1st XI vs Upper Ferntree Gully @ Kings Park

We ventured to the home of the Kings looking to take some points home in the T20 format. Many of the boys turned up later than expected due to not being able to leave as Thommo was wreaking havoc in Rowville.

After a brief warm up due to the early game ‘finishing early’ we won the toss and after a bad decision last week I decided to bat. We sent out Butch and Joe and they got us off to a great start. Uftg’s captain must have forgotten that butch enjoys certain parts of the ground and he was able to get away some quick runs before he chipped one to mid wicket. Joe played some beautiful lofted drives until he tried one too many and was caught. This brought Mario and The Mexican together and they showed everyone of the talent they posses. At one point there was panic as we couldn’t find the Defib in the clubrooms and there were questions being asked if Boof would make it through the innings. At the other end Mitch hadn’t broken a sweat and was impersonating Andrew Symonds, hitting bombs at will. Mitch 70odd And Boof 60odd put on over 110 in the last 10 overs to get us to 2/171 and in control of the game.

With the ball we opened up with Nav and Daine. Uftg found themselves in trouble early at 3/3. From that point on every bowler was clinical in bowling miserly apart from an over from Burls that “went the distance”. With the game plan to bowl lots of spin I thought Daine, Meth And Nav were superb taking 7 of the 10 wickets. Our fielding was brilliant. Scotty was a bit stiff when I dropped a real ‘half chance’ that I reckon Ricky Ponting would have struggled with. We closed out the game with all 10 wickets for 96.

It was a clinical win and as the bloke from the Gators said “we take it to the bank”. On to the long format this week. Looking forward to a big challenge. See you all Thursday. 

Pete

2nd XI vs Rowville @ Seebeck Oval

What a win!
A somewhat hostile environment greeted us for our round 4 Twenty20 match away against the Rowille Hawks.

We lost the toss on a green looking pitch and were put in to bowl. I was handed the captaincy in the absence of Daine Vernon and gave the new ball to Adam Wild. Six balls later we were 0/19 and things were looking ominous as the English Import from Rowville took to anything in his vicinity – Thankfully he was removed the over proceeding and we were on our way. Jack Marget proved to be a great option with the ball during the middle overs, whilst Bailey Deckert was also impressive in his first game for the 2XI.
Callum O’Connor finished with two wickets and showed that he is more than capable with ball in hand.
Rowville set a target of 152 to chase, a target that we were very confident of achieving, with the team we had.

Brett Morrison opened the batting with his Dear old combatant, Rhys Marget and despatched the ball to all areas. Rhys fell early, but Morro continued on his way for a well-constructed 39. Although it was disappointing for Morro to depart, he had set us up for a very good chase, as we were 1/67 off approximately 8 overs.
From there, it was up to the *younger* brigade to bring us home – and that they did.
Jack Marget batted very well for his 28, but the key partnership was between a hamstrung Callum O’Connor and Adam Wylde. Both players showed maturity beyond their years, putting the bad balls away but also ensuring the scoreboard ticked over as much as they could. The running between wickets was first class but also proved to be the demise of Callum as he tore what looked to be his hamstring off the bone. This meant Lachie Stuckey joined the two at the crease. He was there for a couple of overs before Cal departed bringing the evergreen Adam Wild to the crease. The instruction for Wilba was quite simple – Smash the thing.
And that he did. A sacrificial run-out from the other Adam Wylde meant we needed 6 runs off our last 3 balls to give us one of the great victories. Music was continually blowing from the Rowville crowd, fielders were back but Wilba proceeded to hit the bowler over his head and somewhat controversially over the rope to win us the game!!! After some conjecture as to if the 6 ball was caught by a Rowville player before the line or over, other players from the opposition confirmed it was not and it meant we had won the game with 2 balls to spare. 

A bloody brilliant effort from all involved and it takes our season to 3-1 ahead of our first 2 day game of the year against Lysterfield this weekend.

Drew

3rd XI vs Rowville @ Seebeck Oval

We ventured out to Rowville for a 12.30 start for the first T20 of the year. Having lost to them last year in the T20 we certainly owed them one in this format of the game. Losing Rhys, Bailey, Reidy and Dylan put a slight dent in our side, but there were definitely more than adequate replacements in Crooky, Thommo, Ben and Dos back into the side. Rowville won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first. We started well with two wickets in the first two overs to Nixon and Josh. From there we continued to take wickets with wickets falling at 13, 27, 32, 40, 64, 77 and 91, with Rowville finishing at 9/91 from their 20 overs. Everyone bowled really well with Nibby (4/14) and Nixon (2/13) leading the way. We only used 5 bowlers, with Spencer (0/14), Corky (1/17) and Josh (2/27) all getting the job done. The fielding was a highlight with only one half chance not being taken as Jay had to throw the ball back into the field of play before falling over the line, saving four runs in the process.

Chasing a modest total, it was important we got off to a good start to put the game away and Thommo, freshly up from the 4s, was the man for the job. Thommo smashed Rowville to all parts to hit 52 on an opening stand with myself of 71, clearing the fence on multiple occasions. Dos came in at 3 in a no win situation, but to his credit he made sure he was there are the end with 13 and I made up for getting out last week to finish on 24 not out as we passed them 1 down in 13 overs. We didn’t give them any chances and were clinical with the bat in what was overall a near perfect performance for us.

Next week we are at Dobson Park playing against Knox-Boronia Churches. With the top four now well clear of the bottom four, all of whom have won just the one game, it is important that we continue to bank wins against other members of the top four and continue pushing to finish as high as possible.

Pott