Senior A Matches Report 6th October

Star Varsity vs Te Rapa
A fine morning for cricket was met with slight trepidation as the opening day of the season was upon us. Not only did we have first up nerves to contend with, 20 Twenty cricket was finally upon us and having watched Gilly, KP and co only the month previously it couldn't be that hard could it???

With the toss won by Pom, standing in belatedly as captain, Te Rapa were duly inserted and in the second over were rewarded with a breakthrough as Francois Botha destroyed the stumps of their opener. Unfortunately the third over turned into a scorers nightmare with Charles 'Chuck' Johnson bowling a 15 ball over (we now refer to him as Steve Harmison). The wide bug caught on badly with Alex Hennebry opening up with 3 in a row with the first legitimate ball cleaning some poor sucker up.

Wickets continued to fall on a regular basis with fine bowling performances put in by the triumvirate of Slow bowlers; Mike Rowlands, Glen Nyschen and debutant Rohit Bawa. Te Rapa finished on 123 for 9 off their 20 overs. This was deemed to be an average score in this form of the game, however the disappointment was huge as we had sent down no less than 23 wides, adding to an extras total of 35!

We set about the run chase in a fashion that suggested a draw was on the cards. Runs were hard to come by, aided by a combination of good bowling, poor shot placement and retarded running.

With young Chris Nicholson suffering from cramp, the team was in a precarious position of requiring 10 an over with 5 wickets in hand and 8 overs to go. Up steps Chuck and pretty soon the ball was disappearing to all parts of the ground. A finely struck 40 ended on the second ball of the last over with a further 8 required off 4 balls.

Glen and Rohit tried in vain but alas it was not to be. A loss by 3 runs was the result. In reflection I'd say it was a fair result due to our indiscipline with the ball. Alex Hennebry was awarded the unofficial MOTM award with some tight bowling and a solid 18 runs with the bat - although being run out by Burger almost prohibited him from claiming this award.

Star Varsity vs Melville
The fine morning had given way to a number of fine clouds which was making things very wet indeed. This is testament to the usual Mark Commins' weather report ('It's gonna be a stunning day for cricket') received the night before!

Melville had the right idea for the new format by providing markers for the 30 meter circle - was this to be a sign that their boy scout preparedness would be replicated with outstanding cricket skill on the pitch? Sadly for them, it was not. Pom lost the toss for the first time in the day and were faced with the unchartered territory of batting first.

The innings got off to a rollicking start with Chuck sending the ball to all parts following on from Mike Rowlands early dismissal (which completed a poor day for him with the bat). Pom was in the meantime running the ones and watching the show from the other end.

With the score on 70 in the 7th over when Pom got out for the second time in the day cutting to point it was left to Dricus who came in and heaved from the word go. Melville's fielding was reminiscent of many a 'Star - Bad Day at the Office' with catches being floored everywhere. Good lower order hitting from Francois and Glen ensured that a very good total of 153 was posted of 20 overs.

The curse of the wides was obviously spreading as the new ball combination of Robbie Bryant and Stu Pilling send down an unnerving number of wides as Melville made a pretty good fist of the chase. However, with the introduction of Francois Botha in the 5th over everything came back on an even keel as he bowled their one batsmen who looked like he knew what he was doing.

Stu Pilling finished off a fine spell with a couple of wickets and a retired hurt to his name. With the ball being wet, the slow bowlers, aside from Rohit Bawa, struggled to grip the wet ball and the Melville batsmen cashed in accordingly. It was left to Shaun Blackborn to seal the win for star with a spell of 3 for 6 off 2 overs - a fine demonstration of the fact it is the intelligent bowlers who vary pace and length who will be successful in this exceedingly short version of the game. A win by 20 runs was the final result.

Overall a good day at the office with each and every member of the team contributing through each facet of the game. Glen Nyschen drawing blood to his forehead as he took a spectacular catch deserves a special mention. Thanks also go to our "once-a-day" players of Alex Hennebry and Stu Pilling who filled in at the last minute to ensure 11 players took the park.