Napa Valley CC goes 1 and 1 in two recent tight games

With two games on the road and one at home in June the NVCC’s busy season has ramped up. The club has their third consecutive game this coming Saturday 27th away to local rivals Marin CC before heading into their traditional 4th of July break. Their two most recent games, home to Sri Lanka Socials and away to Sacramento CC have both been tight, nail-biting, affairs with a narrow win and a narrow loss for NVCC.

Sizzling Irwin sets up narrow victory for Napa in Cricket.

NVCC’s Tim Irwin produced a textbook display of fast bowling to set the groundwork for what turned out to be a narrow, grinding victory for the local team against the Sri Lanka Socials in Calistoga recently. Supported by an all-round solid bowling and fielding display, Irwin’s five wickets for just 12 runs off his seven overs kept Sri Lanka to a modest total of 132. That being said a batting collapse necessitated a rear-guard action with the bat by NVCC captain Bernie Peacock and Phil Bourke with an undefeated ninth wicket partnership of 29 to finally get NVCC across the line later in the day.

The day started with Sri Lanka winning the toss and electing to bat. Peacock chose a fast-slow combination of Irwin and Kiranpreet Singh to open the bowling and to good effect. Sri Lanka had only made it to five when Singh struck, bowling the opening batsman Indi for a duck. This was soon followed by a great run-out by new American recruit Peter Cameron, in only his second game, with a direct hit leaving the other opener, Imti, short of his crease and Sri Lanka in trouble at two wickets for 24, and soon three for 27. Sri Lanka settled in with Anushka putting on a hard hitting 52 off just 26 balls, supported by Tivanka with 23 and had progressed to five for 118 before Irwin produced a stunning spell. He cut through the middle order with four wickets for two runs in the 23rd and 25th overs, before finishing off the innings by running out the final batsman shortly afterwards.

After lunch Napa started their chase in fine style with the young Moe Maqsood joining veteran Bijoy Ojha in the opening partnership. With Maqsood in particular hitting aggressively the pair raced to 50 in the seventh over before Ojha was given out LBW (Leg Before Wicket) for 19, somewhat controversially as the ball appeared to hit his bat before his pads. Maqsood then fell in the next over trying to go for one more big hit, caught for 30. Still looking comfortable at two down for 55, Napa’s middle order slowly progressed the score along, losing an occasional wicket along the way before losing a cluster of wickets in quick succession. NVCC were suddenly in trouble at seven for 89. Newcomer Cameron then joined Bourke at the crease and the two settled the ship a little, adding 15 to bring the total to 104 before Cameron fell. Peacock then joined Bourke, needing 29 with just two wickets in hand, and survived an early chance when the wicket keeper put him down before he had scored. This proved to be Sri Lanka’s last chance though as the veteran pair carefully worked on the deficit before Bourke hit the winning run in the 29th over.

After the match, captain Peacock presented the Clos du Val Man of the Match award to Sri Lanka’s Anushka for his 50 with the bat. NVCC President Phil Bourke then presented a Napa Cricket “Baggy Maroon” cap to Colin Nolan, playing his last match for the club before moving to New Zealand.

Score Summary

Saturday 13th June, 2015 – Napa Valley CC vs. Marin Sri Lanka Socials at The Fairgrounds, Calistoga

Napa Valley CC 133 for 8 beat Marin Sri Lanka Socials 132 all out by 2 wickets. (35 over game)

Napa Valley CC Batting – Moe Maqsood 30 off 26 balls (3 x 6), Bijoy Ojha 19 off 17 (2 x 4), Bernie Peacock 14 Not Out off 23 balls (1 x 4), Phil Bourke 11 Not Out off 33 balls (1 x 4).

Napa Valley CC Bowling – Tim Irwin 5 wickets for 12 runs off 7 overs, Bernie Peacock 1 for 8 off 4.2, Kiranpreet Singh 1 for 21 off 5.

Captain Peacock rues decisions with ball as NVCC fall just short

NVCC captain Bernie Peacock would have done things differently if he had his time again in the recent close game between NVCC and Sacramento CC (SCC). Peacock’s sporting decision to bowl softer balls to the 11 year old son of one of the Sacramento team would end up being the difference between the teams score wise. Peacock also wasn’t helped by a batting collapse by the NVCC tail-enders with victory within touching distance.

