Round 9 Team Announcements and Match Reports

[The Baconator]

Tasmania fall agonisingly short

1 run was the difference between Tasmania and Auckland after a hard-fought contest, with Auckland coming out on top. Their hero was death bowler Samaraweera, who conceded just three runs in a tense final over. Tasmania's villain though, was Jimmy Sharma, who struggled to three off eight balls, failing to score off the last two balls of the innings.

Tasmania's chase had been set up by Raina and Sinclair, while Emerson looked to be taking them home before the nail-biting finish. Auckland had earlier scored 226, with scores in the high 40s from Smith, Plummer and Senior. Sharma had also struggled with the ball, his nine overs going for 50.

 

[cricketboy29]

It was another match-winning perfomance for a dominant Queensland side. Two people in the QLD side had something to prove. Tully, accused of being economical and nothing else, and Khan dropped and then reinstated after his replacement Hodgson couldn't deliver. Khan was out to show his manager that he could perform as good as anybody else.

The match started with Queensland losing the toss, and being put into bat by the Victorians. As an australian derby, this took on an even greater significance. The consistent opening partnership of Tennison and Bundela, who have reached the 50 partnetrship more often than not this season were both dismissed in a brilliant spell by Pascoe. Things were not looking good for Queensland at 41-3, and they seemed to teetering on the edge of a collapse. At the middle were Khan and Owen. Owen, recently traded in from Yorkshire this season, decided enough was enough and threw of the shackles completely. He and Khan together humbled the Victoria attack and gave the Demon 'Larwood' a run for his money, milking him to the tune of 61 runs from 10 overs. Harwood having the last laugh however, with Khan trying to launch the ball into orbit and only succeding in reaching Jon Moss's hands. That stand however took Queensland to the relative safety of 200-4

van Wyk came and then left. And a revival was needed.Hopes came in, swinging his bat, with a look on his face that wouldnt be out of a place on a Bombay pirate. It plainly said, 'I'm going to swing this bat, and I don't care what I connect with'.

Along with Owen who looked murderous on anything short of a length, flaying the bowlers with exquisite coverdrives and flatbatted drives square of the wicket, he resembled Sehwag in his pomp, on a flat pitch.

Hopes and then Wascoroni, elevated the score to the heights of 368-9. A daunting score for any team, but this Victoria team looked purposeful.

The Queensland openers, like their namesake, pawed the ground, and charged. Reducing the valiant Victorians to ashes, at 34-5. After then it was cleanup work, as the Victorians stumbled to 147 all out, with victory by 221 runs for Queensland who look good for the title.

 

[NZTailender]

Yorkshire put the record straight
The last time Yorkshire played against Northerns the 1st Xi lost by just 1 run and the 2nd XI tied their match.
This time, the English club overpowered their South African counterparts in both matches.
Danish Kaneria lead the assault in the Firsts match, with a performance that saw him take another 3 MVP points to add to his tally.
Northerns batted first and were bundled out in just 26 overs. Kaneria grabbed 3 for 20, well supported by the rest of the bowlers.
Yorkshire took just 17 overs to chase the total down with Beasley in excellent form hitting yet another 50.

The winning margin was much larger in the Seconds match, with a brilliant all-round performance from rookie captain G Belle. The young spin all rounder hit a massive 130 and took 1 for 27 from 10 overs. B Foster and W Tendulkar contributed 50's as Yorkshire cruised past 300.
The pitch, which had been a minefield for the 1sts match, was a batting paradise as Yorkshire managed to get just 2 wickets. Belle's tight bowling ensured that Northerns fell short of their target.


Northerns all out 102
T Orton 26, T Darden 17
D kaneria 3-20, W Robertson 2-31

Yorkshire 4-106
W Beasley 55, M Dawn 17
S Shah 2-30, R Afridi 1-20

Yorkshire won by 6 wickets
MOTM: W Robertson

Yorkshire MVP points:
3. D Kaneria
2. W Beasley
1. W Robertson


Yorkshire 2nd XI 5-345
G Belle 130, B Foster 80*
T Gavasker 1-64, J Watamba 1-112

Northerns 2-294
A Jadeja 152*, K Pietersen 93*
G Belle 1-27, W Kitson 1-68

Yorkshire won by 51 runs
MOTM: G Belle


Yorkshire have named an unchanged line up for their first class match against Karachi.

"We're very confident about this match" said manager Greg Thomas. "We've shown that we can beat Karachi and I think we have a strong line up."

Paceman P Laker is back from injury and will play in the 2nd XI match.

 

[Perm]

Northerns 2nd XI vs Yorkshire 2nd XI Match Report

Runs Galore as Northern's Fail Chasing 345

The runs flowed as Northern's 2nd XI unsucessfully tried to chase down a huge Yorkshire total. In a match that saw two scores of 130 or higher and five half centuries it was definately a day to be a batsman. Batting first, Yorkshire reached 345/5 of their allocated overs, with G Belle the hero scoring 130 off 122 balls. He received good support from B Foster 80* (53) as the Northern's bowling lineup faltered, particularly part time bowler J Watamba whose 10 overs cost 112 runs and yielded only 1 wicket, that of the key man Belle. Three run outs restricted Yorkshire to a smaller total than they had their eyes set on.

A Jadeja then produced a batting masterclass, stroking his way to 152* off only 143 balls as the Titan's tried in vain to chase down the huge total that had been set. K Pietersen also passed the 50 mark and ended up on 90* off 103 balls. "It isn't all negative" Northerns 2nd XI manager Zac Ritchie said to media after the game "Obviously it's disappointing to lose but I'm really proud of the boys reaching 294 for the the loss of only 2 wickets. Jadeja and Pietersen showed what classy acts they are and it was just a pity that we didn't bowl better" When asked about the performance of J Watamba the manager said "He's disappointed with the way he bowled but sometimes these things happen and we can't blame each other for it, we just have to move on".

Northern's 2nd XI vs Yorkshire 2nd XI
Yorkshire 345/5
G Belle 130, B Foster 80*, W Tendulkar 50
T Gavaskar 1-64
Northerns 294/2
A Jadeja 150*, K Pietersen 90*
G Belle 1-27

Yorkshire won by 51 runs
MVP Points:
3. A Jadeja
2. K Pietersen
1. E White