Round 7 match team previews and match reports

[tadeusz]

The Western Australian second eleven have finally won their first four-day match of the season, with a comprehensive 8-wicket win over Warwickshire.
Things went right from the beginning, with stand-in captain M Vandort winning the toss and having no hesitation in sending the opposition in on a typically bowler-friendly WACA wicket. The bowlers backed up well, taking wickets regularly to dismiss Warwickshire for 210, with Milligan finishing with 7/55. Khoda was the only one to offer any resistance, with an unbeaten 167-ball 76.
After a shaky start to their innings, rookie K Raymer (58) and I Ghulam Ahmed (139*) added 69 for the fourth wicket, before the innings threatened to fall away again. However, M Hossain Jr contributed a 48-ball 46 to an eighth-wicket stand worth 83 with Ghulam Ahmed to ensure the total reached 342.
Warwickshire's second innings was even more disappointing than the first, being dismissed for 160 in just 60.3 overs. The wickets were shared amongst the bowlers, with Milligan claiming another 4 to finish with match figures of 11/78 off 32 overs.
Needing just 28 to win, WA had a slight stutter, with Akthar claiming Hoare and Rayadu in successive balls, but the result was never going to be in doubt.

 

[vic_orthdox]

WP OD Side

There have been a couple of changes to the 1st XI line-up. A reshuffle of the batting order has seen the in-form Ardley moved up to number 4 while David Evans slides down to 5 to try and regain some form. Morley regains his spot in the side for Jaques, mostly due to Jaques' inability to grasp his chances in the top side, rather than Morley being overly impressive in the 2nd XI.

In the 2nd XI side, Watson will get a chance up the order, and manager Jack McNamara is still waiting for Iqbal Tahir to regain some form with his swing bowling to get back into the 1st XI.

 

[tadeusz]

Having stepped into the first XI manager's position for a week, tadeusz has made some big changes to both WA's first and second teams.
As the first team is currently sitting on the bottom of the division 2 table, tadeusz decided to promote some of his better second XI players, to give them experience if nothing else. I Ghulam Ahmed, M Vandort and F Milligan have all been promoted from last round's second XI side, while N Ojha has been given another chance. H Kanitkar, W Hopcutt and A Adams have been demoted to 2nd XI, while H Jenkins has been given a rest.
As well as the three first XI players, J Ryder comes into the second XI at the expense of rookie V Fernando.

 

[Dark Hunter]

Duminy Stars As Karachi Choke

Karachi were slaughtered by JP Duminy, who finished on 302*, as New South Wales turned a 271 second innings defecit into a 340 run lead, Before finishing only 2 wickets short of victory.

Youhana won the toss for Karachi on a bright morning, and elected to bat, hoping to recapture the batting form shown from the last 4-day game. W.Jaffer fell first for 37, prodding at a ball from Pierre, But 125 had been put on, and a large total looked in order. With the score at 2/324, things were looking ominous for NSW. A sharp catch was needed from Geriant Jones to dislodge M.Jenkins, who had been completely dominant during his innings, for 189 (258-22x4-0x6). His dismissal sparked a collapse from Karachi, who tumbled from 2/324, to being all out for 414. Speaking to commentators during the innings break, Youhana was obviously dissapointed that a chance to post a mammoth total had been let go.

It was soon smiles all around for Karachi, as P Norman ripped through the NSW top order. Finishing with 5/43, he took 4 wickets as NSW found themselves at 8/87, before a small cameo innings from Rookie S.Crowhurst managed to life their total to 143.Youhana had no hesitation in enforcing the follow on. It was here that the game turned. 140 overs later, NSW had amassed 611 runs, for the loss of only 6 wickets. Jean Paul Duminy finishing on 302* (277-39x4-5x6), with Sehwag also hitting 110 (132-15x4-0x6).

At one stage looking set for a big victory, Karachi now faced a tough period, having to face out 51 overs to force a draw. Once again Jenkins was the star, his 90* (135-12x4-0x6) providing the backbone to the innings as wickets tumbled around him. The Karachi middle order was once again found wanting, and were it not for Jenkin's innings, One of crickets greatest turn-arounds would have been witnessed.

