Page 22 - West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook Cricket Club Yearbook 2014-15

D2 Grade
WPHC 51 lost to St Ives 251 @ Auluba Oval 28th & 29th March 2015
Day 1
We won the toss and bowled. St Ives got away to 251 with our best bowlers being Ryan Gunn 3/39, Andrew Webster 2/24, James Asquith 2/39, Ayush Gupta 1/20 and Dean Carlin with 1/28. It was tough day’s work to dismiss this strong batting side on a good batting strip at Auluba Oval. Our inability to survive three overs before stumps without loss has set us back, leaving us with a mammoth task to chase down St Ives’ score on Day 2.
Day 2
Briefly batting for WPHC: Indranil Mukherjee 24, James Asquith 7*, P.K.W. 6. Beaten by a stronger side, but look how far we have come: last year wooden spooners, this year runners up, next year I want to take this team as far as we can go!
Team members:
James Asquith, Cameron Bish, Dean Carlin, Luke Christiensen, Chetan Despande, Ryan Gunn, Ayush Gupta, Brent Larkham, Indranil Mukherjee, Hayden Murray, Andrew Webster, Peter Westerberg (C).
SPL Grade – Grand Final @ Cheltenhan Oval on Sunday 15th March 2015
WPHC Red 4/118 defeated WPHC Blue 9/114 – SPL Grand Final day, and in a momentous occasion for our great club, this was the first time that 2 WPHC teams had fought out a Seniors Grand Final. To make this occasion even more special, Club Icon and President, Barry McDonald, was appointed as 1 of our umpires
The big one and the first time that 2 Teams from the one Club have competed in a Seniors Grand Final and it didn’t disappoint. After a heavy downpour at Cheltenham Oval the game was reduced to 26 overs aside.
The Blues won the toss, and with a bit of rain around, decided to bat. Taking the new ball, Andrew ‘Voice Driscoll’ got the early ascendency for the Reds, by picking up both openers early. After 7.3 overs, the Blues were 2/28, and the heavens opened up, with a large downpour falling over Cheltenham Oval. It appeared as though play may have been finished for the day, but given both teams were keen to play on, as soon as the umpires deemed it safe, we were back out on the field. 36 overs had been reduced to 26 per side, and given the Blues had 18.3 overs to bat with 8 wickets in hand.
The period after the rain delay was where the Reds set up the match. Back to back wicket maidens, following a clean bowled by Earl ‘Duke’ Driscoll, was the ideal start for the Reds. Backing this up was Andrew ‘Watties’ Watt, who slipped in a bouncer, which could not be controlled, and a top edge hook shot went somewhere into the outfield. Enter a flying Ryan ‘QB’ Francis, who ran from deep backward square at full pace, to take 1 of the catches of the season. The Blues were reeling at 5\39, as Raffa struck a vital blow in his first over, dismissing a key Blues batsman, through a catch to Tim ‘Covers’ Coverdale at square leg.
The Blues then hit back with some good hitting, with a 6th wicket partnership of 51 by Carl Madsen (31) and Sam Kleinhans (27). Some excellent death bowling to from Duke, and a direct hit run out from Davo, saw the Blues finish at 9/114 off their 24 overs.
The Reds turn to bat, and a last minute batting order change, due to a couple of top order batsmen needing to rest up (we are old remember). Normal opener, Volc, was joined by wannabe pretend opener, Snumpty. The Blues hit hard early, leaving Snumpty, Bridgy and Simon ‘Roadhouse’ Davies to try and blunt the new ball attack. The Reds were 4/48, needing a further 67 off 10 overs. Enter power hitters, Davo and Raffa.
The 2 found the boundary on regular occasions, hitting the ball hard into gaps, and over the fence. Davo brought up his 3,000th run for the club, with a lofted straight drive for 4. The game was then sent out of the Blue’s reach in the 21st over, where needing 34 off 6 overs, Raffa took 20 off the over, to see the Reds right in control of the game. In the end, the Reds got home with 2 overs to spare an unbeaten partnership of 70 off 47 balls between Raffa (44*) and Davo (38*), blasting the Reds to victory.
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