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A GAME that looked to be out of its grasp has become one of Huntly-North Epsom’s most stunning victories in the BDCA.
While it’s hard to top the Power’s ending of a 78-game winless streak against Eaglehawk in December of 2010 for memorable wins, Saturday’s one-run triumph over Golden Square at Wade Street is right up there given the position in which they fought their way out of.
Square appeared to be coasting to victory, needing just 18 runs with seven wickets in hand and skipper Ben Gunn and Josh Baird both established at the crease.
However, while 87 is known as the devil’s number in cricket, on Saturday it was 171 for Golden Square.
Square lost four wickets with the score on 171, starting when the Power’s Adam Ward had Gunn (50) caught by wicket-keeper Brodie McRae.
Next delivery Ward trapped Scott Trollope (0) lbw, and when Danushka Wijemanna removed Baird (14) and Scott Johnson (0) shortly after Square had fallen from a comfortable 3-171 to a dicey 7-171 and the Power had their tails up.
When coach Grant Connelly (5) and Liam Smith (6) were both given out lbw it left No.11 Corey Van Aken to join Luke Baird at the crease with Square 9-185 and needing four runs for victory.
As the tension grew, Baird (4 n.o.) scored two singles and Van Aken had defended stoutly the first nine balls he faced.
But on his 10th ball and one needed to tie, Van Aken (0) popped a catch up to Anthony Tannmer at short mid-wicket off Wijemanna to cap a remarkable fightback for the Power, who not only won their first game of the season, but inflicted Square’s first defeat.
The dismissal of Van Aken completed a burst of 7-16 to close out the game for the Power in which Wijemanna (4-18 off 13) and Ward (3-19 off 16) combined for all seven wickets in the onslaught.
“Wardy was instrumental at tea in saying to the group that we’ve all got to buy-in and see where it can take us,” said Power skipper Elliott Massina, who chimed in with 2-54 off 18 overs.
“He really drilled home that the wicket was getting harder to bat on and that at some stage we’d create some chances… we probably didn’t expect to create 4-0.
“To Wardy and Danushka’s credit, they started to get the ball to go a bit Irish and controlled it really well. If you bowl at the pegs long enough you create chances and they were both great.”
Wardy was instrumental at tea in saying to the group that we’ve all got to buy-in and see where it can take us
- Elliott Massina - Huntly-North Epsom captain
Earlier, opener Tim Wood got Golden Square off to another flyer with a hard-hitting 72 off 63 – his third score above 50 in four hits so far.
Wood was aggressive from the outset – his first 29 runs featuring five fours and a six – and by the 11th over Square had already passed 50.
Gunn’s 50 was the other half-century in the Golden Square innings that had started so promising, but ended in the most dramatic of capitulations.
Golden Square will have a significant inclusion into its team next round in star batsman Ryan Hartley, who has joined the club full-time after finishing with Premier Cricket club Prahran, where he played the first five rounds of this season in the first XI.
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• Letting Strathdale-Maristians off the hook on day one has come back to haunt Bendigo United, which is now the only winless team after four rounds.
Chasing the Suns’ 305 at Bell Oval the young Redbacks – led by a century to Tyson Templeton – didn’t go down without a fight in answering with 269, but like their 343 the previous week against White Hills have no reward for effort.
The fact 269 wasn’t enough to win would be a source of frustration for the Redbacks given they one stage had Strathdale-Maristians 8-193 last week, before the Suns’ last two wickets combined for 112 runs.
The Redbacks, who still had more than 10 overs left unused, had some rearguard action of their own. They had been 7-142 just after tea before their last three wickets added 127 runs – the bulk of which were scored by the attacking Templeton.
Batting at No.7, Templeton smashed an unbeaten 116 off 109 to score his first BDCA century and he made sure to limit his running by scoring 88 of his runs in fours (10) and sixes (eight).
His century was the BDCA’s 10th scored in the opening four rounds of the season.
Templeton’s first two scoring shots were a pair of sixes as he began his innings in the midst of a Redbacks’ batting collapse.
The Redbacks crashed from a healthy 1-94 in the 32nd over to 6-118 in the 41st, with the Suns’ Cameron Taylor having a hand in all five of the wickets to fall in quick succession.
Not only did he take four of them with his leg-spinners, but he also caught Redbacks’ captain Leigh McDermott (0).
Taylor finished with a haul of 7-97 off 25 overs – the 18th time he has bagged at least five wickets for the Suns, with his figures the best in the competition so far this season.
Among Taylor’s seven wickets was Jake Klemm, who followed up his double century last round with 53, immediately picking up from where he left off with his first seven scoring shots featuring a pair of sixes.
