After a week off due to soaring temperatures last weekend, cricketers across the RDCA hit the park in cracking conditions. Cricket was the winner in the games featuring Mt Evelyn with most contests going down to the wire.
The Community Bank – Mt Evelyn 1st XI have had a wretched run this season with inconsistent form, with injuries and just plain bad luck hampering their season and it has left them clinging to the slightest hope of avoiding relegation. With their Round 12 opponents, Mooroolbark, sitting comfortably at the top of the ladder, this contest looked a mountain too high to climb.
Mooroolbark won the toss, and were quick to take the opportunity to bat in friendly conditions at Gary Martin Oval, a ground which has netted plenty of runs this season, with n a bid to heap the pressure on the hosts. Despite some tidy bowling upfront from Bohdie Jones, in which he bagged a couple of wickets, Mooroolbark were set for a big score as the run rate began to blossom on the back of consecutive half century partnerships from the Barkers. At 3/166 with ten overs remaining, the visitors looked well set to post a score in excess of 240. A run-a-ball benchmark.
Spin twins Jake Blackwell and Malinga De Silva did their best to stem the flow through the middle overs, but it was the run out of Jaylan Ross, courtesy of some brilliant fielding from Brad Westaway, that put a dent in the Barkers plan to hit full throttle. Darcy Fraser and Cal Dooley would resurrect their day after copping some early stick, and with regular wickets over the closing overs, the Mounters were able to restrict the Barkers to 9/224. Short of the benchmark, and yes, still a score to be chased, but one well within the capabilities of a deep batting line-up.
Daniel Fraser (54) and Brad Westaway (28) have the Mounters the perfect start with their contrasting styles. Their crucial 82-run opening partnership set the perfect platform for the rest of the batting order to chase the total. No wickets and the innings travelling at the required run rate through the first 14 overs. The only blemish was the fact that the pair would lose their wickets in consecutive overs, leaving Daniel Giblin and Jake Blackwell to restart the innings.
They would ensure that they would embed themselves at the wicket, but an unfortunate blow to Blackwell’s front foot required him to use a runner and that stunted their ability to tick over the quick singles. At 3/162 after 30 overs, the Mounters found themselves in a similar position to the Barkers. The game was there for the taking and a big upset was on the cards with the hosts requiring a run-a-ball, with wickets in hand, to clinch victory.
When the whips began to crack, the Mounters would hit a debilitating hurdle as Giblin, Blackwell and the fast-scoring Jett Hartman would fall in quick succession, leaving captain Campbell Mole and Malinga De Silva to chase the runs against a Barkers attack that had started to turn the screws. In a crushing blow, the Mooroolbark attack would execute far better than the batsmen, and the Mounters finished agonisingly close with 5/209.
Amazingly, and frustratingly so, other results in the round actually went in favour of the Mounters, and had they saluted, they would’ve risen up the ladder above the relegation zone, it does mean that all is not a forlorn hope, and should they find a win or two in a tight competition over the final two rounds, they could conjure a miracle to remain in the Wilkins Cup competition.
The Professionals Outer East 2nd XI were the big winners over the weekend, both in margin and in significance. The team travelled to North Ringwood to take on a young and struggling Bulls team, and they would put the youngsters to the sword.
The Bulls would ask the Mounters to bat first and were immediately put to the sword by the experienced opening pairing of Adam Smith and Luke Jones. The pair would put on a commanding 193-run opening partnership to effectively end the contest before it started. Smith was particularly brutal, scoring a blazing century (138 off 91 balls) which included 19 fours and 6 sixes. Smith has been in scintillating form since being demoted to the 2nd XI and has scored an amazing 417 runs at an average of 83.40 in five innings. Jones would be the rock of the innings, unremoved for the entirety of the innings, scoring 86 not out, whilst Alex Brisbane-Flynn would continue Smith’s attack, scoring an unbeaten 70 off just 50 balls. When the dust settled, the visitors had compiled a brilliant score of 1/310. Game over.
Mt Evelyn’s bowlers wouldn’t be outshone by their batting counterparts and soon had the Bulls innings on the ropes as they quickly slipped to be 5/61 courtesy of a brilliant opening spell from Kynan Yates and Austin Leonard and a brace of wickets from Billie Laird in his first over. A rearguard action from some of North Ringwood’s exciting youngsters would ensure the Bulls wouldn’t roll over without a fight, but wickets to captain Joey Chamberlin (2/27) and Lachie Morrow (3/16) would see the hosts’ innings wrapped up for 165.
The win keeps the 2nd XI inside the top four, but remarkably, they are far from assured finals action. They must keep their form going if their season is to progress into March.
The Rhead Group 3rd XI hosted Heathwood on a key clash to keep themselves in finals contention. A win against the Lions would see them create some distance from them on the ladder, a loss would see them give up their position in the four to the Lions.
Mt Evelyn gave Heathwood the opportunity to post a score and what transpired was an even contest between bat and ball. A fast Gruyere outfield yielded plenty of runs, but the Mounters were able to keep things in check. Just as the Mounters looked as if they would restrict the score below 200, a more than satisfying result, the Lions blew the innings open over the closing ten overs scoring at nearly 10 runs per over. The final score would stretch out to 7/230, not an impassable total, but one that would require a big effort to haul down.
Unperturbed, the Mounters would steadily go about their business on the back of Jamie Shaw’s innings of 46. The major stumbling block would be the regular fall of wickets and the gradual rise of the required run rate. When the experienced Darren Westaway fell with the score on 5/127, the Mounters were left with the task of finishing as quickly as the Lions did. Unfortunately, they didn’t quite possess the same firepower despite having a red-hot go. Andrew White would do his best to try and get the hosts home with an unbeaten 41 off 32 balls, but the task became too great, and eventually the Mounters would fall 16 runs short on 216.
The loss now puts the 3rd XI in the precarious position of missing finals. The results from the weekend have seen them slip to fifth and the race for finals has tightened with teams placed 3rd to 7th a realistic chance of featuring. Wins now become a must for the Mounters.
The 4th XI suffered a heartbreaking loss at the hands of the second-placed Vermont, missing out on a chance to secure a finals spot. The 5th XI’s win over Warranwood gave them a stranglehold on a finals position and the 6th XI had a day to forget against Heathwood.
