United Cricket Club (Counties Manukau) Incorporated

Being put in to bat by Weymouth, United CC found themselves in a spot of bother soon with both the openers - Rajat Malhotra (0) and Jonathan Lawrence (8) - back in the hut at 16 for 2 after 4.2 overs. Josh Anderson (56 with three fours & a six) and co-captain Lee Ter Huurne (7) put their heads down to stretch the score to 53 from 16.1 overs, when Teina Tiavare prompted Lee to play one into the hands of Jaivir Singh. This brought skipper Deepak Bhakoo (24 with two fours) to the crease, who combined with Josh to resurrect the innings with a partnership of 71 runs from 82 balls, taking the score to 124 for 4 from 29.5 overs. New man Ian Adamson (26) did exactly what the doctor had ordered, scoring at just under a run-a-ball with some sweetly-timed crisp shots, including four boundaries. Amidst all this, he saw Josh & Callum Jude (1) depart while trying to accelerate further & followed them soon. This brought Nathan Palmer (15 with two fours) & Michael Gordon (15 with one six & one four) together and the duo entertained with some lusty, though controlled, hitting to add 36 runs from 27 balls to take the score past 200. Nathan departed at 204 & Michael did so a run later. Ronit Ghaiee (2) got run out in the last over & Liam Jackson remained unbeaten without troubling the scorers, the team total reading a healthy 207 from 44.1 overs. Having managed to bowl only 43 overs by the 3:30pm cut-off, Weymouth had only 43 overs to score the required runs in.
Weymouth replied steadily, with the score reading 59/1 after 13 overs. The introduction of Rajat Malhotra (9-0-30-4) at that stage not only put the brakes on the scoring (5-0-8-2), but also got rid of Jasdeep(10) & Jaivir(32), who had started looking threatening with a 37-run partnership in quick time. The introduction of Ronit Ghaiee (4-0-18-2) brought an end to the crease tenure of the dangerous Thomas(0) off his fourth ball. Liam Jackson (9-0-40-2) removed the hard-hitting Teina Tiavare(5) & Rajat add another wicket to his tally before finishing his first spell at 6-0-13-3. From 83/6 after 24 overs, Jonathan(36 not out) & Francis Tiavare(22) added 36 runs to take the score to 119, when Nathan Palmer (9-1-26-1) was finally rewarded for his outstanding bowling & got rid of the latter. Michael Gordon (2-0-17-0) went wicketless, but Ronit, Rajat & Callum Jude (7-0-34-1) then shared the last three wickets to finish-off the Weymouth challenge at 168, with three overs to spare, United winning by 39 runs courtesy of a thorough team effort.