First XI
Defending 218 against Wonga Park, the First XI had a job to do with the ball, and they took that job very seriously.
With such tight bowling, the skipper only had to use five bowlers; spinner Tyson Gaskett bowled 22 overs for 23 runs, workhorse Terry Bennett bowled 25 overs taking 4-28, and Lochie Winter-Annette bowled 10 overs finishing with 2-6.
Angus Gelly also bowled impressively, finishing with 4-56 off his 19 overs. Wonga Park just could not find a way to get runs, and were eventually dismissed for 123, in a superb display by our bowlers and fielders, getting win number three.
Women’s First XI
Fresh from the first win of the year last week, our Women’s XI were on a roll taking on Wandin at Wandin. Bowling first, everyone contributed brilliantly, and never let Wandin get away, consistently taking wickets throughout the innings.
Wickets to Stacey Mercuri, Ella Amore, Melissa Page, Amelia English, Caitlyn Paker and Lucy Pritchard kept the pressure on, but the highlight was Reina Kodama’s first ever bowling effort in a match, finishing the innings off in style with 2 fantastic wickets, bringing the crowd to their feet.
Wandin were dismissed for 84, and we set about chasing that down as quickly as possible.
Sisters Caitlyn and Georgia Parker got off to a flyer with a 57 run opening stand in nine overs.
Georgia dismissed on 21, but Caitlyn kept her run of form going and steered the ship home with an unbeaten 38, ably supported by Nikki Philpot, who was quick to remind her husband that she outscored him this weekend with her 5*.
Second XI
The game at Woori Yallock against Chirnside Park was evenly poised at the close of play last week, so this could have gone either way.
Council had dumped a few truckloads of sand on the ground during the week, so batting was going to be a bit more difficult for us this week.
Young Flynn Pritchard did the hard work last week, but was dismissed early, while Michael Dwyer was his usual consistent self, scoring 35 off 136 balls before being dismissed.
Even contributions from most batters throughout the innings kept the game alive, but when Stephen Morgan was dismissed after smashing a ball into the umpire, which ricocheted and was caught, it was looking like trouble at 7-121 still needing 70 to win.
Lucky for us, Matt McConnell was still at the crease, his perfect blend of defending the good balls, but punishing anything he could with inventive stroke play saw him and Viren Kumar get us over the line eight down.
Viren ending on 24* and Matt 45* in a finish to remember.
Third XI
Our Third’s has their work cut out for them, with the split innings format seeing Wonga Park on 0-179, and us resuming batting at 4-115.
Stuart Parker was the rock of our innings, scoring freely whilst most fell around him, Marty White provided some support with 19, but with ducks a plenty down the order he was running out of partners.
Saxon Madsen was valiant at number 11, scoring seven runs before being dismissed, unfortunately stranding Stuart on 99* with the score at 221.
Only needing 43, Wonga Park chased down the runs without losing any wickets.
Fourth XI
In their second game of the season, the Fourth XI took on Warrandyte at Lilydale.
Batting first, captain Paul Broussard once again retired with 52 off 51 balls.
Some good batting from the youngsters in the team, Cameron Philpot, Oscar Broussard and Noah Kelsall all giving it a good go, and getting the score to 7-130 off their 36 overs.
A great start from Mason McNeill saw him snag a wicket in the second over.
Once again, everyone had a bowl, gaining some great senior experience for the younger players, and the not so young getting to enjoy the cricket too.
Warrandyte managed to pass our score one wicket down in the 26th over.
