College Cricket Roundup
Wadham accomplished a comprehensive demolition of New last week with a 266 run victory.
It is a rarity in top division cricket for a team to dominate another to such an extent, but when New turned up with only seven players the result was to be expected.
Wadham scored 344 for 2 in their 40 overs with notable performances from Phil Elks (56) and Dave Hughes (83 n.o.). But the star performance was from Charlie Kemp, whose 165 n.o. included 17 fours and one six. The pitch was slow but there were enough gaps in the field to exploit the tame bowling attack.
New began their innings in clinical fashion, scoring at the required rate for the first few overs. Some impressive shots from stand-in Captain Sam Blake suggested that wickets could be hard to come by. But after the first wicket went the others were soon to follow. A phenomenal one-handed diving catch from the Wadham wicketkeeper to take the second wicket was the zenith of an overall sound bowling and fielding display.
Although exams can have devastating consequences on the availability of players, the top division does demand a certain standard. Yet it is a credit to New that they played the match and earned what could prove to be invaluable bonus points.
Meanwhile at Jowett Walk, champions Balliol set Corpus an impossible target as they scored runs all around the ground right the way down the order. The Corpus batsmen failed to get a grip on any of the Balliol bowlers and the visitors were bowled out well within the available overs to give the hosts a 146 run victory.
In cuppers, St Catz took on Lincoln at Headington on Friday and though Hasan Rahamn opened with some tight bowling, Lincoln's other bowlers suffered. Ali Walker took advantage of their inconsistency to hit 87. Bhavesh Patel then hit a quickfire 69 in less than ten overs, hitting the bowlers all over the ground to take Catz to 263/4. Lincoln's innings did not last very long as few batsmen reached double figures and they were bowled out for 84.
10th Jun 2004