Majin
International Debutant
Well, I've been tasked with doing the reports for some of our training matches so...here we go!
Colts Pre-Season warmup Match - Wright XI vs Towns XI FC Warmup
The Colts pre-season got underway in fine fashion at the Fardin Qayyumi Cricket Club, with a cracking match between Towns' XI vs Wrights XI. Batting conditions looked to be perfect, with good high bounce giving some incentive for the quickies to do well, with rookies Will Kerr, Mark Hopgood, Thad Bochat and Manan Shah looking to make a favourable impression, while new signings Chris Butler, Mike Wilson and Simon Fitzsimmons prepared to show their new teammates what they would bring to the table this season.
Daniel Towns won the toss and chose to bat first and try and make use of the great batting track. Despite the early loss of Simon Fitzsimmons, LBW for 5 to Thad Bochat, They started out well, with Pooja Bharat smashing a quickfire 53 off of 46 balls, before Daniel Towns and Will Kerr came together for a fine partnership of 154. Both had reprieves, Towns being dropped on 14 and Kerr on 13 from the bowling of McNamara, dropped by Jasotharan each. Kerr was eventually out for a fine 81, out to Bochat. Dan Rai came out and accompanied Towns to his century off 166 balls. Mike Wilson bowled a long spell, first getting rid of Rai for 6, and then finally removing Towns, who was out for 130.
This sparked a collapse, with Bochat coming back into the attack to blow away the lower order, finishing with figures of 5-125. Manan Shah was part of a farcical run out situation, with one of the Grade players who had been drafted in to pad out the teams. Shah called for a single, and as they were running Monaghan somehow managed to bring his bat up and clothesline Shah as they were crossing, completely flooring him and leaving him utterly stranded in the middle of the pitch. Not long after that Kyle Wright wrapped up the innings, with the Towns XI posting 350.
The Wright XI reply started off in fine style, with Hopgood and Malthus-Howell scoring at five an over and bringing up a 50 partnership before stumps at day one. Hopgood finished on 40, after being dropped twice in one over while still on 2. They carried on in much the same style the next morning, Hopgood making the most of his chances and speeding to 50 off 42 balls and then carrying on with Malthus-Howell to bring up the 100 partnership a few overs later. The Towns XI turned to Spin to try and break the partnership, and it worked, Hopgood eventually departing for 76 at just over a run a ball, bowled by Weber. Rai came on to partner him and had Das out cheaply, clean bowled. Malthus-Howell was joined by Christ Butler, and went on to post his half century, and the pair batted through until lunch. After the break they carred on to yet another 50 partnership in the game, but Hancock came on and took a brace of wickets, Malthus-Howell for 71 and Butler owled for 33. Wilson and Jasotharan came together for another 50 partnership, with Wilson hogging the strike, which eventually got to Jasotharan as he attempted to smash Dan Rai out of the park, missed everything and was bowled.
Wilson batted on through to tea and kept going after, picking up another 50 partnership with grade player Swann and on to a fine century despite losing partners at the other end at regular intervals. He was eventually out for 115 off only 110 balls, which pushed the Wright XI to a healthy total of 409, a lead of 59 runs. Geg Thomas and Nick Hancock both took three wickets each.
With the match so far being a fairly even contest, expectations were high for the second innings. Kyle Wright had other ideas, though, having Bharat caught off his first ball and bowling Fitzsimmons for 2 in the second over. The Towns XI went into collapse again, with only Towns (36) and Kerr (14) in the top 6 making it into double figures, Wright and Wilson sharing the top 5 between them. Tarick Weber walked out with the scoreboard at 63 for 5, and went about trying to rebuild the innings. The Towns XI tail wagged furiously, Weber first hitting 41 off 66 balls and then the two grade players, Monoghan and Banik, coming together from 8 and 9 in the order to score 51 and 78 respectively to get the Towns XI up to a respectable 271 all out, Wright, Bochat and Wilson all finishing with three apiece, and setting themselves 213 to win.
