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VELDEN 6s 2006
It had to happen eventually.
After winning the Velden 6s for the first 3 years of its existence, we were
unable to repeat the performance this year.
With 3 changes from last year's
victorious side we were expected to struggle to keep our winning record going.
This year saw Mantova CC (Italy),
Kingsgrove CC (Italy - last year's runners up) , Prague CC (Czech Republic),
Highwaymen & Taverners CC (Wales), Ljubljana CC and our hosts CC Velden 91.
Again we drew the first game and
we were pitted against the tricky and highly fancied Prague CC VI. After keeping
them to a relatively low score due to some good bowling from Urban Blaznik
(playing in his 2nd Sixes tournament) we managed to put the foot on the
accelerator at the right moment and win with about an over to spare, Mark Oman
and Johnny Reja batting with the right mixture of patience and aggression.
Murmurs were heard around the ground - surely Ljubljana couldn't win it again.
The other team in our group were
the home team CC Velden 91, who had been strengthened from last year by the
addition of 2 more very good players. They met with Prague CC in the next group
match and posted a huge total nearly 140 from the 10 overs. However, Prague were
even more brutal with the bat than Velden and managed to chase them down. It
seemed a good idea to bat 2nd this year.
So losing the toss in our final
match was not the result we had wished for. Velden had no hesitation in sending
us in and we were only able to post a meagre 90 run total. Velden comfortably
scored the runs and the unthinkable had happened, we wouldn't be playing in the
semi-finals due to our run rate, although all 3 teams from our group had
finished with a win and a loss.
The following day in the 5th vs
6th place playoff we were sent in yet again and posted a very modest score with
only Brad Eve and Johnny Reja managing to reach double figures. Kingsgrove CC
took some solace by defeating us to avenge their loss in the final last year.
It must be said however that the
standard of cricket over the 2 days was easily the highest of the 4 years it has
been held and in the final itself CC Velden 91 reversed the previous day's
result vs Prague CC.
Ljubljana CC 6s
(left to right) Brad Eve, Urban Blaznik, Mark
Oman, Johnny Reja, Rob Crawford and Lalantha
Karunatilake.
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