Round 18 - 6th/7th March 2010
Longley
Cricket Club fielded four teams in the final round of the HCCA
roster season the past weekend with the highlight of the round
being our B2 team winning their first match for the summer,
defeating Southern Tigers and avoiding the wooden spoon to finish
the season on a high, with B1 and C grade also posting wins, both
against Margate, and A grade losing to North Huon.
Our
A grade team travelled to Glen Huon and with little to play for
were probably thinking about the evening’s social event at the
Bunyips’ clubrooms more than the match at hand and did not put
up much fight against a team focussing on finals in comings weeks,
being rolled for 103 in 30 overs and North Huon chasing down the
runs inside 14 overs for the loss of 3 wickets. Michael Pearce (39
and 2-27) opened the batting for the first time this season,
looking comfortable in the role, and also opened the bowling with
his leg spin and picked up a couple of wickets to complete a nice
double. Despite being at a handy 1-50 in the 13th over the Bunyip
batting line up could not bat through their 50 overs and the
Warriors had little trouble chasing down the modest total.
B1
hosted Margate at home and we looking to keep their winning streak
intact ahead of sudden death finals next week and, batting first,
posted another respectable performance with the bat. Michael
Millhouse (38) again got things off to a strong start. At 1-64 in
the 11th over things moved along steadily with the top order again
all reaching double figures and building towards a good total. A
slight hiccup with the score at 4-142 in the 30th over, saw it
slip to 7-146 5 overs late but was recovered well with Dean
Chatwin (51*) and Caden Wilson (35) forming a 50 run partnership
and with assistance from the tail saw the Bunyips post 9-247 after
their 50 overs.
Margate
set off on their chase in confident fashion and were threatening
with a 50 run partnership inside the first 6 overs, however one
wicket brought a second in quick succession and the run scoring
dried up to bring the match back to a tight contest. A steady run
scoring rate was maintained by Margate but were losing wickets
regularly and looked out of the match at 9-169 with 16 overs
remaining. A tenth wicket partnership of 53 had the Bunyips under
pressure and dropped catches threatened to snatch defeat from the
jaws of victory before Josh Kline finally kept hold of a chance
and Margate were dismissed for 222 in the 40th over, 25 runs short
of the total.
Some
below standard bowling and fielding from our B1 team this week,
with the weather obviously making it hard to maintain
concentration and energy levels at times. However it will be
critical to lift our performance in coming weeks, with the
competition also aiming to perform at their peak, if we are to go
as far as we believe we can this season.
The
highlight for the club from Saturday was definitely the return of
the B2 side to the club, with A grade already back and B1 having
finished shortly beforehand, with smiles on their faces and some
war wounds on display and proudly declaring that they had done it,
finally, and won a game. Leaving it to the last match of the
season, B2 narrowly avoided going the season without a win.
Playing the Southern Tigers away, the Bunyips clicked with their
batting and compiled a solid -284 from 50 overs. Charlie Schreuder
(39) batted well at number three and Brock Armstrong (91) and Mark
Millhouse (93*) combined for a 120 run 6th wicket partnership.
With one over remaining Millhouse was on 71 and decided to have a
crack at the ton. 22 runs came off the final over, with Millhouse
probably only needing another two balls with the way he was
scoring, with 13 boundaries in his innings, including 3 sixes in
the final over.
The
Tigers, having had a tough season themselves, made a good effort
in response but from 3-93 after 18 overs, stumbled and lost 4
wickets quickly. They never recovered and were bowled out for 151
in the 39th over. The wickets were shared amongst four of the
Bunyips’ bowlers, With Charlie Schrueder (4-47) enjoying the
most success and Brock Armstrong (2-30) and Mark Millhouse (2-11
from 10 overs) both completing good all round matches, and Michael
Tolman (2-21) picking up a couple with his legspin.
Congratulations
to the B2 boys, especially those that have stuck at it each week
without a lot of success, for not only picking up a win the final
game, but for being a critical part of the structure of the club,
providing opportunities for players to be promoted to higher
grades and keeping players in higher grades on their toes to
maintain their own performances. B1’s strong performance this
season is largely thanks to having the depth of both B2 and C
grade behind them.
C
grade hosted Margate and needed the win to snatch back third
place, which Bruny held briefly following their win on Saturday.
With a loss meaning a tough trip to play Bruny on Bruny in the
first week of finals, it was critical for C grade to win and with
the prospect of a double header finals weekend for the Bunyips at
home next week, the reward was significant. With a fantastic
individual performance from Daniel Woolley (125*) and good support
from his team mates, C grade were able to secure the win strongly.
Batting
first the Bunyips were off to a reasonable start reaching 1-48
after nine overs, with James Skabo (62) again opening and
continuing his remarkable run with his seventh half century from
his last eight knocks to fittingly deserve the title of run
machine. Daniel Woolley, batting at four, joined Skabo in the 10th
over and batted out the remaining overs to record the highest
individual score for the club this season. Woolley put in the most
impressive display of stamina, considering the weather conditions
by backing up in the field; he took the keeper’s gloves till the
first drinks break, then rounded off his great day with a run out
and energetic performance in the field throughout the innings.
Skabo and Woolley combined for a 131 run partnership which set up
the innings for a huge total. At the fall of Skabo the score stood
at 3-183 from 28 overs and a book quickly started on what the
final score would be, with wickets in hand and plenty of overs
remaining anything was possible. Ben Coppleman (23) and Craig
Scott (18) chipped in with some handy runs and were part of half
century partnerships with Woolley which capitalised beautifully on
the solid foundation set by the top order. At the end of the fifty
overs, a very solid 6-320 was posted.
Margate
set about the chase with intent and posted a 50 run opening stand
inside 9 overs. With the fall of the first wicket at 54, the
momentum slowed and it was apparent from there that Margate were
batting for pride and had no intention of letting the Bunyips
escape the heat and faced our their 50 overs to post 8-198. The
eight Bunyip bowlers used were all made to work hard without
spectacular returns and Jack Bishop (2-14) was the only multiple
wicket taker. Well done Margate for making a touch match of it and
well done to our C grade boys for a strong win and reaching the
finals in third place.
Saturday
saw a last minute social event organised; “Ladies Day”. Due to
popular demand (demands such as “when are you blokes going to do
something for us for a change??!” ) some bubbly and nibblies
were organised through the week. The lads’ (much) better halves
were out in force and certainly improved the look of the club and
put to shame our nibblies by laying out a fantastic spread of
their own which kept everyone well fed well into the evening.
Fantastic weather for cricket viewing was conveniently arranged
for the ladies and with A grade and B2 arriving back at the club
late in the game a good crowd soon built up and with the
assistance of the music on the loudspeaker and the presidential
fire pot, the final roster weekend of the season turned into one
of the best social functions of the year. The club would like to
thank all the ladies that helped make the day a success, their
catering, and more importantly thank them for supporting the men
throughout the season and for letting us out to play every
weekend.
Good
luck to our B1 and C grade teams playing finals, and we wish all
clubs competing in finals good luck and are looking forward to
some touch competitive matches in the coming weeks. All Bunyip
supporters are encouraged to get to Bunyip HQ this weekend with
home finals on both days, to cheer us on, see some great cricket
with both teams in good form and serious contenders for a
crack at the big one in three weeks.
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