Cricketers Complete Cambridge Triple

Cambridge have won the one-day Varsity match to seal a year of sporting domination.

They chased down a total of 270 to beat the Dark Blues and give Cambridge the clean sweep of the historical ‘Big Three’ Varsity matches in 2009-10, following tab victories at Twickenham and on the tideway.

Despite an impressive Oxford batting performance and a slow start to their chase, the Light Blues were pushed into contention by a brilliant 99 run partnership between Rosenberg and skipper Ansari.

In the end it was left to Brown and Kennedy, whose sixth wicket partnership of 64 off 46 balls took Cambridge over the finishing line.

The Light Blues won the toss and sent Oxford out to bat, scoring at a moderate rate of around four runs per over for most of their innings.

With 15 overs remaining, Oxford picked up the pace. Meadows reached his 50 in 41 balls, finishing as the Dark Blues’ top-scorer when he was run-out by Hopkins on 67.

His partnership with Pascoe put last year’s winners in a commanding position – together taking their side from 142-5 in the 34th over to 254-6 in the 48th.

Pascoe and Meadows’ entertaining partnership allowed the members of Oxford’s 2nd XI in the Tavern stand to put a brave face on their humiliating defeat in the reserve team Varsity last week, although their taunts were soon silenced when Greenwood dismissed Pascoe for 42.

The PA announcer’s instruction that “no spectators are permitted on the field of play” could easily have been directed at Cambridge’s fielders, who were reduced in the later stages to watching Oxford shots flying over their heads as the Dark Blues cruised to a formidable total of 270-9.

Cambridge’s chase began in unpromising fashion. Opener Ashok struggled to get bat on ball, only getting off the mark in the sixth over. Soon Timms’ dismissal left the Light Blues on 19-1 in the seventh over, and with a mountain to climb.

The turning point came in the 33rd over, when Cambridge’s decision to take a power-play saw Rosenberg and Ansari up the ante.

Their 99 run partnership took the Light Blues from a perilous 97-3 to 196-4 after 37 overs, Rosenberg reaching his swashbuckling half-century off just 45 balls, including  four fours and two sixes.

His dismissal for 61 in the 38th over left the match finely balanced as Brown strode out through Lord’s pavilion’s famous white gates, Cambridge requiring a rate of 6.3 runs per over to take the Varsity crown.

When he ran his skipper and talisman Ansari out for 54 in the 41st over, the signs looked ominous for the Light Blues. “Your fault Brown” one observer taunted; “you’re all on your own now, cunt” chimed in another.

As it turned out,  Brown was anything but. His new partner Kennedy was equal to the task, scoring faster than any other batsman in the match.

Loose bowling from Tully allowed Cambridge’s to continue Ansari and Rosenberg’s good work, scoring at almost 10 runs per over.

With 20 balls left, Cambridge needed 10, which they knocked off with 13 to spare.

Their victory, which was accompanied by victory for the women’s cricket team in their varsity match on the Nursery Ground, completes the prized ‘Big Three’ Varsity matches for Cambridge in the 2009-2010 season having already won the Rugby Varsity at Twickenham and the Boat Race on the Thames.

The full scorecard is available here.