By David Marshall
With the rainy weekend causing the 2XI and 3XI games to be abandoned, only our 1XI got the chance to stretch their legs on Saturday. Sunday, however, offered perfect cricketing weather, allowing our Women’s team and the Yarra Valley Vets to hit the field.
Wandin Men’s 1st XI
The 1st XI ventured down to Park Orchards for their first 2-day match of the season against Warrandyte. Losing the toss, Wandin was promptly sent into bat, finding themselves up against a fierce Warrandyte bowling attack. It wasn’t an easy day at the office for our top order. Openers Bryce Edwards (11) and Dave Thorne (13) dug in deep, showing the kind of grit normally reserved for a Sunday morning hangover, facing 40 and 59 balls respectively before falling to the relentless pressure.
A couple of quick wickets later, things were looking about as stable as a house of cards in a windstorm, until Captain Rick Painter and Taylan Hall stepped in to save the day. They built a much-needed middle-order partnership of 56 runs—Rick contributing a hard-fought 17 while Taz top-scored with a crucial 27. Unfortunately, the lower order couldn’t find much rhythm, and we were bowled out for 131—hardly ideal, but hey, cricket’s a funny game.
Then came Wandin’s turn to bowl, and boy, did the lads bring their A-game. After 20 overs, Warrandyte had only managed 22 runs for the loss of 2 wickets. Mitch Kogleman had Warrandyte’s opener trapped LBW in the very first over, setting the tone for the rest of the innings. Koges finished with the kind of bowling figures that make you double-check it was actually him bowling. 5 overs, 1 for 3! Meanwhile, Jarrod Dobson was tighter than a jar of pickles, conceding just 4 runs from his 4 overs. Taz and Ethan Alderman kept the pressure on, with Taz removing the other opener with a beauty of a ball. Taz ended with 6 overs, 1 for 5, while Ethan gave away just 10 runs in his 5 overs.
If Wandin keeps this kind of form up, Day 2 promises to be an absolute nail-biter.
Wandin Women’s 1st XI
Meanwhile, over at the picturesque Wandin East Oval, our Women’s 1st XI took on North Ringwood under bright skies. After losing the toss and being sent in to bat, Wandin knuckled down to post a competitive total of 5 for 106. While all Wandin’s batters provided valuable contributions, the star of the show was none other than Gayle ‘Two Hands’ Burgi, who carried her bat from start to finish like an absolute champion, scoring 44 not out off 66 balls. Gayle owned the leg-side boundary, dispatching anything loose to the fence, while keeping the good ones at bay.
With a decent total on the board, the bowlers stepped up to the challenge. Olivia ‘Captain Fantastic’ Edwards opened the attack with a cracking spell, picking up 2 for 5 from her 3 overs. Kerry Peet was promoted to open alongside her, and she didn’t disappoint, grabbing 1 for 19. And just when things looked to be steady for North Ringwood, Olivia produced a highlight-reel moment with a direct-hit run-out from side-on that had jaws dropping.
Tilly Pearce, bowling the most overs of anyone, kept things tight with 0 for 13 from her 4 overs, while Sky Wilson and Allanah Peet applied more pressure, conceding just 2 and 7 runs, respectively. The bowlers combined to restrict North Ringwood to 4 for 85, securing a strong win over a tough opponent.
Yarra Valley Vets
Yarra Valley pulled off one of their greatest-ever run-chases with a thrilling win over a strong Ringwood combination in round two of the Victorian over-60s cricket competition at Wandin last Sunday.
Set an imposing 214 runs to win off 40 overs, Yarra Valley overhauled the total with seven balls to spare, thanks to a spirited team batting display led by dashing knocks from John Masters with 40 retired off just 23 deliveries and Phil Jackson with 42 retired off 25 balls. Both hit seven boundaries.
They were capably supported by Bill Dobson with a stylish 29 not out (three fours), Frank Bernabo 20 (three fours), Gary Semple 17 retired, Trevor Selby 16 and Rick Kohlman 15 (three fours).
After some nervous moments as the target approached, John King sealed the result with a timely boundary.
Earlier, Yarra Valley’s bowlers had toiled hard after Ringwood’s top-order batsmen got away to a flyer, bringing up the century in just the 17th over for the loss of just one wicket. Three wickets to skipper Eric Glazner (3-14 off five overs) and two each to Trevor Selby and Rick Kohlman stemmed the tide, restricting Ringwood to 7-213 when a total of around 250 had looked possible.
John Masters was named Yarra Valley’s man of the match for his game-changing innings at No. 3, while opener Darren Bersey earned the honour for Ringwood with a classy 35 off 28 balls with six fours and a six.
