Round 3 vs White Hills
November 1st & 8th
1st XI @ Scott Street White Hills
After a disappointing batting effort against Eaglehawk, Sandhurst first XI needed to rebound against White Hills. Sandhurst were strengthened by the return of Brenton Jones, Mark Keck and Mark Holland White Hills won the toss and batted in fine conditions. Tim Robertson was first to strike picking up the dangerous Darren Gregory in slips for just 6. Timmy then claimed fellow opener Brodie McRae bowled with the total on 40. Wickets continued to fall despite a steady flow of runs as Quinton Bentley claimed his first wicket as a dragon caught by Kecky in the covers.
After his success last game Dylan Gibson again proved the man with the golden touch as he was able to claim Gavin Bowles caught behind, Brent Hargreaves bowled, and Aaron Munro caught in the deep by Westie as White Hills limped to 6 for 129. Andrew Sheehan again did the damage in his second spell claiming 2 for 13 off 8 in his 2nd spell as Sandhurst had White Hills on the ropes at 8 for 151 approaching 60 overs.
Things turned sour from there for the Dragons, as some resilient lower order batting saw White Hills add 1 for 82 in the final 25 overs to finish 9 for 233 from 85 overs. Best of the bowlers were Dylan Gibson 3 for 39, Andy Sheehan 3 for 55 and Tim Rob 2/22 from 17 overs.
A substantial amount of rain on Friday certainly made batting more difficult on the 2nd wicket but with a deep batting line up Sandhurst still went in confident they could knock off the 234 run required for victory. Things got off to a shocking start when the inform Simon Turnbull was run out in the 4th over with the score on 6. Joel Schneider also got bogged down and was dismissed as Sandhurst crawled to 2 for 28.
A promising partnership was building between Nick Scullie and Anthony West as the pair saw us through to tea at 2/73 from 45 overs. Unfortunately the pressure built up by the White Hills bowlers told after tea as Sandhurst suffered a collapse of 5 for 13 to lose Scullie (35), West (35), Jones (1), Holland (2) and Robertson (3) in the space of 10 overs.
From there it was an uphill slog with Mark Keck and Dylan Gibson adding some respectability to the score with a 53 run partnership before the pressure finally told on Kecky as he was bowled for 24. A scare was then sent through the Sandhurst camp as Dylan Gibson who’s batting had looked promising until that stage twisted on a slippery pitch and twisted his knee forcing him to retire hurt. Unfortunately Dylan was given little time to recover as at 8 down soon become 9 when a mix up between wickets caused the run out of Quinton Bentley and forcing Dylan back out to the middle with the aid of a runner. Dylan and Andy Sheehan pushed the score to 185 before any was bowled for 27 from 22 balls leaving Dylan not out on 29 as the Dragons were dismissed in the 83rd over.
This was the second successive failure by Sandhurst’s batsmen to chase down a modest total and leaves the side with an uphill battle to get back amongst the top sides. For his all round performance and application with the bat Dylan Gibson was awarded man of the match.
2nd XI @ Weeroona Oval
Sandhurst 2nds were looking to rebound from the clubs first outright loss in any senior grade for some time but would face a tough task against the in form White Hills. Sandhurst needed a lift in all areas and with the return of Alex Trump, Craig Burn, Geoff Mclean, & Garth Tamblyn the side certainly looked more solid on paper. Trumpy won the toss and elected to bat in good conditions.
Unfortunately some tardy players forced a reshuffle in the batting order and Clinton “Beefy” Botham who was pencilled in to bat at 3 was thrust into the opening position alongside Travis Crouch. Beefy never really found his feet and was bowled by a superb delivery with the score on 10. Crouch and Kinners had just about seen off the new ball bowlers and regathered some momentum when Crouchy unfortunately played the ball back onto his stumps for 26. This wicket was soon followed by the loss of Kinners (18) and Trump (1) to have Sandhurst at 4 for 52 in the 22nd. The middle order needed to stand up and all of the middle and lower order played their part, Leigh McDonald was starting to look comfortable before he was caught behind with the total on 70 and when Bryden Mcfarlane who had worked so hard to that stage spooned one to square leg just before tea Sandhurst were in strife at 6 for 92.
