Bat dominated ball in week-end games.


	Cricket Gibraltar Official site of the Gibraltar Cricket Association

Email This Article To Someone!

TJF

Bat dominates ball in week-end fixtures.

Saturday turned out to be a day for batsmen with 1,008 runs scored and only 21 wickets falling. Highlights included a big century from Mediterranean CC’s Sam Russell, a successful run chase by Calpe CC, and the continuing dominance of GCCbwin.

Runs galore at the Europa Oval.

The contest at Europa between Mediterranean CC and Calpe CC produced a veritable run feast, only five wickets falling throughout the afternoon. Mediterranean CC won the toss, opted to bat first, and Sam Russell and Vikram Khatwani then proceeded to tear the Calpe attack apart with an opening stand of 179. The Calpe bowlers had to wait until the 31st. over to taste success, Robbie Skinner accounting for Khatwani who was then on 54. With the under 23’s tournament just round the corner it was good to see this batsman finding some form. Russell, however, continued his assault on the bowling, remaining undefeated on 157 at the end of the allotted forty overs. No fewer than 83 runs came off the final ten overs!

Undaunted by the task facing them, Karan Aswani and Chris Phillips struck 63 runs in the opening eleven overs before Shaun Ainsworth accounted for the former. This brought Iain Latin to the crease and runs continued to flow, the second wicket partnership yielding 120 runs. Watkins then struck twice, dismissing Phillips for 62 in the 25th. over and Latin for 69 in the 33rd., leaving Calpe to get 48 runs off the final seven overs, an asking rate of close on seven runs an over. Kabir Mirpuri and John Hazell proved adequate for the task as Mediterranean’s total was overhauled without further loss and with three overs to spare. Calpe took sixteen points from the game to maintain their challenge on leaders GCCbwin whilst Mediterranean CC had to content themselves with seven points and remain rooted to the foot of the table.

GCCbwin maintain their unbeaten record.

GCCbwin entertained Combined Colleges at the Victoria Stadium, won the toss and chose to occupy the crease first. They suffered an early shock as Kieron Ferrary, scorer of so many runs in recent weeks, went first ball, caught in the gully. Ian Farrell and Christian Rocca then set about repairing this early damage with good effect, putting together a stand of 125 runs before the former was bowled by Nushan Alwis when one short of his half century. Andrew Chipolina then joined Rocca and runs continued to flow, 38 runs being added for the third wicket before Chipolina became Nushan Alwis’s second victim, bowled for 21. The same bowler accounted for Rocca [86] and ten runs later and when De’Ath holed out to Chris Harris, the total had slumped to 187/6. However, at this point, Steven Gonzalez, riding his luck a bit as he was dropped three times, took over control, hitting 49 not out off forty balls to enable his side to reach a respectable 258/6. Nushan Alwis was the pick of Combined Colleges’s bowlers, returning figures of 3/28, and skipper Chris Harris took 2/48.
GCCbwin struck an early blow as Gonzalez bowled the dangerous Cliff Knezovich with the total on 18, and a brilliant catch by veteran Rudi Phillips at backward point off the bowling of Charlie Harrison accounted for the equally dangerous Nushan Alwis. Opener Mark Ward was finding the boundary with unerring regularity and together with Ashan Alwis added 45 runs for the third wicket, but the entry of Gary De’Ath into the attack put an effective brake on the scoring rate and also accounted for Ashan Alwis, bowled for 29. At the half-way twenty overs stage, the Combined Colleges total stood on 96/3, which meant that they were well behind the required run rate and would have to score at over eight runs an over in the latter stages. When they lost a further wicket soon after the drinks break and Ward finally departed for 66, another victim for De’Ath, it seemed all over bar the shouting, but Harris continued to defy all comers and in number ten, Jason Wild, he found a worthy partner, the latter striking 26 runs off just sixteen balls to give the GCCbwin players some anxious moments. However, skipper Farrell now took it upon himself to steer his side to victory which he did, taking the last two wicket to leave Harris stranded on 48 not out in a total of 223. Farrell ended with figures of 4/40 and De’Ath 3/22, as their side took twenty points from the game to their opponents’ six.