| Round 9 Match Report |
 |
| Posted by Ben McLean on Tuesday, 13 Jan 2015 at 10am |
|
|
 |
First of all welcome back to all, I trust that you enjoyed your break and are ready to launch into the most important part of the season. With all sides in the top 4 currently it looks like March is going to be a big one for the Garden army.
1st XI
Losing the toss and bowling Wilba struck in his first over removing the dangerous opener. Talented seamer Scotty McInerney continued his good form with both bat and ball also helping himself to a wicket early and when Wilba struck again it was 3/30. The 1’s welcomed back Zach Flintoff who performed well claiming 2/15 off 8 operating in tandem with Adam Metherall who, although wicketless, bowled with excellent control. A strong middle order partnership meant that a competitive 151 was posted by FTG on an extremely slow outfield.
The familiar duo of Shan and Butch came out and were typically aggressive. They put together a 50 run partnership before Butch was removed for 29. Rhys Marget came out and made a quick fire 18 and when Scotty Mac fell soon after the score read 3/99. Some small partnerships developed and the game remained in control with Shan recording his half century before being ruled LBW. A late flurry of wickets was not enough and the lads recorded their 5th win for the year.
2nd XI
Undefeated and heading to FTG the 2nd XI were caught napping when they elected to bat. Losing an early wicket the middle order needed to fire however only skipper Matt Young (21) was able to dig in to offer some support to young Brett Morrison (38). In the end the visitors were bundled out for a defendable 123 in the 36th over, 5 ducks in total saw the duck pond growing with Ian Jongen the only lower order batsman to fire hitting a valuable 27.
Early wickets were important and tight bowling was rewarded with both Ian Jongen and Simon Grasser claiming wickets to have the hosts 3/12. Returning from injury Travis Parsonage reminded the selectors that he is ready for 2 day cricket with 3/17 off 8. In the end the lads claimed their 8th win of the year and bowled FTG out for 100. Our 2nd XI sit 2 games clear on top and seem hell bent on rectifying last years result. Keep going lads…..
3rd XI
Skipper Jason Buljubasic wanted nothing more than to get close friend Andrew Potts to the darts on time and urged his bowlers to attack hard. And they did, on a slowing outfield Fisher, Varun, Lambrick & Wylde all claimed multiple wickets on what was a sensational bowling and fielding display. Upper FTG were eventually all out in the 20th over for 44.
Young gun Callum O’Conner was the only batsman dismissed as the side passed the score easily in the 15th over. Scott McInerney’s brother top scored on 23*. The only downside was an injury to talented young spinner Nixon Adock who has a fractured finger. We wish Nix a speedy recovery.
4th XI by Ernest Bakker
Having won the past 2 games on forfeit, we were keen to get out on the park for a game. The weather forecast from early in the week suggested we would be lucky to get any play at all. Lucky we were as not a drop of rain was felt……..but that, unfortunately, was where our luck seemed to end.
Playing a very experienced Johnson Park (not a kid in sight!) on the bottom oval, we welcomed a long term Falcon in Peter Dodds into the team for a 1 match cameo which enabled us to take the field with 11 players. From the 1st ball, we bowled a very good line and length with the JP score meandering to 1/20 off 14 overs and then to 4/75 off 29 before the anticipated big hitting came. JP were lucky throughout with a couple of dropped catches and a few run out opportunities not taken advantage of as they ended on 6/121 off the allotted 35 overs with Sammy bowling well to claim 2, Alex 1 and 3 run outs between Lachy and Spencer Stuckey. Chris, still battling with a bout of gastro, bowled very well for 0/12 off 5. Lachy bowled well and, as usual, created many near-opportunities but without luck. Special mention also for Spencer with his sensational keeping effort that saw him take 2 catches and assist in 3 run outs.
With Chris needing a rest, Haydos was promoted to 1 day opener with Alex sent in to hopefully get the scoreboard ticking over. Alex started playing his shots from the 1st ball he faced but top edged a ball straight up to be caught at cover. Singha who had been waiting for an opportunity to make a contribution with the bat unfortunately didn’t get started before holing out to wide mid-on………2/4 off 4 was not the start we were looking for! Sammy joined Haydos and they set about rebuilding the innings which they did over the course of the next 15 overs before Sammy was out for a well-made 31 and the score at 53. The required run rate was starting to climb with 69 required off the last 13 overs with Chris ready to come in at #6………well, that was the plan. While doing throw downs in the nets, Spencer ended up almost eating a cricket ball hit by his brother Lachy that left him nursing a bloodied mouth. Chris and Spencer headed to the local hospital for treatment which, fortunately, found that there was no need for stitches or dental work, just a fat lip to show off to his mates.
So, back to the cricket………Lachy joined Haydos who was playing some big shots but, unfortunately, was finding too many fielders. Haydos parted soon after with 28 to his name and the score on 70 from 29. Lachy (10) was out in the same over at 5/70. That’s 53 to win off 6 overs and running short on batsmen. Jimmy chimed in with a quick 7 - 6/80 needing 42 off 4 with the last pair at the crease. Doddsy went to town on the bowlers (and his batting partner), turning 1s into 2s and a 2 into a 3 before unfortunately slipping over on the 2nd last ball to be run out for 20 trying to pinch a single.
JP 6/121 def KGCC 7/119. An unfortunate result falling 2 runs short but very happy with the improvement shown by all of the players from the start of the season. We are a young side who struggle in 1 dayers but the gap is closing, particularly in the field.
So, that’s put a stop to our unbeaten run (4 wins on the trot plus 2 wins on forfeit pre-Christmas) which leaves us in 4th position and still the best percentage (2.13) of all teams in Division 7. We are a 2 day side so look forward to taking on top of the ladder Monbulk this round.
Apologies for not getting the result on an otherwise great weekend for the club with a fighting win from the 1s and comprehensive wins by the 2s and 3s……..missed a Garden Party by 3 runs L
Go Gardens
Good luck to all teams this week as we return to 2 day cricket.
Simon Wilkinson
Trainee.
|
|
|
