AUCC Premier Match Reports - Saturday 21st & Sunday 22nd

AUCC Premier Match Reports - Saturday 21st & Sunday 22nd February
Despite a valiant effort our Premier Men`s side fell just short of victory in
Sunday`s Jeff Crowe Cup final against Cornwall. On Saturday our boys were left
frustrated by the weather as only 35 overs were possible on day one of their
latest Major Championship match against Birkenhead City
Hedley Howarth Trophy - Round Eight, Day One
AUCC Premier Men v Birkenhead City – War Memorial Park
The first day of our Premier Men`s side`s eighth round Hedley Howarth Trophy
match against Birkenhead City at War Memorial Park was abandoned after just
one session due to heavy rain on Saturday afternoon.
Vamshi Puppala won the toss and elected to bat first hoping to firstly rack up a
significant first innings total but also ensure that his side`s bowling attack was
well rested for Sunday`s Jeff Crowe Cup final.
Beau Dench and Amit Dhadwal got the innings off to a solid start before Dhadwal
was dismissed by Matt Latham, brother of Blackcap Tom, for 10. Dench was
unusually reserved at the crease taking his time to compile an innings and he
was looking well set on 35 before he became Latham`s second victim.
Chris Dineen (17) and Barrington Rowland (16) also got themselves set but
neither were able to kick on leaving skipper Puppala and the Croatian Sensation
Daniel Marsic not out when the rain struck with Varsity on 93/4.
The inclement weather proved to be frustrating for our boys who began the day
20 points behind Parnell, the Major Championship leaders, meaning that Varsity
will likely have to win all three of their remaining games outright if they are to
mount a challenge for the two-day title.
AUCC Premier Men 93/4 (B Dench 35) plays Birkenhead City after day one.
Jeff Crowe Cup Final
AUCC Premier Men v Cornwall – Cornwall Park
After an outstanding Jeff Crowe Cup campaign our Premier Men`s side fell just
short in the final against Cornwall at Cornwall Park on Sunday afternoon.
Varsity were dealt a double blow before the game as Aces pair Warren Barnes
and Vishi Jeet were declared unfit while Cornwall received a double boost with
the inclusion of former Blackcaps Rob Nicol and Tarun Nethula.
After winning the coin toss to secure a home final Cornwall also won the pre
game toss and elected to bat first, but they may have been regretting that
decision when a superb bowling display from Varsity reduced the hosts to 118/7
in the 34th over.
Vishi Jeet`s replacement Ketan Patel had done the major damage picking up the
prized scalps of both Nicol and Nethula while five other Varsity bowlers picked
up wickets. Cornwall`s lower order did offer some resistance with a 50 run ninth
wicket stand proving to be particularly frustrating but when Anthony Ireland
claimed the last two wickets with consecutive deliveries the hosts had been
dismissed for what appeared to be an under par total of 186.
Despite losing Beau Dench and Chris Dineen in the early stages of the reply
Varsity appeared to have the game under control as our boys cruised to 94/2
after 20 overs with Amit Dhadwal looking well set on 53 from just 64 balls.
However the course of the game would change dramatically when Dhadwal was
run out. His dismissal sparked a middle order collapse which saw Varsity lose
five wickets for 21 runs to leave our boys in trouble at 115/7.
Skipper Vamshi Puppala and Vedant Zaveri attempted to get the innings back on
track and occupied the crease for 10 overs to take the score to 142 before Zaveri
was dismissed for 17. Puppala was then joined by Ireland and when the skipper
struck a huge six off Nethula Varsity`s supporters hopes were again raised.
However the run out bug which had plagued Varsity throughout the innings
struck again when Ireland was caught short of his ground before Puppala was
dismissed three balls later to end the game.
While our boys were disappointed to get so close the limited over campaigns can
only be described as a success this season with a T20 Plate victory and Jeff
Crowe Cup finals berth secured.
Varsity`s full attention will now turn to the remainder of the two-day
competition with our boys currently sitting in fourth place on the Major
Championship ladder 20 points behind the leaders Parnell.
Result:
Cornwall 186 (A Ireland 3/29, K Patel 2/21) defeated AUCC Premier Men 154
(AM Dhadwal 53, M Ellison 26, V Puppala 25) by 32 runs.
Full Scorecard:
https://www.crichq.com/#matches/227950/1st_innings