SPAIN 176 ALL OUT BEAT GIBRALTAR 164 ALL OUT BY 12 RUNS.
SPAIN V GIBRALTAR IN THE IBERIA CUP JULY 6TH 2008
The second match of the Iberia Cup was as equally exciting as the first and the outcome of the game was still in doubt until the last over of the match.
Spain made two enforced changes to the team, Matt Sherry was unavailable due to work commitments and skipper Howe had not recovered sufficently from the thigh strain he had picked up in yesterdays game. Replacing them were Mojacar’s Abbas, who had been 12th man on Saturday and Sporting Alfas all-rounder Pennick. Gibraltar made one change to their team with Watkins coming in for Shadwani.
Again Spain won the toss and elected to bat. Opener Spencer, made captain for the day in Howe’s absence, took the first ball of the day from the energetic Harkins.With Gonzalez bowling well from the other end Spain’s start was cautious but wicket free.That changed in the 8th over with the score on 37 when Ali pushed a rising ball to point and was caught by Ferrary off Harkness for 9.The other opener Spencer soon followed when he was clean bowled by Phillips with the score on 43.
The two new batsmen Venus and Pennick went into consolidation mode, waiting to punish the bad ball and this plan was working well until Pennick was clean bowled by Watkins for 11 with the score on 80.
A middle order collapse then pursued with Abbas, Wasim, Faran and Khan all going cheaply.However, Venus (the Kent based batsman who was born in Madrid) was playing a majestic innings at the other end, and when Cricket Espana chairman Beal came to the crease the pendulum swung again in Spain’s favour. Beal, batting sensibly for the team, gave Venus the strike when possible and between them took the score to 152 for 8 by the 42cd over.Beal finally fell to the spin off Mirpuri, who in his very next over, also accounted for Venus with a simple caught and bowled.
Venus had scored 75, the top score in the two days of cricket. His innings had included five fours and one six and he had occupied the crease for two hours and fourty minutes delighting the crowd with some exquisite cover drives and timing of the ball.
Lupson’s cameo at the end of 18 off 20 balls was to be invaluable in the context of the match as Spain finally posted a total of 176 all out in 46.2 overs.
Having scored 194 yesterday, and the outfield possibly a bit faster, Gibraltar looked slight favourites at this point. With opener Rocca looking solid at one end, Gibraltar started strongly with twenty off the first three overs. However, with the score on 22 Lupson delivered a piece of magic to clean bowl Bacarese for 3. All-rounder Gonzalez soon followed thanks to a sharp stumping by Ali with 50 on the board. One run later, Spain were celebrating again when dangerman Rocca was caught outstandingly at slip by Spencer off left hander Khan. Buzaglo, who had taken over wicket keeper duties for the day from Ferrary came and went for 9 and Gibraltar were rocking at 64 for 4.
A crucial partnership from the youngster Ferrary and Mirauri became increasingly worrying for the Spanish players and supporters alike, but their 59 run partnership was finally broken when Ali caught the ICC Europe Centre of Excellence player off the bowling of Abbas for 29. Mirauri went five runs later but some fierce batting by Harkins and Latin kept Gibraltar in the hunt despite losing several more wickets.
By the time the 50th over came around Gibraltar required 15 runs for victory with two wickets in hand. Latin could only muster a single off the first ball and then Abbas bowled Watkins with the next to the joy of the Spanish supporters. Two balls later a Spanish victory was complete when Ali stumped Phillips and the home side had scraped home by 12 runs to ensure victory in the Iberia Cup.
The young Gibraltar side looked dejected but the learning curve from these matches for such a young and talented side will stand them in good stead for this years ECC Division Two tournament in Guernsey. For Spain, two victories over a associated side 21 places higher in the rankings was very sweet and the players and supporters celebrated as one as the sponsors Q-Bar presented the trophy to skipper Howe. CAMPEONES ESPANA…
Skipper Howe receives the Iberia Cup from the sponsors Q-Bar
SPAIN 176 ALL OUT 46.2 OVERS
M Spencer Bowled C Phillips 22
S Ali Caught Farrery B Harkins 9
P Venus Caught & Bowled Mirpuri 75
P Pennick Bowled C Watkins 11
Z Abbas Caught Farrell Bowled Mirpuri 5
Wasim Bowled Latin 10
Faran Caught Gonzalez Bowled Latin 1
M Khan Caught Buzaglo Bowled Gonzalez 1
P Beal Bowled Mirpuri 6
S Lupson Not Out 18
M Fernandez Bowled Latin 1
Extras 17 Total 176
FOW 1- 37 2-43 3-80 4-105 5-118 6-123 7-134 8-157 9-161 10/176
Bowling
R Harkins 6-10-17-1
S Gonzalez 8-0-26-1
C Phillips 6-0-31-1
C Watkins 8-1-23-1
K Mirpuri 9-0-45-3
I Latin 9.2-1-31-3
GIBRALTAR 164 ALL OUT 49.4 OVERS
C Rocca Caught Spencer Bowled Khan 30
M Bacarese Bowled Lupson 2
S Gonzalez Stumped Ali Bowled Beal 7
K Ferrary Caught S Ali Bowled Abbas 29
R Buzaglo Caught Spencer Bowled Beal 9
K Mirpuri Caught Wasim Bowled Venus 29
I Latin Not Out 15
I Farrell Caught M Khan Bowled Abbas 3
R Harkins Caught Venus Bowled Abbas 8
C Watkins Bowled Abbas 7
C Phillips Stumped Ali Bowled Abbas 0
Extras 24 Total 164 All Out
FOW 1-22 2-50 3-51 4-64 5-123 6-128 7-132 8-143 9-163 10-164
Bowling
F Afzal 10-2-36-0
S Lupson 7-0-27-1
P Beal 6-1-12-2
M Khan 3-0-12-1
Wasim 5-0-19-0
P Venus 9-1-31-1
Z Abbas 9.3-1-24-5
SPAIN WIN BY 12 RUNS
Umpires R Graham-Spain Sunil Chandiramana-Gibraltar
Scorers C Sunderland-Spain E Wilson-Gibraltar
CAMPEONES ! CAMPEONES !