The opposition in this game were new to NVCC so there was little knowledge of their capabilities amongst the NVCC team. The NVCC’s opponents play in the Sacramento Area League, and use the Arroyo Park ground of Davis CC as their “home ground.” Captain Peacock set out his stall early having won the toss by putting SCC into bat. An early wicket for Moe Maqsood, who in partnership with Peacock bowled a tight opening spell, after 2.4 overs set the tone for NVCC early on. Wickets fell regularly during the SCC innings and at drinks (17 overs) they stood for 105 for the loss of six wickets. Anchoring the SCC innings was their young left-handed captain Kavindu whose 53 runs off 48 balls was the bedrock of the SCC innings. With the exception of the SCC opener Jayalath who scored 25 off 30 NVCC restricted the batsmen to scores that barely broke double figures. Wickets were shared amongst the NVVCC bowling attack with both Hardeep Takhar (3 wickets for 25 runs off 5 overs) and Andrew Healy (3 for 24 off 4.1) finding success with their slow-medium pace on a relatively unpredictable pitch. This pair were supported by Maqsood (2 for 18 off 5) and Sushil Kumar (2 for 8 off 2) in addition to some excellent fielding a stunning catch from American Jared Thatcher playing his first game for NVCC after a long layoff.

After a very tasty lunch of Chicken Biryani NVCC set off to chase with 160 needed for victory. NVCC opened with Martin Mackenzie and Maqsood and the pair started strongly with 35 on the board by the 10th over when Maqsood fell. Mackenzie was joined by the big-hitting Kumar who despite struggling with the ball onto his bat top scored for NVCC with 32 runs from the 26 balls that he faced. Mackenzie departed for a very credible 18 off 45 balls and Australian Leigh Richie (13 off 24) joined Kumar in the middle. Richie anchored the next few batsmen as wickets fell with NVCC making steady progress towards their target. American Peter Cameron took a particular liking to any of the SCC bowling that sat up and he smashed a six well past the boundary. The see-saw nature of the chase continued with both Cameron (21 off 21) and Phil Bourke (14 off 21) falling in the 28th over to the bowling of Prasanna as they both looked well set. A late innings flurry from Surynash Kumar (15 off 12) pushed NVCC to 151 and within sight of victory. It wasn’t to be as NVCC capitulated with only eight runs needed as they lost their last three wickets for the addition of only one run.

After the match, captain Peacock presented the Clos du Val Man of the Match award to SCC’s Kavindu for his 53 with the bat and his efforts in organizing the first game between the two clubs. SCC will visit Calistoga in a return game on Sunday 30th August.

Score Summary

Saturday 20th June, 2015 – Sacramento CC vs. Napa Valley CC at Arroyo Park, Davis

Sacramento CC 159 all out bat Napa Valley CC 152 all out by 7 runs. (35 over game)

Napa Valley CC Batting – Sushil Kumar 32 off 26 balls (2 x 4, 2 x 6), Peter Cameron 21 off 21 (2 x 4, 1 x 6), Martin Mackenzie 18 off 45 (1 x 4).

Napa Valley CC Bowling – Hardeep Takhar 3 wickets for 25 runs off 5 overs, Andrew Healy 3 for 24 off 4.1, Moe Maqsood 2 for 18 off 5.

Next Game

Saturday 27th June 2015 at Piper Park, Larkspur vs. Marin Socials from 11:00am (check website for details - http://napacricket.com/calendar/)

Sponsors

The Napa Valley Cricket Club wishes to acknowledge the assistance of the following sponsors

Clos du Val, Silverado Country Club, Compadres Rio Grille, Tonnellerie Saint Martin, Penfolds, St. Helena Optometry, First Priority Financial, Anchor Steam, Amcor, Ciatti, Joseph Cellars, Biagi Bros., Rebel Dog Hot Dogs, Stone Universe, Lyve Systems Inc., TricorBraun WinePak, 3 rock marketing, Calistoga Roastery, Napa Gourmet Foods, Napa Valley Body Connect.