MOM - JP Duminy
Karachi Best&Fairest Votes -
3-M.Jenkins
2-P.Norman
1-K.Mills

 

[bugssy]

NSW Make big changes

First xi ​

In the wake of the big clash for nsw this round Manager Bugssy Malone has made some unbelievable changes for this weeks one day clash against Yorkshire. Called into the one day side is F Khan, S Crowhurst, D Sen & J Pierre. The 2 big changes are D Sen & J Pierre with the nsw one day bolwing attack struggling they really have been given a great opportunity to cement a spot in the side along side the other 2 quicks. F Khan comes in with some sensational performances in both forms.

Second xi ​

The second xi side has also seen some changes with S Pope getting a chance to shine, G jones drops down along with I Bloom. R Roach gets his first game and looking to dominate early.

CW BAR Cup ​

Will be named after the 1st xi's one day game as with the changes manager wants to see how they perform and will wait till the last minute before naming his squad for the 1/4 finals.

 

[lord_of_darkness]

Kent to get their *** kicked this week by hampshire.

Watch this space yo!

 

[cricketboy29]

The Queensland board were notably excited over at the Gabba with the big tie against Tamil Nadu coming up. Having only lost to Karachi, in their first game, and now sitting on the top of the table. The Bulls have made their mark as a premier contender for the competition.

Manager Nayak was hoping for a win, and relying on his redoubtable bowling attack, of Kadir Ali, Wayne Tully, Percival Mooney, James Hopes and Arjuna Wascoroni. Especially Ali who had been on fire recently with 18 wickets @ 13.33.

 

[tadeusz]

WA has convincingly beaten Free State by eight wickets in their round 7 one-day match last night. After winning the toss and fielding first, WA's bowlers reduced Free State to 3/50, before a brilliant 114-ball 111 by I Bowes and solid supporting knocks by S Maxwell (51 off 56) and Y Snow (32 off 43) saw the total reach 6/262. The pick of the bowlers was clearly W Quinn, who finished with 4/46 off his 10.
WA's innings got off to a solid start, with Uthappa and Tewntyman adding 45 for the first wicket before Uthappa fell for 15. Coming in at number three after a stint in the seconds, I Ghulam Ahmed didn't need any time to readjust as he and Tewntyman proceeded to smash 139 runs for the second wicket at nearly a run a ball. Ghulam Ahmed finally fell for 77 off 73 deliveries with the score at 184. Tewntyman was then joined by another inclusion for this week's match, N Ojha, who again didn't take any time at all to get into the swing of things. The 79 runs needed to win came with 5 overs to spare, with Tewntyman finishing unbeaten on 121 off 138 deliveries and Ojha with 45 off only 34.

 

[cometer]

Leicestershire have lost yet again in the one day competition against ACT. It seems cricket is a strange game at times, as ACT managed to chase down 270 odd to win with the loss of only 4 wickets. The Leicestershire manager wasn't overly impressed by the effort in the field and will be speaking to the players at a later date, but the bowling performances really need to pick up if we wish to survive the division. What is most bizarre is how our strongest form we find ourselves in a bottom 3 position whilst the weaker form we seem to be hanging on. Effort will need to be made in order to avoid the drop. On the positive side Piggott making 74 and Underwood and Manzoor making 50's is pleasing as those 3 in particular haven't been scoring for quite some time.

 

[andyc]

Straw returns in style

Ben Straw returned from a long injury to the Mashonaland side in emphatic style today as the Mashonaland total proved too much for the Northerns' batsmen.