The dismissal of Klemm ended a 69-run partnership with Nick Williamson (39) for the second wicket.
The victory levelled the Suns’ record at 2-2 and their team is about to be significantly strengthened next game by the return of gun batsman Andrew Chalkley from Premier Cricket club Monash Tigers.
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• Kangaroo Flat didn’t allow Bendigo to get halfway to its target at the QEO as the Roos completed an impressive all-round performance with bat and ball.
Defending 9-324, the Roos skittled the Goers for 157 in a result that now has both teams with 2-2 records.
The dismissals of Liam Evans (5) and Kyle Humphrys (4) had the Roos on top early and they didn’t take their foot off the throat of the Goers in what was a frustrating innings where they had five players dismissed between 20 and 30 – Joel Mortimer (30) in his first A grade innings for five seasons, Tom Hart (28), Mark Ryan (27), Matt Gray (24) and Nathan Fitzpatrick (20).
More than half the Goers’ runs came from two partnerships – 48 for the fourth wicket between Hart and Mortimer, who were both dismissed in the same over by Adam Burns, and 45 for eighth between Ryan and Gray.
The Roos’ front-line bowlers in Burns (3-27), Dylan Klemm (3-27) and skipper Brent Hamblin (2-11) shared eight wickets between them.
READ MORE – Strathdale-Maristians v Bendigo United | PHOTOS
“We spoke as a bowling group that we needed to bowl really consistent from the start,” Hamblin said.
“Dylan Klemm got the key wicket of Humphrys with a really good catch from Daniel Barber, and we knew if we could get two or three of their key batsmen out early it would put a lot of pressure on their middle.
“Our bowling group is just starting to hits its mark now and, although he didn’t get a wicket, it was great to see the way young Luke Stagg (0-17 off 7) bowled.
“To get 320-odd last week and then bowl a good side like Bendigo out for around 160 today is a really pleasing performance.”
The Roos finished at 6-108 in their second innings, which included a half-century to in-form opener Daniel Barber (56).
Fellow opener Matt Dwyer had a slice of luck when – coming off three ducks in a row – he was dropped first ball he faced by Hart at gully off Bailey Goodwin (0-31) and was able to get off the mark with an all-run four on his way to a quickfire 36 off 26.
Evans (3-25) picked up three second innings wickets for the Goers.
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• White Hills was left to rue a flurry of wickets just after tea as it fell short in its run chase against reigning premier Sandhurst at Scott Street.
In pursuit of the Dragons’ 270 the Demons had been a solidly-placed 2-147 off 46 overs at tea.
But inside the first six overs after the resumption the Dragons struck three times removing Ollie Geary (45), Rhys Irwin (61) and Linc Jacobs (3).
And when skipper Mitch Winter-Irving (6) was added to the list of post-tea dismissals the Demons had slumped to 6-170.
READ MORE – The season in photos so far
Having to bat one short due to a hand injury to Cameron Berry, the Demons eventually fell 41 runs shy of their target as they finished at 9-229.
Just as he did in the second innings against Eaglehawk in round two wicket-keeper Ben Daley showed plenty of grit with the bat in finishing 42 n.o, while opener Irwin’s 61 was the Demons’ top score.
Irwin spent 147 balls at the crease, before he was one of three wickets for Nick Gladman (3-27) and three catches for wicket-keeper Will Gadsden.
As well as Gladman’s tidy 3-27 off 17 overs, recruit Matt Combe (3-51) also snared three wickets for the Dragons, who beat the Demons for the first time since 2012-13.
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• Eaglehawk has moved to the top of the ladder courtesy of its 37-run win over Strathfieldsaye at Tannery Lane.
The Hawks passed the Jets’ total of 173 five wickets down before being bowled out for 210.
More than half the Hawks’ runs came from the pair of captain Cory Jacobs, who made 70 opening in an innings that lasted until just before tea, and No.4 Brodie Hawke, whose 55 was a career-best with the Borough.
Jets’ left-arm off-spinner Savith Priyan (5-66 off 25) snared his first five-wicket haul for his new club, with his scalps including Matt Fitt (22), who he trapped lbw first ball after tea.
Jets’ youngster Jed Rodda (1-8 off 8) was economical, bowling 26 balls before he conceded his first run.
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NEXT ROUND:
November 24-25 – Sandhurst v Strathdale-Maristians, Bendigo v White Hills, Golden Square v Eaglehawk, Bendigo United v Strathfieldsaye, Huntly-North Epsom v Kangaroo Flat.
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