First XI
The First XI hiked out to Templestowe to face Wonga Park in a two-dayer.
Batting first, it was a rocky start to say the least; seven of the top eight batsmen were dismissed for single figures, and at 7-37 it looked to be a grim day indeed.
A massive 101 run partnership for the seventh wicket between new captain Matt Robinson (73) and Tyson Gaskett (56), saw us save some face, and then continued with Terry Bennett (28*), to get the score to a respectable 218 from 64 overs.
Wonga Park faced 16 overs in the late afternoon and were 0-15 at the close of play.
Women’s First XI
In a rain affected outing at Woori Yallock, our Women’s team took on St Andrews.
Once the rain cleared, the game was now 20 overs each.
St Andrews batted first, and we bowled and fielded well, restricting their free scoring runs somewhat.
St. Andrews ended with 6-101 with two wickets to Amelia English, and one to Lucy Pritchard whose three overs saw her end with figures of 1-5, in a high scoring affair this was excellent economy.
In the batting innings there was contributions all down the order; Sam Maryanto strong early with 20 off 21.
It came down to the wire, when Lucy Pritchard came to the crease, we still needed 33 of five overs to win.
Lucy along with Caitlyn Parker’s excellent 36* off 33 steered the ship home with a four from Caity off the second last ball for their first win of the season.
Second XI
Back at Woori Yallock Reserve, our Second XI are taking on Chirnside Park.
Bowling first, openers Luke Thomas bowled brilliantly but unluckily while Jai Gupta took 2-21 from his first 10 overs.
Matt McConnell came on and swung the game, with 4-32, including three wickets in one particularly memorable over.
Jackson Wright’s return to Lusatia Park was fruitful as his blistering pace off 4 steps saw him nab three wickets of his own.
At 8-74, things were looking very good, unfortunately a late couple of late partnerships and powerful hitting saw the score get to 190, before Luke Thomas finally broke through in his second spell.
With 20 overs to bat, we lost opener Dean Sharman early, but some incredibly resilient batting from young Flynn Pritchard, and not so young Michael Dwyer in tricky conditions saw us through to stumps at 1-33.
Third XI
Our Third’s first two-dayer of the season saw them take on Wonga Park at Wickhams Road Reserve.
We sent Wonga Park in to bat, and their openers were strong from the outset; giving very few chances in a massive 179 unbeaten partnership off their first 36 over innings.
Our batters had less luck; although a strong 56 from Dan Madsen ably supported by Stuart Parker (35*) saw us rescue the innings a bit to be 4-115 after our own 36 overs.
Fourth XI
Finally getting to take the field, our Fourth XI took on Healesville at Margaret Lewis Reserve in the modified L grade.
In a team made up mostly of juniors and their dads; it was a very respectable first effort.
Skipper Paul Broussard supported the youngsters as they batted around him, scoring a 50 and retiring.
Down the order Stacey Mercuri hit a solid 21, proudly outscoring many at the club for the weekend.
Paul Broussard came back in to bat towards the end of innings, but unprepared, came in without pads and with an U-14 bat.
The final total 119.
The ball was shared around when it came time for our turn; 11 bowlers used and everyone had a crack.
Healesville came away with a comfortable win, scoring 2-122 off 23 overs.
