Sunday XI v. Warwick
On a sun drenched Easter Sunday, Kenilworth hosted local rivals Warwick, for the Battle of the Castles derby.
It was visitors Warwick who were to bat first, and openers Jackson and Cox made a strong start for their side, Cox in particular being the aggressor, hitting four sixes in one over, but after racing to his fifty, young seamer Matthew Dadswell removed his leg stump for exactly 50. Chris Prophet replaced spinner Dan Roden from the bottom end, and soon sent back the other opener Jackson for 9, clipping his bail. Ram and Arun then looked to rebuild, but against some tight bowling, found scoring runs harder now, spin from both ends from Tom Skinner and Matt Casey who replaced Prophet, Casey taking two quick wickets, Ram caught and bowled for 29 and Nehas lbw no score, Skinner removed Arun for 29 thanks to a fine catch on the long on boundary from Dan Horner. Roden replaced Skinner and had Hope caught in the deep by Chris Prophet for 9, Ben with 23 not out and Simpson run out for 13, Warwick made 162 for 7 from their forty overs. Wickets shared for Kenilworth, Matt Casey 2 for 18 from 6 overs, Matt Dadswell 1 for 23 from 8 overs, Chris Prophet 1 for 24 from 8, Tom Skinner 1 for 35 from 8 and Dan Roden with 1 for 41 from 5, as the players headed off for a well deserved tea.
After the interval, the Kenilworth opening pair of Dan Horner and Henry Curran looked to chase down their target. Unfortunately Curran fell early, caught behind for one off Webb, Elliott Haynes Sorrell joined Horner, now the runs started to flow, Horner in particular finding the ropes, before being bowled by Sharma for 30, this bought Chris Prophet to the crease, but change bowler Hope bowling from the pavilion end, removed him for 9, Haynes Sorrell fell shortly after for 17, lbw to Hope, the home side 60 for 4.
Umer Shanker and Matt Casey were now at the crease, Casey looked in good touch, and the pair added 25, when Shanker was bowled by Rhodes for 10, Hope replaced Rhodes and removed Matt Dadswell caught and bowled for 2 and bowling Casey for 20, when birthday boy Skinner was run out for no score, Kenilworth were 138 for 9. That left youngsters Dan Roden and Kieran Shanker as the last pair, with twelve overs remaining, the home side needed 25, slowly but surely, the young batsmen edged their side closer, Kieran Shanker looked completely assured, with some good running and shot selection, the scores were tied, one over left, one run needed, with two balls remaining, the pair tried a quick single, but unfortunately Roden was just run out for 5, leaving Kieran Shanker 18 not out, and the match tied on 162 each. Hope was the pick of the Warwick bowling, taking 4 for 7 off eight overs.
A great game of cricket, honours shared in the Two Castle’s derby.
