ČeštinaVino Rosso take Winter League title!
An exciting final day to the Czech Cricket Winter League saw Vino Rosso take the crown with a 20-run victory over the defending champion PCC Badgers. Batting first, the Badgers put up 106 in total - Paul and Davo only lost one wicket in the opening partnership, but wickets fell regularly in the final 10 overs, including a disastrous spell where 5 wickets fell in 5 balls off the bowling of Miša, including 3 run-outs.
Miša and Mik started Rosso's chase well and nerves were cast aside in the 11th and 12th overs as some powerful shots from Louis and Leigh took Vinohrady close to the target. The final overs were negotiated safely to spark celebrations on the bench.
Vinohrady now hold the T20 and the Winter League trophies, while PCC are the current Pro40 champions. The last three Czech Cricket tournament finals have been between Vinohrady and PCC, and with the Square Mile T20 league starting on Saturday April 21st, the other clubs will be eager to break the stranglehold.
Earlier in the day, Joshiley Dragons established themselves clearly as the third-best team of the tournament as they took Vino Rosso to the wire in the semi-final. Louis and Leigh again had to guide the team home and did so by the tightest of margins, getting to 6 ahead before losing a wicket off the final ball to win by just 1 run.
Badgers played club-mates PCC Beavers in the first semi-final and a tight bowling performance limited the Beavers to just 82. Badgers' final pair Rohit and Rajh were already 10 ahead of the target when they began, and took the chance to rack up the runs in a crushing win.
In the Lower Play-Off, the two Medics teams reached the final, and Rhys Osborne's 1st Medics team got the better of the encounter to take the trophy.
Another successful Winter League season was concluded, with 13 teams, 38 matches, a lot of young players and Czech players involved and a good quality of cricket. And now the sun is out, so we can look forward to the start of the outdoor season! First friendly will be Sunday April 8th, and the first league game will be Saturday April 21st. Check the calendar for full details.
Match results from ČMKS Winter League Play-offs, March 25th
Upper play-off, semi-finals
PCC Badgers beat PCC Beavers by 82 runs
Vino Rosso beat Joshiley Dragons by 1 run
Upper play-off, final
Vino Rosso beat PCC Badgers by 20 runs
Lower play-off, semi-finals
1st Medics beat Vino Bianco by 105 runs
2nd Medics beat Bohemians by 96 runs
Lower play-off, final
1st Medics beat 2nd Medics by 88 runs
Final Tournament Rankings
1. Vino Rosso
2. PCC Badgers
3. Joshiley Dragons
4. PCC Beavers
5. Barbarians Vandals
6. PCC Bears
7. Barbarians Visigoths
8. 1st Medics
9. 2nd Medics
10. Bohemians
11. Vino Bianco
12. Dejvice Cosmos
13. English College
Group Stages, January 22nd to March 4th
Group 1 League Table
| Played | Won | Lost | Runs +/- | Points | |
| PCC Badgers | 6 | 6 | 0 | 524 | 11* |
| Joshiley Dragons | 6 | 4 | 2 | 154 | 8 |
| Barbarians Vandals | 6 | 4 | 2 | -25 | 8 |
| PCC Bears | 6 | 3 | 3 | 45 | 5* |
| Vino Bianco | 6 | 2 | 4 | -359 | 4 |
| 1st Medics | 6 | 2 | 4 | 43 | 4 |
| English College | 6 | 0 | 6 | -382 | 0 |
*PCC Badgers deducted 1pt for failure to provide umpires 29/1/2012, PCC Bears deducted 1pt for late arrival of umpires 29/1/2012
All tied positions were decided on the result of the head-to-head match
Group 2 League Table
| Played | Won | Lost | Runs +/- | Points | |
| Vino Rosso | 5 | 5 | 0 | 270 | 10 |
| PCC Beavers | 5 | 4 | 1 | 191 | 8 |
| Barbarians Visigoths | 5 | 2 | 3 | -65 | 4 |
| Bohemians | 5 | 2 | 3 | -86 | 4 |
| 2nd Medics | 5 | 1 | 4 | -18 | 2 |
| Dejvice Cosmos | 5 | 1 | 4 | -292 | 2 |
All tied positions were decided on the result of the head-to-head match
