Match Report
Warwickshire Cricket league Division 5
Newbold v Coventry Colliery
The Colliery were another team like last week's opponents, Wolvey, who beat the now rampant 'Bold at the start of the season.
Both sides have a tendency to go for t
he win and had similar records, with Newbold leading the way with a league best of 6 wins against Colliery's impressive 5. Newbold wanted victory badly as they had moved into second, only 4 points behind long term leaders' Solihull
When the 'Bold skipper called 'heads' correctly a giant stride was taken towards a happy result. A heavy shower had just 'refreshed ' an already damp pitch and it was not a game in which to bat first.
An opening stand of 21 between Suhaib and Ali with plenty of expansive drives belied the trouble in store. Matt Davies removed Suhaib, taken by a blinding catch at silly mid on by Jason Scott off a full blown drive. Next over Dan Scott switched to bowling spin and the wickets tumbled as the experienced off spinner extracted massive turnage.
21-0 became 40-7 as Dan took 4 wickets. Matt finished his spell of 7 with another wicket for only 11 runs and Dan's brother Craig Scott began his spell with a wicket first ball on his way to another 3 wicket haul for 20 runs. A spirited stand between Captain Wasim and Qasim added 28, but when the skipper fell, the tail surrendered to an all out 78.
Newbold batted for 20 minutes before tea and Craig Scott and Paul Evans moved comfortably to 24 off 4 overs without loss. The introduction of Imran after tea led to the removal of both openers. Danny Treharne joined Jason Scott and they added 23 before the frenetic Danny was caught for 12. Johnson and Virdee did not trouble the scorers, but that did not matter as Jason finished the match off with 10 off the 25th and final over ending on 37 not out. Jason collected man of the match from the Umpire, having doubled the score of the next nearest batsman.
So Newbold comfortable winners with another 20 points in the bag.
The next two matches, away to 3rd place Newdigate and home to 4th Collycroft , will go a long way to deciding Newbold's fate for the season. Let's just say they have that Peterson smile at the moment.
Warwickshire League Division 5
Newbold 2nd XI v Corley 2nd XI
Newbold 2nds 173 all out v Corley 2nds 160 for 9
Newbold feared the worse when they lost the toss and were put into bat on a damp Corley surface.
Henry Neal and the returning Rob Bower opened the batting and moved the score along past 40 with Bower the dominant player with 28.
Richard Meacham (48) and Richard Clarke (26) both played some great shots and pushed Newbold past the 150 mark but with the tail failing to wag again The Bold were all out for 173. A respectable score after the difficult early conditions, but it looked beatable with the track drying out.
George Elwell was unlucky not to take an early wicket as he had the batsmen in all sorts of trouble.
Nick Letts, however, took 3-38 in a 15-over spell that put Corley on the back foot until a 63-run partnership between Brennan (33) and Stansfield (40) gave Corley a scent of victory. Excellent catches from Bower and Clarke removed these two dangermen as Dave Cheney with 3-33 and Bower 2-32 swung the pendulum back Newbolds way.
When Elwell returned to take the ninth wicket Corley needed 24 to win from 6 overs but the home side decided to ensure the draw rather than chase the victory.
A 16-point winning draw for Newbold consolidating their 3rd position in the league.
The full article contains 646 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
