L. Newstead was Yarra Junction’s top scorer with 78.By Keith Thompson, YVCA secretary.
WANDIN was in early trouble with the loss of five wickets against host Woori Yallock in round nine in the Yarra Valley Cricket Association senior competition on Saturday in the D. J. Strachan Shield.
Wandin batted first and collapsed to 5/54 until a partnership between Troy Murphy and Simon Young put some strength into the its innings.
Murphy batted solidly for more than 50 overs to score 83 while Young went about his task in a more cavalier fashion reaching 85 before being dismissed. The best of the Woori Yallock bowlers were Tim Diggins with 4/48 and Damien Ryan with 2/22.
At Coldstream the visitors again made first use of the wicket but Seville crashed to 4/10 and was in trouble aplenty until Leigh Aitkins (31) joined Adam Burns (30) to slow the flow of wickets.
Later Ishara Amerasinghe chipped in with 29 as the tail wagged to get the visitors to 222 all out. L. Lambert (3/59), Nathan Cuthbertson (2/17), Chris Dobson (2/23) and Scott Reece (2/35) shared the spoils for Coldstream with the ball.
In second place on the ladder and playing at home, Mount Evelyn was looking to consolidate its place against the lower-placed Yarra Junction, but the Eagles had other ideas.
They amassed 304 at the end of the day’s play with L. Newstead on 78 and Brad Jones and Nathan Fall each getting scores of 52. For Mount Evelyn, Aaron Booth (3/71) and Luke Jones (2/12) were the main force with the ball on a warm but great cricket day.
Hoddles Creek, keen to perform well at home, batted first in the match against Silvan but at day’s end had only 173 in the scorebook with Brenton Derix on 53 and Wayne Weir on 24. M. Neal, with 4/58 off 15 overs, did the job for Silvan.
If Silvan gets off to a good start in its innings it should get the runs, but early breakthroughs from Crew or Derix would see Hoddles Creek put its nose in front.
In the R. A. Finger Trophy Yarra Junction was 1/25 at stumps after dismissing Coldstream for 161, with Paul Harris making 42, Matt Johnson 28 and Tom McCulloch 36. Geoff Fall took 4/36 and Toby Pilton 2/23.
At Wandin, Yarra Glen has a first innings lead after bowling the home side out for 101. Rick Painter made 20, Jamie Holland took 5/32 and John Orren 3/37. Yarra Glen is 3/107 with Alex Cowan making 49 and Brad Johnson taking 2/29.
Warburton Millgrove was all out for 223 with Rod Brown contributing 89 and A. Tazzyman taking 5/58. Woori Yallock was 2/33.
In the Healesville-Seville match at Seville the home side was all out for 111 as Alan Pearce took four top-order wickets for Healesville, which took first innings points and at stumps was 7/175.
As the ladders take shape leading into the last three rounds, all clubs will be seeking to shore up final four places, so some interesting cricket will come our way over the next six to eight weeks.
