Devon Dumplings v Warwicks Imps

Tuesday 29 July 2014 at Sidmouth

Warwicks 294-6 dec DD298-3

Warwickshire Imps won the toss and elected to bat in this all day match on a hot and sunny day with a hard pitch and fast outfield. Sale and Madley put on 85 by the 13th over when Madley was well run out by Matt Nichols on debut. The second wicket added 79 in a further 10 overs and the third 43 in 9. M Pidgeon almost top scored with 70 but was outdone by Extras at 75. Our volunteer keeper found the pace of our opening bowlers Nick Prell and particularly the 16 year old Mika Ekstrom far more than he was used to. Cliff Dare coming on as 6th change bowled well to take 4-26 ruffling a few feathers in the process. His young daughter Zoe also bowled and fielded with enthusiasm and skill. W Imps last pair batted for 8 overs adding 65 but with one partner only contributing 4 runs off 20 balls so the total could have been even more challenging than it appeared. 

Dumplings reply started badly with the losses of Caplin and Prell for 7 runs in the 3rd over. Jean Rousseau (22) joined Zubayr Hamza (202*) adding 88 before the definitive and match winning 4th wicket partnership of Hamza and Matt Nichols (64*) in his first innings for Dumplings. This pair batted as though they had batted together regularly with a particularly unselfish and mature innings by Nichols giving the strike to Hamza at every opportunity whilst 5 still punishing the bad ball himself. Hamza opened scoring a wonderful 202* off 117 balls in 126 minutes with 26 fours and 8 sixes. The two directly on to the beach will remain long in my memory. A Pidgeon bowled well for W Imps taking 3-89 off 16 overs. The other 7 bowlers used did not fare as well against an 18 year old I expect to hear much more of in the future. 

 D.D. 298-3 (38.4 overs. Z Hamza 202*, M Nichols 64*) BEAT

 Warwickshire Imps 294-6 dec. (46.4 overs. Extras 75, C Dare 4-26, J Tapper 1-55) by 7 wickets.