Cambridge opener Scott Warren clips the ball towards the short boundary on his way to an unbeaten 82. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
Cambridge Senior As, led by a classy 82 not out by opener Scott Warren, saw off Melville in round three of the Hamilton and Waikato Valley senior competition at Victoria Square in Cambridge on Saturday.
Cambridge’s Scott Warren lets this ball through on his way to an unbeaten 82. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
Melville won the toss in the 50 over match and elected to bat on what looked a batters’ paradise with a shortened boundary on the Town Hall side ripe for easy runs.
Opener Arun Arikkat made it look easy for the visitors, scoring 90 off 94 balls with four sixes and nine fours.
But all around him wickets were falling with the pick of the bowlers being Joseph Corrigan and Harpreet Singh – who got the valuable wicket of Arikkat, caught by Adil Somani.
Melville scrambled through to 206 all out with two balls remaining in the 47th over.
In the run chase, Cambridge lost opener Simon Dodds for eight and James Bateman for 20 and looked vulnerable at 67/2. But Warren kept the scoreboard ticking over helped by Somani and their third wicket partnership of 99 set up victory in the 36th over.
Warren’s 82 came off 99 balls and included 10 fours.
Result: Melville 206/10 (Arun Arikkatt 90, James Thomas 25; Harprett Singh 3/22, Joseph Corrigan 3/24). Cambridge 207/4 (Scott Warren 82*, Adil Somani 51; Vikrant Bhagwat 2/50)
Cambridge’s Adil Somani smacks the ball back towards the bowler on his way to 51. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
