STRATHFIELDSAYE captain Ben Devanny concedes he mis-read the pitch conditions at Strauch Reserve that began a horror day for the Jets against Huntly-North Epsom on Saturday.

Devanny won the toss and sent the Power in and what followed was a disastrous afternoon for the Jets in a one-sided BDCA one-day shellacking.

Firstly, the Power produced their best batting performance of the season in cracking 6-229 off their 45 overs.

And then came a dismal Strathfieldsaye batting performance – the Jets routed for just 39 in under 25 overs in a mammoth 190-run loss.

“I’ll be honest; I probably mis-read the pitch a little bit in sending them in after winning the toss,” Devanny said on Saturday night.

“There were some big soft spots from the morning game. But it wasn’t a pitch that was 39-bad or 230-good either. They completely smashed us in every aspect. They batted better, bowled a hell of a lot better and caught better.

“It was a tough day, but there was no ranting or raving after the game. We can’t change it now and we’ve got to put it behind us and move on the best we can.

“But we might come back a session earlier than what had been originally planned after the break.”

The Jets lost their 10 wickets with the score at 7, 7, 7, 11, 16, 29, 35, 35, 37 and 39, with Luke Jones (13 n.o.) the only player in double figures in what was the lowest score in Strathfieldsaye history, surpassing its previous worst of 41 against Kangaroo Flat in round seven of 2002-03.

The Power’s 10 wickets were shared between the trio of Brett Elvey (4-3), Mitch Whittle (3-16) and Adam Ward (3-17), with the victory the side’s fifth in a row.

The Power now have 60 wickets for 611 runs off 284 overs through their five-game winning streak, which has them sitting third and 10 points inside the top four at the mid-season break following a shaky 0-3 start.

“I’m blown away with the result today,” Power skipper Elliott Massina said.

“We were ecstatic to get 229 with the bat because that has been a bit of an Achilles Heel for us, particularly in one-dayers over the past three or four years.

“The boys were really patient with the bat and gave ourselves the chance to have a good go in the last five or six overs with wickets still in the shed.

“The batting was the key and then after getting a few early wickets we spoke about it being the best we’ve started as a fielding group for a while.

“We were really clean and vocal in the field to back up the work of the bowlers and it was just a really good all-round day. We had the best of the conditions and things went our way.”

ROUND 8 LADDER        

The Power’s 6-229 was kickstarted by a quickfire half-century from Ward, who moved up the order to open.

Ward belted 64 off 49 balls with four fours and three sixes and was well supported by fellow opener Ryan Grundy (30), with the pair already having 54 on the board after just 10 overs.

Ward’s 64 was one of two half-centuries in the Power innings, with Shehan De Silva (50) also raising his bat

The Jets’ Pat Felmingham made the most of a rare chance for a bowl, picking up 2-22 off five overs, including the wicket of De Silva, who was caught at deep mid-wicket by Jets’ debutante Seamus Dwyer.

Spinner Savith Priyan (2-33) also claimed two wickets for the Jets, who following a 2-0 start have since won just one of their past six games.

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• Perennial power Strathdale-Maristians rose to the occasion under pressure, toppling ladder-leader Sandhurst at Weeroona Oval.

Starting the day in the unfamiliar position of 10 points outside the top four, the Suns won by 59 runs to end Sandhurst’s five-game winning streak and also cost the Dragons top spot.

Against an opponent they had lost four in a row against – including last season’s grand final – the Suns posted 6-222 batting first. 

Cameron Taylor (32) and James Vlaeminck (25) laid a solid foundation with a 63-run opening stand, while the aggressive Sam Johnston (63 n.o.) and Linton Jacobs (17 n.o.) later finished off the innings with an unbroken 59-run partnership.

There was plenty of lusty hitting in the Suns’ innings, which featured 12 sixes, including three in consecutive balls by Andrew Chalkley (25) off young Dragons’ spinner Kayde Howard.

However, Howard – who was the Dragons’ leading wicket-taker with 4-55 – had the last laugh when he had Chalkley caught by Matt Combe next ball.

Johnston also hit three in four balls during one over from Sam Sperling (0-34).

Johnston’s unbeaten 63 off 49 balls was his first half-century of the season, having previously been dismissed three times on 49.

The Dragons were unable to replicate the solid start of the Suns in their run-chase – reeling at 5-46 in the 17^th over on the way to being bowled out for 163.

Spinner Vlaeminck was given the new ball and it proved a wise piece of captaincy from Ben DeAraugo as he snared three of the first five wickets to fall before finishing with 3-30.

READ MORE – Sandhurst v Strathdale-Maristians | PHOTOS

The only time the Dragons were able to stem the momentum of the Suns was an 80-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Ash Gray (46) – whose next outing will be with Victoria Country at the Australian Country Cricket Championships in Shepparton – and Shane Robinson (28).

Chalkley was kept busy in slips by taking three catches.

