TEN10 Cup Report - 2006

On Sunday 10^th September in glorious sunshine the Dorridge Daredevils participated in the inaugural Ten10 Cup, organised by the Warwickshire Pilgrims and hosted by the Leamington Lions.

The matches were 10 overs aside and each team consisted of 9 players.

Pilgrims -v- Lions

The opening fixture paired the Pilgrims against the Lions. The Pilgrims inserted the Lions who found the going difficult against the new white ball, Salter 0-10 and Rickets 1-16 off their two overs kept the run rate down. The Lions overseas Faisal Irfan hit the ball powerfully for 23 until he was bowled by a Hafeez slower ball who then had Hawkes Jnr stumped first ball. John Young scored an excellent 49 from 32 balls, scoring most of his runs during the powerplay (runs count double for a two over period), one Marillier over costing 32!!. Despite the onslaught Kenilworth spinner Mark Pidgeon bowled his usual darts at the death finishing with 2-10, The Lions finished on 104-5 off their ten overs.

In reply the Pilgrims recovered from the early loss of Stratford's Martin Donald to steadily close in on the target. Our own Abdul Hafeez compiling 52 off 26 balls whilst Kenilworth's Scott Stenning scored a patient 29 as the Grims reached their target with 4 balls to spare. The power play proved crucial as Hafeez butchered 28 off one over.

Daredevils -v- Pilgrims

The Daredevils tournament opener was against the Grims and were asked to bat against the new white ball. Spike played a glorious cover drive for 4 early on and repeated the shot next ball only to find the fielder, unfortunately Elliott Seal set off for a single that was never there and ran out Spike out for 4. Seal who was dropped first ball of the innings soon departed to Stratford's SA opening bowler Rickett's for 3 and when Parks was also bowled by Rickett's for a duck the Daredevils were 8-3 off 2 overs. Baller 11 and guest for the day Alex 20 rebuilt the innings and a final flurry of boundaries from Wingy 16* and Hamdaan 12* (Abduls younger bro) took the Daredevils to a below par 82-5. Hafeez 2-10 and Ricketts 2-8 were the stars for the Grims.

In reply the Grims struggled against tight bowling from Seal 1-10 and Matt Lee 1-12. Stenning again impressed for 15 and Marrillier 29 were on course to see the Grims home.

However, Seal and Wing dismissed them both and the Grims began to wobble. Hafeez came to the crease needing 4 to win off three balls. Wingy stuffed him first up outside off stump. Hafeez managed to squeeze the next ball for 2 out to long-on. So with one ball to go and two to win Wingy bowled to Abs who blasted the ball to Spike at point where Spike collected the ball but Hafeez and Pidgeon scurried through for a single which levelled the scores. The Cup rules unfortunately deem that the team losing fewer wickets are the victors, the Grims who lost 3 were therefore awarded the win. The Daredevils needed to defeat the Lions in the final group game to reach the final. 

Daredevils -v- Lions

Parks won the toss and put the Lions in against Baller and Sealy. The Lions started brightly scoring at ten an over for the first 4 overs. Matt Lee was introduced into the attack and secured the breakthrough thanks to a moment of brilliance from Dave Ball. Mousey having been hit for 2 fours earlier in the over bowled a half volley to Faisal who murdered the ball to extra cover where Baller threw out his left arm to take a stunning one handed catch to the amazement of the crowd, players and batsman. This brought the father/son combination of Dave and Jack Hawkes to the crease. Jack had already hit some sweet boundaries and in Mousey's next over which was called as a powerplay, he smashed the ball for five 8's and one 4 as Mousey conceded 44 in his final over. Hawkes Snr got in the act and was dismissed for a quick fire 32, Jack carried his bat for an incredible 83 off 27 balls as the Lions smashed 144-3, only Ayliffe with 1-17 offered any resistance to an awesome display of straight hitting.

In reply Ayliffe 10 and Thornley 23 struggled to keep up with the run rate as Faisal's first over went for only 1. Once Spike got going we looked in with a chance, however once he and Baller departed for 12 our optimism faded. A cameo 21 from Matt Lee kept us in the game and with Wingy and Sealy at the wicket anything could happen. Els hit 32 of 12 balls and Wingy 11 off 3 balls but the Daredevils still finished 20 runs short of victory and rued the powerplays, which had cost them 101 runs in the two games and only profited them 46 in reply. So Dorridge bowed out of the ten10 cup having thoroughly enjoyed the day despite the hangovers.

FINAL - Pilgrims -v- Lions

In the final the Pilgrims inserted the Lions and a great opening spell from Salter 1-15 and Ricketts 1-5 restricted the home side to 19-2 off 4 as both Hawkes this time failed to get going. The power play overs again saw Marillier go expensively, this time for 26 as Young and Faisal accelerated. Hafeez bowled well 0-10 off his two but couldn't stop Young charging to his 2nd half century of the day off just 26 balls as the Lions reached 89-4 off their ten overs.

In reply Donald and Hafeez began positively and never looked in danger as they dispatched the Leamington bowlers to all parts. Hafeez finishing on 39* and Donald 40* as the Warwickshire Pilgrims chased down the total with 13 balls to spare, winning the Ten10 Cup by 8 wickets.

In conclusion a great day out in good company with fantastic entertainment all day. The Daredevils have thanked both the Warwickshire Pilgrims for organising and inviting them to play in the Cup and of course Leamington for hosting the team throughout the day.

Bring on the 2007 Ten10 Cup!!!