Sunday 3rd February
Masters XI v Cricket Web Blue
Casston Reserve
Scorecard
Ball by Ball
The Masters XI shrugged off their first-class defeat and lost only 3 wickets in beating Cricket Web Blue with almost 15 overs to spare. Again it was Brian Lara who stood out, stroking another half-century and easing the chase of a meek 163 for victory.
Lara won the toss and chose to bowl first first under heavy cloud cover. The Masters XI bowlers worked well with each other and though they got no help from the pitch, they chipped away consistently at the CW Blue batting lineup. The most promising batsman was Sean Fuller, who scored 32 at a strike rate close to 100, but his dismissal came at 102-5 to a leading edge against Shane Warne. Stephen Young replaced him and batted until the end of the innings of 162 all out, facing 42 balls and scoring 24 not out.
Much of the fight for CW Blue hinged on their performance with the new ball. And given the potency of Liam Camps - grabbing the wickets of Hinds and Martyn - the visitors should have pushed on with a more effective defense. Lara rocked back and cut Dunn through the infield and away to the boundary. He moved to 34 and launched into a hook shot a ball later. Demeza dived forward and dropped the ball at fine leg, and CW Blue were offered no other chances by the double World Record holder. Indeed no one looked in difficulty through the 10 overs from that point on. Inzamam-ul-Haq was a fine companion with 28 not out.
Cricket Web Blue innings 162 (36.2 overs)
SE Fuller 32 (33), L Tyson 26 (29), S Young 24* (42)
HH Streak 2-31 (8), SK Warne 2-32 (7.2), WB Rankin 2-32 (7)
Masters XI innings 163-3 (35.3 overs)
BC Lara 68* (74), Inzamam-ul-Haq 28* (40), WW Hinds 23 (63)
LA Camps 2-40 (10), TJ Demeza 1-31 (5)
Masters XI won by 7 wickets.
Man of the Match: BC Lara (Masters)
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Cricket Web Green v Cricket Web Colts
CWBCC Stadium
Scorecard
Ball by Ball
Cricket Web Colts spectacularly wasted their chances against Cricket Web Green and collapsed to 128 all out batting first, then lost by 8 wickets. The Colts batted first after winning the toss, but struggled to come to terms with the bowling of Xavier Rose up front and then the bevy of Green legspinners in the middle overs.
After Daniel Towns was snapped up at slip off Rose for 15, only Jennifer Law (47) looked at all comfortable at the crease. She only hit one boundary but played solidly enough to deny the spinners and survive until the 32nd over of the innings. An over later the innings was ended by a Paddy Gundry googly. He finished with 3 wickets on his return to the first team, though Rose was the spearhead with 3 for 31.
CW Green zoomed out of the blocks with 69 runs in the first 10 overs. It was not until the intervention of the Colts spinner Tarick Weber that the momentum slowed at all. First he bowled Rob Malone jr. for 41 and then did the same to Gonzalez with 7 runs to his name. Nick Scott faced up to Weber in the 23rd over and swept him fine for 3 runs, reaching his half-century off 58 balls. The following over CW Green completed their chase.
Cricket Web Colts innings 128 (32.2 overs)
JA Law 47 (68), J Griffen 19 (35)
PG Gundry 3-28 (8.3), XPA Rose 3-31 (8)
Cricket Web Green innings 129-2 (23.3 overs)
NG Scott 55* (62), R Malone 41 (49), M Corrin 12* (16)
TV Weber 2-16 (5)
Cricket Web Green won by 8 wickets.
Man of the Match: XPA Rose (Green)
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Cricket Web Red v Cricket Web Black
CW Oval
Scorecard
Ball by Ball
For 52.4 overs Cricket Web Red appeared on top of Cricket Web Black, but from the moment Andrew Cloete came to the crease and collected 4 runs from his first two balls, the momentum shifted hands. A chase of 258 was made to appear child's play, as the CW Red bowlers looked pedestrian once again on their home turf.
Ash Chaulk was at the peak of his powers, darting between the wickets and pushing Cloete hurriedly. The innings slowed against the offspin of Zac Ritchie but typically CW Black looked in control despite the required run rate remaining around 5 until the end. Chaulk pulled two Sean Bennett long hops to the boundary and then saluted the crowd on reaching his century. He continued to take on Bennett by smashing him over midwicket for six an over later, then Cloete did the same to Kingsley Clapham to reach his ton. The torture was ended eventually by Watt, enticing Cloete to slog a slower delivery to the deep, where Bennett took the catch. Reddlapalli followed up with the wicket of Blackman for 12, but by then only 8 runs were needed by CW Black. An over later Chaulk completed the match by cutting a Kennett noball for four.
Earlier Jamee Gray anchored the attack of CW Red, but he still could not score his maiden List-A hundred. While he registered a new high score, Gray slogged Richards to long-on in the search of quick runs for his team. Together with Matt Luff (54) he had put on 96 for the first wicket, then continued with support from Dauth to score 91. Three balls after Richards had dismissed Dauth for 41, Gray charged after the left-armer and miscued his shot. The Reds were still able to score 59 runs from the final 8 overs of the innings, though it was less than they threatened at 197-1 and not nearly enough to deny CW Black another win.
Cricket Web Red innings 257-6 (50 overs)
JR Gray 91 (124), MD Luff 54 (75), RJ Dauth 41 (51)
KJ Gough 2-41 (10), DP Richards 2-43 (7)
Cricket Web Black innings 259-3 (46.1 overs)
AP Chaulk 120* (136), AP Cloete 107 (118), AJ Blackman 12 (9)
M Reddlapalli 1-28 (4)
Cricket Web Black won by 7 wickets.
Man of the Match: AP Chaulk (Black)
Greens. Don't want a repeat of last season's mediocrity. Could do with a better wicket tally in the games, myself.
