The Night Watchman

Hi and welcome to Radio DNA, 969 on your radio, for the Round 5 Pavilion Cup wrap up. Let’s go straight to our reporter, Tony Kreig, on the ground of one of the recently completed games. He has the captain of the winning side with him. Are you there, Tony?

Tony : Yes I am and Welcome to the Peregrine Plane, home of the HG/Origin Peregrines. They have just completed a great 6 wicket win over Takutimu and we have with us the Captain of the home team, Chimwala Wiltshire. Chimwala, you must be happy with the win after being 4-27, were you a little nervous at that point?

Chimwala: Obviously, yes. This season the boys have been very good at setting a target, but they haven’t chased as often. The Cooper lad bowled incredibly at the start and maybe our top order just underestimated him and were surprised. We have a reasonably good tail though and I was confident about Alick, he always performs in moments like this. Partnered up with Hilton we always had a chance and they finished it off brilliantly.

Tony: Your bowlers did a really good job out there today, they all contributed, even Alexander who didn’t take a wicket but he kept it tight and probably contributed to wickets falling at the other end.

Chimwala: There wasn’t a lot in the pitch and with Bruce playing a defensive anchoring innings we quickly changed plans. I told the spin twins to keep the bats where they were, because I knew Kieron and Adrian can bowl it so that it’s impossible to score quick runs without getting out. In the over 20-30 it’s vital not to fall into a deadlock which is what Takutimu did. Later on they had to suddenly accelerate and Clive profited from that.

Tony: Velvet Morning next week in round 6, they have done a good job to get this far, they had a fantastic win over JAGNZ warriors earlier today. Their seamers bowled exceptionally well but won’t get the same assistance from the pitch as they got in New Zealand. A drier pitch here means they will have to work harder. Are you confident going in to next week?

Chimwala: At the start of the season we had a team meeting and we decided we have the class to beat any team on any pitch. Therefore we don’t really mind the home advantage at this point, although it does allow us to spread the bowlers a bit, with the league match on Friday. Velvet Morning look a strong team and they have shown it by defeating Greenfielders and JAGNZ, but we are confident we should beat them if we’re sharp.

Tony: Any changes you think the selectors might make to the side? Your opener Gilbert looks like he is struggling a bit at the moment, not moving his feet as well as he was a couple of months ago when he made that batting down the list a couple of months ago.

Chimwala: We’ll probably change a few things. We miss a second convincing opener so Fernix (Stapleton-Cotton) might get the nod and Fish will probably play next week. Depending on the team that plays on Friday, in a big match v Ashburn, we’ll have to decide who won’t play on Sunday. The bats will all play at least one match, but who plays when, that’s up to the coach. Bowling wise I’m pretty sure Donovan will play, as well as the spinners. Again, that’s up to the coach, but I feel I might play the SOD match and hand over the captaincy to Rodwell or Hilton for the PC match.

Tony: And lastly I know the club are playing it down a bit but the lack of success in the Pavilion Cup to date, is that playing on the boys’ minds. You have had a couple of shock defeats going in as favourite. Do you think going in as the 9th seed has taken the pressure of a bit and let the boys play their natural game more?

Chimwala: I don’t think it’s about being top seed, but more a bit of underestimation and wanting too much. This season, we are having more and longer tactical debates, a more balanced team and because it is clear that we will be going all out for the cup this season, we have been sharp from the start. Previously, we would try to play our best team in SOD and in the PC, but it backfired a few times, hence we have decided we won’t mind finishing a bit lower in the leagues this season. Our selection has been improved with the likes of Cudjoe and Rodwell and youngsters like Warner and Hone are overperforming to enable others to be rested. If we focus on the cup, we should get very far, but we will have to focus on it with the entire selection, not just the XI that are playing that week.

Tony: Thanks Chimwala and back to you Richie.

Thanks Tony some interesting comments from Chimwala Wiltshire, very interesting indeed. A quick look at some of the other results and we see the last unseeded team, Black Fire going down to flameing moles. They were spun out for 91 and left lamenting what might have been. They have had a fantastic run in the cup this season but it had to come to an end eventually.

A couple of big results from across the Tasman and the 11th Seed CPS Vandals have been beaten by Wild Tangent. Reagers, The 18th seed has also fallen, they lost to Whitsunday Drunk Rock XI in somewhat of an upset at Meadow Park. Whitsundays led by Kade Cawse’s 85 not out got home with more then 5 overs to spare.

One time runner-up Spitting Furballs also came up short today against Kerikeri 1st XI. A fantastic 71 not out in difficult conditions by Kerikeri captain, Samuel Bizzell got his team home by 5 wickets. But the big story of the round is the loss by Scaly Piscine CC. The 377th seed, Karachi Stallions proved too strong for the 8th seed and it didn’t go down well. Manager Scaly was last seen climbing into his car after the game mumbling something about there being more skill in Ludo.

The closest battle for the round almost didn’t happen with the Highlanders landing at the wrong ground for their clash with Jaffna Jets. They eventually made it to Falkirk in time for the game and struggled on a good pitch to make 255. It never looked enough and when Jaffna reached 4-204 in the 37th, it all looked over. 4 relatively quick wickets and suddenly it was 26 required form 39 with only two wickets left. A partnership of 23 almost got Jaffna home but a late wicket just added a little more spice to the game before Jaffna’s last wicket pair got their team home.

The matches appear to be getting tighter as the better sides start to play each other and with only 64 teams left to go into Round 6, 41 of those in the top 100 seeds. The lowest seed Warwickshire, at 451. I will be cheering for him though he does have the Delhi DareWhackers.
Thanks for dropping by once and hope to see you all again next week.