The chase didn't get off to the best of starts, as with two overs in the session left to play before tea, Greg Thomas had Mark Hopgood out for 4 in the first over of the innings. Afterwards A.S Das and Malthus-Howell played carefully until Weber bowled Das for 43, and not long after Manan Shah took Malthus-Howell for 27 and the always dangerous Jasotharan for 15. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals, with Chris Butler playing a lone hand, the Towns XI kept themselves in the game and at stumps on day 3 it was evenly balanced with the score at 132-5.
The weather on day four was glum, and the pitch, while still a decent batting track, was showing a few cracks here and there. Butler and Swann showed great application and concentration, and added 22 runs before rain stopped play and an early lunch was called. Luckily, only one over was lost to rain, and play resumed with Hancock striking in the first over after lunch. Butler reached his half century with the score on 171 for 6, and was single handedly leading his team to victory. At the other end Weber had Galbraith caught for 2 before rain stopped play again for half an hour. At the restart Hancock struck in the first over again, deceiving McNamara with a slower ball and removing his off stump. Captain Kyle Wright came out to join Butler at the crease with the scores at 194-8, with both teams sensing victory. The defining moment of the match came when Pooja Bharat dropped Butler, who had had a rough period of three overs hardly scoring. The let off gave the batsman a sense of relief, and three overs later he hit the winning boundary, finishing up 82 not out, with Wright at the other end 8 not out including a huge six off Hancock, just seeing the Wright XI over the line in a tight encounter.
DP Towns' XI 350 (Towns 130; Bochat 5-125) & 271 (Banik 78; Wilson 3-37, Wright 3-69, Bochat 3-102) lost to KS Wright's XI 409 (Wilson 115, Hopgood 76, Malthus-Howell 71; Thomas 3-78, Hancock 3-105) & 215/8 (Butler 82*; Weber 3-68, Shah 2-33)
And there we have it. Great game, even if it was only a warmup. Also first time I've ever attempted writing a match report so...I'll improve as time goes on, I hope.
Colts Pre-Season warmup Match - Wright XI vs Towns XI FC Warmup
The Colts pre-season got underway in fine fashion at the Fardin Qayyumi Cricket Club, with a cracking match between Towns' XI vs Wrights XI. Batting conditions looked to be perfect, with good high bounce giving some incentive for the quickies to do well, with rookies Will Kerr, Mark Hopgood, Thad Bochat and Manan Shah looking to make a favourable impression, while new signings Chris Butler, Mike Wilson and Simon Fitzsimmons prepared to show their new teammates what they would bring to the table this season.
Daniel Towns won the toss and chose to bat first and try and make use of the great batting track. Despite the early loss of Simon Fitzsimmons, LBW for 5 to Thad Bochat, They started out well, with Pooja Bharat smashing a quickfire 53 off of 46 balls, before Daniel Towns and Will Kerr came together for a fine partnership of 154. Both had reprieves, Towns being dropped on 14 and Kerr on 13 from the bowling of McNamara, dropped by Jasotharan each. Kerr was eventually out for a fine 81, out to Bochat. Dan Rai came out and accompanied Towns to his century off 166 balls. Mike Wilson bowled a long spell, first getting rid of Rai for 6, and then finally removing Towns, who was out for 130.
This sparked a collapse, with Bochat coming back into the attack to blow away the lower order, finishing with figures of 5-125. Manan Shah was part of a farcical run out situation, with one of the Grade players who had been drafted in to pad out the teams. Shah called for a single, and as they were running Monaghan somehow managed to bring his bat up and clothesline Shah as they were crossing, completely flooring him and leaving him utterly stranded in the middle of the pitch. Not long after that Kyle Wright wrapped up the innings, with the Towns XI posting 350.