Mashonaland won the toss and batted first on their home pitch, which was expected to take some turn as the match went on. The home team were off to a shaky start, however, with the top three of Harvey, Roll and Oulton all dismissed for under 20 with the score on only 82. James Beasley and Ben Straw were then united at the crease, and didn't leave until over 170 runs were added. Beasley (85 off 101) was willing to play second fiddle to Straw, who launched into the Northerns bowling from the beginning. Afridi (1/81) and Cassel (0/79) copped the most stick, but Straw managed to score off everyone, launching boundaries all around the ground. It was Beasley who went first though, lbw to a much relieved Afridi, leaving Mash on 4/253 and the very real possibility of making 300. The new man in, Michael Travis, looked for the singles to keep Straw on strike, but his blistering innings eventually came to an end. Eyeing an ambitious six to bring up his 150, he succeeded only in edging to the keeper for a match-winning knock of 148 off only 106 balls. From 5/287, a score over 300 was practically guaranteed, and the Zimbabs eventually ended with 6/306 off their fifty overs.

Ben Straw hit an astonishing innings in his return from injury

The Northerns openers started the chase confidently, with neither Tudor or Bradshaw able to take an early wicket. Holland and Smith put on over 50 runs together before the Mashonaland captain, Saqlain Mushtaq, managed to extract something from the pitch, causing a leading edge from Holland straight back into his hands. Mushtaq got the second wicket as well, with Smith edging behind for 46. Northerns were 2/100, with the required run-rate climbing fast. Orton tried to speed things up, but he eventually tried too much and was bowled by Joshi for 37. Tudor then removed Vardhan and Dawson, leaving Northerns struggling at 5/157. Darden and Afridi came in next, and were benefited by Mushtaq's strange decision to bowl his part timers rather than going for the kill. The two batsmen pillaged the bowling of Oulton, Straw and Harvey, but even their strike rates of more than a run a ball couldn't see Northerns home in the end. The two ended with unbeaten half centuries, but Northerns were 35 runs short in the end at 5/271.

Mashonaland 6/306
Straw 148 (106), Beasley 85 (101), Roll 19 (21)
Shah 1/37 (10), Khan 1/47 (10)

Northerns 5/275
Darden 83* (81), Afridi 53* (44), Smith 46 (50)
Mushtaq 2/36 (10), Tudor 2/44 (9)

 

[The Baconator]

An unbeaten century from H Francis took world renowned playboy Ash Chaulk's Warwickshire to victory over Tasmania, a team he used to manage.

Francis struck 120 from 125 balls at number three, as Warwickshire chased down 257 with three overs and six wickets to spare. Tasmania's score could well have been a lot more, but for two unfortunate mix-ups. After suffering the early setbacks of losing both openers, the prolific Indian pairing of Suresh Raina and Vikram Chandrasekh took Tasmania to 87-2. But the next two balls saw two run outs, to reduce them to 87-4. Vikram Chandrasekh was responsible for both, but he later blamed members of Chaulk's entourage baring their breasts for distracting him. With their two best batsmen gone, Tasmania were struggling, but Matthew Sinclair and Shiv Kotak took them to respectable to score. They added 134 in good time, before both were trapped lbw in the pursuit of quick runs. Tasmania ended up with 256-6.

Matthew Sinclair, 68 in vain


Warwickshire were also victims of some poor running, as they lost opener Guneratne for just 9. Despite the early breakthrough from the field, Tasmania's bowlers were unable to make any inroads into the batting line up. Francis and Vernon added a partnership of 135. They pushed the singles and smashed the bad ball away to the boundary. In for particular punishment were Mike Lampard and Jimmy Sharma, whose 17 overs went for 123 runs. Lampard did take the wicket of Vernon, and altough Tasmania did take two more wickets in the innings, Francis stood tall to prevent a collapse and saw his side home in style.

Francis drives during his century


Tasmania 256-6
Kotak 71, Sinclair 68
O Gayle 1-39

Warwickshire 259-4
Francis 120*, Vernon 72
R Dhamika 1-36

 

[NZTailender]

Hampshire 2nd XI manager Eyes_Only has made minimal changes to the team that crushed Northens in the last round. Shelley is out with a damaged rotator cuff while Aldridge and Bond strengthen the bowling attack.

