Napa Valley Cricket Club Tops Marin CC in 3-Game Series

The Napa Valley Cricket Club beat Marin CC in a thrilling game this week at Larkspur to take an unassailable lead of 2-0 in their 2013 three game series.

On a very warm morning at beautiful Piper Park in Larkspur, Marin CC captain Raj Thiagaraj won the toss and elected to bat first. Given the early heat Napa Valley captain Tim Irwin was happy to be in the fired first as Piper Park is renowned for its cooling breeze which can die off later in the day.

And so the breeze proved to be both a blessing and a curse as it kept the temperature down but forced some of the Napa Valley bowling offline and contributed to an extras count of 36.

This was Marin’s second highest source of runs with most of their batsmen failing to get into double figures. Stand out performance in the Marin line up was opener Mihaly Szigeti whose 107 not out (off 113 balls) saw him carry his bat all the way through Marin’s 40 overs. Szigeti was joined by Stephen Kent (23 off 33) for Marin’s 6th wicket partnership of 53.

A fine late innings spell of slow bowling from Australian Pete Carson accounted for two Marin wickets and this was backed up by excellent fielding from the Napa Valley team who took most of their catches including a spectacular one-handed left hand catch from Bijoy Ojha.

Sharp ground fielding from Andrew Healy and Jared Thatcher kept the Marin batsmen honest and contributed to keeping Marin’s final total of 221 very chasable.

After lunch, Napa Valley started the chase with Australian pair John Ditton and Phil Bourke opening the batting and they kept the run rate where it needed to be and notched up 61 for the first wicket.

Ditton fell to Colin Churchill in the 11th over and soon after Bourke fell, again to Churchill’s bowling, but not before setting a solid foundation for the Napa Valley chase. Inderjeet Singh and Rob Bolch spent the next 21 overs in the middle and at drinks Napa Valley were in a great position of 103 runs with 20 overs remaining.

Some tight bowling from Marin after drinks saw Napa’s run rate rise to almost 10 an over with Bolch tied down at one end while Singh swatted the best that Marin had to offer to all corners of the ground. They both lost their wickets in the 34th over and the task of getting Napa Valley over the line fell to seasoned members Bijoy Ojha and Martin Mackenzie.

The game swung the way of the Napa Valley team in the 36th over with 17 runs scored and from there Ojha brought it home for Napa with a 4 to deep square leg to win the game for Napa Valley with only nine balls remaining.

 “What a game!, said Napa Valley Club Captain Tim Irwin. "It came right down to the wire and our batsmen held firm even as the pressure was building. We did well in all areas today, bowling, batting and fielding and after two games away from home I know that we’re looking forward to Five games in a row at home at The Fairgrounds through early September.”

Marin CC Captain Raj Thiagaraj agreed it was an exciting match.

 “We came up just short in what turned out to be a great game," Thiagaraj said. "Credit to Napa for their bowling and fielding which was impressive.

"I think we were probably one strike bowler short as we couldn’t keep them tied down long enough to close out the game, but what a nail biter the finish was," he added. "Just shame we were on the losing team”

 The traditional Clos du Val “Man of the Match” award was given to Marin CC’s Mihaly Szigeti  for his excellent batting of 107 not out (off 113 balls)

Score Summary

Marin CC 221/7  lost to Napa Valley CC 222/4  by 8 wickets.  (40 over game / 12 batting)

NVCC Batting – Inderjeet Singh 67 runs off 63 balls (3 x 4, 5 x 6), Rob Bolch 34 off 75 (3 x 4).

NVCC Bowling – Peter Carson 2 wickets for 39 runs off 5 overs, Inderjeet Singh 1 for 30 off 7, Bijoy Ojha 1 for 38 off 8 

Next Game Details – all at The Fairgrounds, Calistoga

Sunday 14th July 2013 versus Berkeley CC 10am – 4pm

Saturday 27th July 2013 versus Sonoma Gullies 10am – 4pm

Sunday 11th August 2013 versus Marin CC 10.30am – 4.30pm

Sunday 25th August 2013 versus Caribbean Old Boys 10.30am – 4.30pm

Sunday 8th September 2013 versus Philadelphia CC 10.30am – 4.30pm

Sponsors

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

Clos du Val, Govino, TricorBraun WinePak, Portocork, 3 rock marketing, Napa Gourmet Foods, IPC Hospitalist Group (Queen of the Valley), Calistoga Roastery, Taltarni.

 More details on the Napa Valley Cricket Club can be found on the website – http://napacricket.com/ where you can find details of their games for the summer ahead on the Calendar page.