The Wright XI reply started off in fine style, with Hopgood and Malthus-Howell scoring at five an over and bringing up a 50 partnership before stumps at day one. Hopgood finished on 40, after being dropped twice in one over while still on 2. They carried on in much the same style the next morning, Hopgood making the most of his chances and speeding to 50 off 42 balls and then carrying on with Malthus-Howell to bring up the 100 partnership a few overs later. The Towns XI turned to Spin to try and break the partnership, and it worked, Hopgood eventually departing for 76 at just over a run a ball, bowled by Weber. Rai came on to partner him and had Das out cheaply, clean bowled. Malthus-Howell was joined by Christ Butler, and went on to post his half century, and the pair batted through until lunch. After the break they carred on to yet another 50 partnership in the game, but Hancock came on and took a brace of wickets, Malthus-Howell for 71 and Butler owled for 33. Wilson and Jasotharan came together for another 50 partnership, with Wilson hogging the strike, which eventually got to Jasotharan as he attempted to smash Dan Rai out of the park, missed everything and was bowled.
Wilson batted on through to tea and kept going after, picking up another 50 partnership with grade player Swann and on to a fine century despite losing partners at the other end at regular intervals. He was eventually out for 115 off only 110 balls, which pushed the Wright XI to a healthy total of 409, a lead of 59 runs. Geg Thomas and Nick Hancock both took three wickets each.
With the match so far being a fairly even contest, expectations were high for the second innings. Kyle Wright had other ideas, though, having Bharat caught off his first ball and bowling Fitzsimmons for 2 in the second over. The Towns XI went into collapse again, with only Towns (36) and Kerr (14) in the top 6 making it into double figures, Wright and Wilson sharing the top 5 between them. Tarick Weber walked out with the scoreboard at 63 for 5, and went about trying to rebuild the innings. The Towns XI tail wagged furiously, Weber first hitting 41 off 66 balls and then the two grade players, Monoghan and Banik, coming together from 8 and 9 in the order to score 51 and 78 respectively to get the Towns XI up to a respectable 271 all out, Wright, Bochat and Wilson all finishing with three apiece, and setting themselves 213 to win.
The chase didn't get off to the best of starts, as with two overs in the session left to play before tea, Greg Thomas had Mark Hopgood out for 4 in the first over of the innings. Afterwards A.S Das and Malthus-Howell played carefully until Weber bowled Das for 43, and not long after Manan Shah took Malthus-Howell for 27 and the always dangerous Jasotharan for 15. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals, with Chris Butler playing a lone hand, the Towns XI kept themselves in the game and at stumps on day 3 it was evenly balanced with the score at 132-5.
The weather on day four was glum, and the pitch, while still a decent batting track, was showing a few cracks here and there. Butler and Swann showed great application and concentration, and added 22 runs before rain stopped play and an early lunch was called. Luckily, only one over was lost to rain, and play resumed with Hancock striking in the first over after lunch. Butler reached his half century with the score on 171 for 6, and was single handedly leading his team to victory. At the other end Weber had Galbraith caught for 2 before rain stopped play again for half an hour. At the restart Hancock struck in the first over again, deceiving McNamara with a slower ball and removing his off stump. Captain Kyle Wright came out to join Butler at the crease with the scores at 194-8, with both teams sensing victory. The defining moment of the match came when Pooja Bharat dropped Butler, who had had a rough period of three overs hardly scoring. The let off gave the batsman a sense of relief, and three overs later he hit the winning boundary, finishing up 82 not out, with Wright at the other end 8 not out including a huge six off Hancock, just seeing the Wright XI over the line in a tight encounter.
DP Towns' XI 350 (Towns 130; Bochat 5-125) & 271 (Banik 78; Wilson 3-37, Wright 3-69, Bochat 3-102) lost to KS Wright's XI 409 (Wilson 115, Hopgood 76, Malthus-Howell 71; Thomas 3-78, Hancock 3-105) & 215/8 (Butler 82*; Weber 3-68, Shah 2-33)
And there we have it. Great game, even if it was only a warmup. Also first time I've ever attempted writing a match report so...I'll improve as time goes on, I hope.
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Good stuff.
I wouldnt say that much needs improving champ!
Quite liking this OD form.