the tail to gain some respectability. Wright and Nel provided just that with a partnership of 56 for the last wicket, and were not separated when the innings came to a close.
Rabid Wolves innings 213-4 (20 overs)
H Mørk 59* (32), BS Read 57 (28), MW DeSilva 34 (18)
RR Watson 2-35 (4)
Scotland innings 152-9 (20 overs)
CM Wright 44* (32), JD Nel 38* (18), DF Watts 17 (15)
DP Richards 4-20 (3), RG Dunn 2-27 (4)
Rabid Wolves won by 61 runs.
****atoos v Kent
David Kearsley was a surprising bowling hero to lead the ****atoos charge to victory over Kent. Kearsley bowled accurately with his medium pace and destroyed the middle order in his spell of 3 for 24. He was able to capitalize on the early damage done by Andy Bichel, who dismissed both openers in an impressive first Twenty20 spell. Rob Key played a defiant innings of 59, but did so without any genuine acceleration, and and was left unbeaten by the innings end. The real threat came from Yasir Arafat. The Pakistani allrounder struck 2 sixes in his innings of 32 from 23 balls, but when he was run out by Raftery at 113-8, the game was as good as over. ****atoos owed a great deal of their 159-8 to the batting of overseas pro, Zander de Bruyn. The South African scored 43 from 23 balls, and almost single handedly transformed the innings from modest to highly competitive.
****atoos innings 159-8 (20 overs)
Z de Bruyn 43* (23), JA Robertson 22 (16), R Malone 21 (9)
SJ Cook 2-33 (4), R McLaren 2-42 (4)
Kent innings 138-8 (20 overs)
RWT Key 59* (48), Yasir Arafat 32 (23), JL Denly 22 (13)
DA Kearsley 3-24 (4), AJ Bichel 3-33 (4)
****atoos won by 21 runs.
Ninjas v Trinidad and Tobago
The flat spin of Gareth Gooljar paid great dividends, as he upset the country of his birth with a match-winning spell. Significantly, Kieron Pollard was rested for the game, but that should not put a fine Ninjas effort to shame. The home side demolished Trinidad and Tobago for 102 in 16.4 overs, led by Gooljar's 4 for 26. Darren Bravo was left moderately high and partially dry with 41 unbeaten to his name.
Following on from the bowling effort, the chase of the total was confident in its origin. Rob Bowen and Ash Chaulk did not take many risks, but still managed to tick along at a fair rate in notching up 77 for the first wicket in under 9 overs. Bowen nicked Sherwin Ganga to the wicketkeeper, allowing T&T some semblance of opportunity. They cashed in to take 3 quick wickets, but at the other end Chaulk hit Dillon for three boundaries in moving to 47. He was last out, nicking to Gibran Mohammed, but to start the next over, Wilson paddled the ball fine and earned himself the winning runs.
Trinidad and Tobago 102 ao (16.4 overs)
DM Bravo 41* (47), LMP Simmons 14 (8), RA Kelly 12 (10)
GS Gooljar 4-26 (4), MU Amir 2-19 (3)
Ninjas innings 104-5 (15.1 overs)
AP Chaulk 47 (31), RF Bowen 36 (26)
R Rampaul 2-16 (3), S Ganga 2-23 (3.1)
Ninjas won by 5 wickets.