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• Kangaroo Flat ended a seven-season drought against nemesis Eaglehawk with a vital three-wicket victory at Dower Park.

The day started with another win at the toss for Roos’ skipper Brent Hamblin, who is now 8-0 in tosses this season.

Hamblin’s decision to bowl first paid dividends when the Hawks were on the ropes at 7-60 in the 27^th over.

But the trio of Anthony West (45), Ben Williams (26 n.o.) and Shaun Knott (22) dug in to ensure the Hawks batted out their 45 overs, adding a further 74 runs to push the score to  9-134.

No.3 West batted from the fourth over through to the 37^th during a 121-minute stay at the crease.

Leg-spinner Chris Barber’s 3-23 off nine overs were the best bowling figures for the Roos, who given their capitulation of 9-19 against Huntly-North Epsom the previous week had some anxious moments when they fell to 6-73 in the 25^th over.

However, Matt Dwyer proved the stumbling block for the Hawks with an unbeaten 41 that guided the Roos to victory in the 40^th over and their first win over Eaglehawk since 2010-11.

Earlier, Barber followed his three wickets up with a brisk 32 off 26 opening the batting for the Roos.

With Cory Jacobs forced to watch from the sidelines with a calf injury suffered while batting, the Hawks were captained in the field by Knott, who four times had immediate success with a bowling change.

READ MORE – Kangaroo Flat v Eaglehawk | PHOTOS

Russell Stockdale (1-20), Cam McGlashan (1-25), Aaron Monro (2-14) and Brodie Hawke (1-11) all took wickets in their first overs for the Hawks, while Knott chimed in with 2-34.

The Hawks slipped from third to fourth with the defeat.

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• White Hills spoiled Mark Ryan’s 300^th game for Bendigo, prevailing by 122 runs.

The Demons’ win was set up by a superb batting display in which they crunched 7-251 after winning the toss.

Atkins Street again proved a happy hunting ground for Demons’ skipper Mitch Winter-Irving.

Having previously made two centuries at the ground, Winter-Irving fell just short of a third when he was dismissed for 94.

The Demons’ innings included a 99-run partnership for the second wicket between Winter-Irving and Gavin Bowles (45); 53 for the third between Winter-Irving and Ollie Geary (25); and 61 for the fifth between Caleb Barras (34) and David Blume (24 n.o.).

Spinner Tom Hart’s 2-32 for Bendigo included a wicket with both the first ball of his spell (Geary) and last (Ben Daley, 0).

Bendigo in reply could muster just 129 – the third time in their past five games the Goers were bowled out for less than 160.

The Demons made early inroads when they had the Goers under pressure at 3-23 in the 10^th over, while Bendigo later lost its last four wickets for just 11 runs.

Ryan – the first player in Bendigo history to reach the 300-game mark – was caught by Tom Dunham off Linc Jacobs for one in his milestone match.

Nathan Fitzpatrick’s 33 off 32 was the top score for the Goers, while the Demons spread the load with the ball.

Jacobs (3-17) – who opened the bowling with his spin – Tom Schultz (2-30), Winter-Irving (2-25) and Nick Wallace (2-32) were all multiple wicket-takers for the Demons, who are right back in the finals hunt with their ledger now square at 4-4, while the Goers are languishing with just two wins.

According to BDCA historian Darren Rodda, Ryan is just the 11^th player in BDCA history to reach 300 games.

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• Golden Square heads into the mid-season break on top of the ladder after replacing Sandhurst.

Square defeated Bendigo United by 64 runs at Harry Trott Oval and in doing so consigned the Redbacks to a winless 2018 calendar year in home and away games. 

The Redbacks were forced to weather an early storm from in-form Square openers Ben Gunn (43) and Tim Wood (24).

Square was already 69 off just eight overs – and that was after the first over of the day was a maiden bowled by Miggy Podsoky (0-26).

At that stage the Square run-rate was 8.6, but the Redbacks worked hard to trim it back to 4.9 by the end of the innings as Golden Square finished at 8-222.

Just as he did against the Redbacks at Harry Trott Oval three weeks earlier, Scott Trollope (54) made a half-century, while the standout with the ball for the Redbacks was Ashley Younghusband (3-19).

The Redbacks kept Golden Square out in the field for the full 45 overs as they closed at 9-158 after one stage crashing from 2-96 to 7-107.

Stand-in skipper Jake Klemm heads into the mid-season break as the competition’s leading run-scorer after his knock of 62 took him to 420.

Square veteran Grant Connelly produced a wily eight-over spell of 4-18 after coming on as the seventh bowler – his wickets including Klemm, Nick Williamson (1) and Hayden Smith (5), who were all bowled.

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January 12 – Strathfieldsaye v Bendigo United, White Hills v Sandhurst, Strathdale-Maristians v Huntly-North Epsom, Eaglehawk v Bendigo, Kangaroo Flat v Golden Square.

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