Varsity Cricket- Match report Friday, 20 June 2014

Jack Winstanley

On Friday 20th June Cam FM descended on the self-proclaimed ‘Home of Cricket’, Lord’s stadium in London, to watch the 170th Varsity Cricket Match between Oxford and Cambridge.

Captained by Nikki Ravi, the Cambridge women were looking to reassert their dominance over Christina Gough’s Dark Blue side, their match last year having been rained off. OUWCC had a strong first innings, eventually finishing with 204 for 8 wickets at the close. The Cambridge women were less successful, struggling to break Oxford’s fielding from the beginning. They crumbled like Wensleydale, with a run of wickets falling with no runs scored cementing their fate. An early finish for the women saw them all out for just 63 runs, losing by 141 in a disappointing second innings.

The men, captained by Tom Elliott from Sidney Sussex, having been resoundingly beaten by 8 wickets in 2013, had a much more successful match. Despite losing the toss and having a slow start batting first, Cambridge clocked up 177 runs by lunch, looking solid if not high-scoring. Helped along by scrappy Oxford fielding with dropped catches and confusion, Cambridge went into the pavilion with a defendable if not unbeatable score. 

As the sun came out so Cambridge’s fortunes started to go golden. In the second innings Cambridge took three early wickets in quick succession, but a strong response from Oxford put the pressure back on the Light Blues with Dark Blue batsman Matt Winter putting in the most runs for Oxford, reaching his half century before succumbing to an LBW. Early mis-fielding from Cambridge meant that Oxford survived some risky decisions, but as the innings went on so Oxford began to struggle.

Cambridge’s fielding tightened up, with a superb catch from captain Tom Elliott cementing Oxford’s decline. Cambridge’s successful bowling for control, with Critchard as a standout, and capable fielding with some excellent catches denied Oxford the chance to put any runs on the board. Oxford put in a late surge with Haines making his half century and putting serious pressure on Cambridge, needing just six runs off 8 balls to take victory from under Cambridge’s nose. But the hero of the day for Oxford was Haines, making a spectacular 6 on the last ball of the match to steal victory.

Commiserations to Cambridge and congratulations to Oxford – final scores Cambridge 177 all out, Oxford 179/9.