Eyes_Only spoke to reporters after leaving training and was reported as saying "Here's hoping we can continue our winning ways this week. It will be a tough match as always but I know the boys will be giving 100%."

When asked why the changes to the bowling attack, she replied: "We were one bowler short last week and even though we won by such a huge margin, I felt that by bringing Shane and Graham into the team, it would bolster the bowling and would add two experenced players to the mix."

Hampshire 2nd XI: S Highsmith, G Rahman, I Ul Haq (Capt), E Drake, S Qambrani, P Thompson, L Bassue, Z Exley, T Naidu (W/K), S Bond, G Aldridge

Geeze, T Thomas must be wondering what on earth he's done to be left out.

Edit: Duh, thats the FC team Greg, how silly of me. But I see he's still left out of the 2nd team anyway..

 

[Eyes_Only]

Geeze, T Thomas must be wondering what on earth he's done to be left out.

Edit: Duh, thats the FC team Greg, how silly of me. But I see he's still left out of the 2nd team anyway..

Shhh...don't tell him but I'm keeping an eye on him and he may be considered in the very near future....Shhhh

 

[Robertinho]

Dela Cruz actually names team
In what has been labelled a once-in-a-lifetime occurence, Tamil Nadu 2nd XI manager Robertinho Dela Cruz has successfully named a lineup for his battling side.

(Caption: onlookers react to Dela Cruz's appearance)

There was pandemonium at Tamil Nadu HQ as the mysterious man behind the 2nd XI, the Brazilian born Dela Cruz, made a rare appearance to name the 2nd OD XI to face Queensland.

Dela Cruz begun by addressing his prolonged absence from managerial duties. "I fully accept any criticism that has been directed my way in recent weeks. A sudden, tragic passing that occurred in the family has prevented me from carrying out my duties at the club, and I have been battling with depression during that period. It's definitely been a rocky couple of weeks for me," he announced. "But I felt compelled to explain my absence, not only to the WCC board but more importantly to the fans, to let them know that I've not forgotten about this club." Dela Cruz's lackadaisical handling of his job as 2nd XI manager was noted by many, if only by it's absence. "I must thank Andrew [Cloete] in that regard - whilst obviously not taking over my role, he has ensured that the lads have been training hard and everything has been running smoothly."

Moving on from events off the field, Dela Cruz then focused on the upcoming game, a one-dayer versus Queensland. "It's embarrassing to admit as a manager, but recently, quite frankly, our competitiveness has rivalled that of Fitzroy. Pre-merger," he declared to a wave of horrified gasps. "But alas, I will be 100% committed to turning that around. It is my hope that this revival begins in our upcoming game versus Queensland. Looking at the table, Queensland are one of the weaker sides - like us - so it'll be good for the boys to go out there against a side in a similar position. We literally having nothing to lose and everything to gain," he stressed. "So really, it's now or never and the boys will go out there with something to prove."

Dela Cruz then announced the lineup:
1. D Mongia
2. R Parida (wk)
3. M van Jaarsveld (c)
4. B Hoon (vc)
5. S Bin Nasir
6. H Raza
7. I Farhat
8. T Mathers
9. K Dye
10. T Durani
11. Z Edmonds

"Some may be unfamiliar with some names there due to the fact a side hasn't actually been named for some time," he admitted sheepishly, "but it's my hope people will soon come to know these names - for the right reasons. I think a key aspect to our batting is how deep it is - everyone down to 8 knows how to hold a bat and do so competently. It's really a matter of who's going to get themselves in and post a big score. That's a slight weakness of ours - sometimes we don't have enough batsmen going beyond a start," he offered the conference. "Something that I think that should be noted is the role that we've given to Ben [Hoon], that is the role of vice-captain. He's very young, very talented and, more importantly I think, very down-to-earth. There was little doubt that he'd become a great player for the club, in particular in the shorter form, but he's exceeded expectations and has shown alot of maturity for such a young bloke."

"All in all, we have a few bumps to iron out but we are optimistic heading into the game," he finished.