Round 10 Match Report Posted by Ben McLean on Tuesday, 27 Jan 2015 at 1:47pm 1st XI Needing a win to cement their spot in the 4 the 1’s travelled to Monbulk. Losing the toss and being sent in wickets fell fairly regularly with only Shannon Small providing any resistance (42). Defending 122 on Monbulk would require early wickets and at 3/30 it looked like we were back in the game. To Monbulk’s credit their middle order held together and they recorded a comfortable 5 wicket win.   2nd XI Winning the toss and batting the lads went about posting a super impressive 330. Major run scorers were Simo Grasser 66 Ian Jongen 58* Nav Singh 51 Wayne McInerney 41 & Matt Young 38. The weight of runs was too much for Monbulk and they were bowled out shortly after lunch for 130. Daine was the chief destroyer taking 4/17 with Trav Parsonage claiming 2/38   3rd XI The 3’s were up for a huge match against highly rated Eildon Park at home. After a solid start and 1/75 wickets were needed to help wrestle the momentum back. Having responded extremely well taking the next 8 wickets for 97 it looked like they would keep them under 200 but a 10th wicket partnership of 80 saw EP get to 252. Always confident of chasing the total down Callum O’Conner was given an opportunity at the top of the order and didn’t disappoint making a match winning 61. He was supported well by Jack Marget 28, Matt Lambrick 45, Tim Flintoff 44* and Jase Buljubasic 37*. The 3’s now sit 10 points clear on top of the ladder. Keep going lads. 4th XI – By Greg Bakker After last round's 2 run loss to our main challenger to a spot in the 4, we headed to Monbulk against the team top of the Division 7 ladder. As it was our preferred 2 day format, we backed ourselves to do well. As is typical for the 4s, there were personnel changes to accommodate players only available for 1 week with Chris & Monty away in week 2 and Gez returning in week 2. With Nibby on ball boy duties, a spot opened up in week 2 so Sid, returning to KGCC from QLD, was added to the team sheet. Crookie made a welcome return with the snapper season cooling off while Spence (wk 1) and Aza (2) were subbed on as wicket keepers, thanks to the goodwill of the Monbulk captain. Losing the toss and bowling first, it was clear that the Monbulk batsmen were a class above most in this division with technique and timing getting them off to a solid start. Although it was an extremely fast ground, we kept them to 1/69 off 18 at drinks due to fielding well and bowling in good areas. A change of bowling at both ends saw the Bakkers bowling in tandem for the first time in the family history resulting in the score being held to 3/107 off 30. Monbulk finished the 1st day at 4/135. Needing a solid start, Chris and Dos did well against the Monbulk Division 3 (yep, you read that right) bowlers before Dos (10) was bowled around his legs and then Monty was unfortunately caught 1 handed by the tallest fielder right on the boundary. Chris kept doing what he does best before being caught behind for his 4th 50 (54) of the season with the score 3/87 off 24. A mini collapse followed with Sammy and Brent losing their wickets with Tymo holding up the other end.  End of the day we were 5/99. The plan in week 2 was to roll them for less than 200 and take our time with the extra overs chasing around 100. The execution of the plan started well with Sid taking a wicket in his 2nd over and another in his 3rd to a sharp slips catch by Sammy.  D'Nop then Crooky joined the party reducing Monbulk to 9/189 off 48. Unfortunately a dropped catch off the next ball jet them off the hook with them putting the cue in the rack and dead batting and edging their way to 229 in the 67th over. Apart from the dropped catch, our fielding was sensational with all field catches taken,  including a couple of blinders from Sammy. G Bakker 3/26; D'Nop 3/30; Sid 2/17 We were disappointed with the 40 run last wicket stand which left us with 130 to get off 38 rather than 91 off 57. The situation was straight forward. Scoring around 4 per over on a fast ground did not require any risks to be taken. Be patient and play our game, on our terms. Tymo hung around before being bowled by Monbulk's Division 1 bowler  (yep, you read that right as well!) Rick Lamars for a patient and technically correct 8 runs. Gez looked good before tickling a ball down leg to be caught behind for 17. Grega hung around as Grega does before poking a ball to point to be out for 10. Singha and Crooky came and went with us 35 runs short with 10 overs left on the table. C Stuckey 54; G Bakker 39*; G Jongen 17 So, we now sit outside the 4 with 3 winnable games to come. #notoutofit Views: 1704