Man-of-the-match Rich has Optimists in a spin

IT WAS third time lucky for Total Cobo yesterday as they became Channel Islands champions. After rain had twice caused the postponement of their KPMG CI Club Championship final against Clubhouse Optimists, Peter Vidamour's men made the most of a dry day at the KGV with a comprehensive nine-wicket victory.

Their opponents, who were missing the influential figures of captain Andy Biggins, Ami Banerjee and Mike Kinder, were dire with the bat and were made to pay as a match that was scheduled for 90 overs lasted one ball less than 56.

It was no surprise that Vidamour chose to bowl in overcast conditions even though a day earlier his side had been very well set at 174 for three after being put in by Mark Clapham when the rain came.

But the majority of the Optimists batsmen contributed to their own downfall as wickets fell at regular intervals from the off.

In the fifth over, Mark Jefferies was run out for nought when he was too slow in responding to Nick Chambers call for a single and his fellow opener went three overs later, trapped plumb in front by Liam Smyth's slower ball.

It was soon 29 for three as TJ Ozanne took a stunning catch to get rid of danger man Divan van den Heever.

The South African picked up a leg-side delivery from Kris Moherndl quite nicely but Ozanne scampered around from his position at deep backward-square, made about 25 yards to his left and dived full length to grasp the ball one-handed just inches off the ground.

Cobo were on a high and despite some inconsistent bowling, the wickets kept tumbling.

Young Moherndl had trouble controlling the swing but when he got one right Ian Damarell was trapped leg-before and then Clapham, who had looked comfortable for his 19, inexplicably hit a full toss straight to Jeremy Frith at extra cover.

The two Greens - Elliot and Warwick - put together the highest partnership of the innings, adding 33 for the sixth wicket with some positive strokeplay as they hit six boundaries between them, but any hopes Optimists had of posting a defendable target were short-lived.

Elliot Green toed an attempted sweep shot to a Gary Rich full toss straight to Jamie Nussbaumer at square leg and the very next ball Jamie Chambers was out in identical fashion.

The off-spinner felt aggrieved not to have completed his hat-trick as a huge leg-before appeal against Charlie Rix was turned down, but there was still more to come from the island all-rounder.

Optimists edged into three figures before the final three wickets all fell on the same score, all to Rich.

Nussbaumer took the best of his three catches to send top scorer Warwick Green back to the pavilion, Steve Queripel played across a straight full toss and last man Simon de la Rue got a nick to Justin Ferbrache.

Rich finished with figure of five for 14, enough to claim the man-of-the-match award.

Cobo, who had never won the CI competition in its previous knockout format, were not going to let this opportunity slip.

To their credit, Optimists kept fighting and Clapham changed the bowling around in the search of wickets but only one materialised.

Amazingly, it came from yet another full toss as Matt Oliver unerringly picked out Nick Chambers on the square-leg boundary off Elliot Green's second delivery.

But Vidamour and Frith patiently guided their side home with an unbroken stand of 87 with the latter notching up 45, including five boundaries, and the skipper contributing 35.

Fittingly, it was Vidamour who hit the winning runs, driving over cover for four.

'It is frustrating to get the match postponed twice but it was worth the wait in the end,' said the Cobo skipper.

'We have deserved it for the way we have played over the past six weeks; the whole team has been superb.

'We have been the best team in the Channel Islands in that period and have beaten all the other top teams and beaten them pretty well.

'Ironically, today was probably our worst bowling performance for the last couple of months but Optimists found all sorts of funny ways to get themselves out.'

Clapham admitted his side missed Biggins and Banerjee in particular but said that was no excuse for their batting performance on the day.

'We contributed to our own downfall. There were a lot of poor shots played to a lot of poor balls and they fielded well and took some good catches.

'It just summed up our season really. We have played some really good cricket at times but were just not consistent enough,' he said.