Craig Burn & Geoff Mclean then went about resurrecting the innings and mixed patience with brute strength in an entertaining partnership that included four maximum’s before Geoff Mclean was bowled to end the partnership on 51. Then with his maiden Sandhurst 50 for the taking Craig Chooka Burn played one lazy shot and was dismissed for 47 from 85 in by far his best innings for the club. Elias Bowe and Garth Tamblyn then combined well to add 18 for the 9th wicket before a tragic run out ended a promising partnership. Dale “Rabbits” Warren then showed what he can do with the bat as he pulverised a quick fire 23 from 20 balls as Sandhurst was bowled out for 194 in the 77th over.
Sandhurst then had 5 overs at White Hills to try and pick up a wicket but the White Hills openers did well to negotiate the tough test and finish 0 for 6. Unfortunately not even the new covers could prevent 30mm from rain ruining any hope of play on the 2nd day. With both teams keen to determine a result some over officiating finally pulled the pin on the days play around 2.45pm and the match was declared a draw due to unsafe bowling run ups and some sticky patches on the adjoining pitches of the wicket square.
Craig Burn was a clear standout for Man of the Match with his 47 run knock.
3rd XI @ White Hills
Sandhurst went into their round 3 clash with White Hills in vastly different positions to this time last season. With last season’s near miss still fresh in the mind the top of the table Dragons met last season’s premiers still looking for their first win on the season. Trewy lost the toss and White Hills elected to bat first in good batting conditions.
Strengthened by the return of Paul Stingel and Matt Felini, Sandhurst made the perfect start through Dave Hunter who claimed opening batsman Anderson caught behind from the 3rd ball of the day. Along with Matt Felini, Dave was untouchable, and dually rewarded with a 2nd wicket expertly caught by the gazelle like Marty McDonnell at mid off. As White Hills crawled to 2 for 25 off 17 overs. Matt Felini bowled as well as he ever had without luck in a spell of 0 for 7 from 6 overs. Paul Stingel then struck the crucial blow removing opposition captain Jeff Kay who had been stifled to just 7 runs from 521 balls before he too was caught behind by Leigh Draper.
Courtney Cornell also warmed into his work and after copping some treatment early on picked up the fourth wicket in the over before drinks to have White Hills firmly on the back foot at 4 for 52. Four down, soon become five down as Paul Stingel claimed his 2nd wicket. It was the apparent the pressure was taking it’s toll on the Hillies batsmen, and Derek Robertson made the first of his three valuable contributions in the field. Two well taken catches and a run out built purely on the pressure generated by the bowlers and solid support from the field. Keith Cloke came in and finished the job with 2 for 6 from 3.4 overs as White Hills were dismissed for 79 in the 39th over. Paul Stingel 3/21, Dave Hunter 2/15 Courtney Cornell 2/22 and Matt Felini 0/13 from 9 all did an exceptional job.
This left Sandhurst a testing 9 over period, and all did not start for well for skipper and in form batsman Trewy who chopped on in the 3rd over for 3 to leave Sandhurst 1 for 6. The experienced Keith Cloke and Traviss Russell saw us without further loss to be 1 for 19 and well in control of the match. Leading into Week 2 a total of 30mm of rain was dumped on Bendigo on Friday afternoon and the chances of play looked remote particularly for the 3rd XI and it appeared White Hills may just escape for a second straight season.
Players arrived at the ground to a pleasant surprise that the rain had subsided early enough and along with the work of the curators and the drainage of the surface play was able to start on time. Keith Cloke clearly buoyed by the news his Dragon Dream team Points Tally may finally be rectified set about chasing the remaining 61 runs required to win. Sticky along with Clokey cautiously pushed the score to 38 before two wickets for the loss of just one run gave White Hills a sniff. Indeed had they been able to hold onto the chances offered by the Dragons batsmen the game could have been a lot closer, but with Matt Felini joining Leigh Draper at the crease, the Dragons lifted the run rate and achieved victory 3 wickets down in the 37th over.
The remaining 20 overs were a valuable opportunity for batting practice, and after losing partner Matt Felini for 30, Leigh Draper pushed on bringing up a half century and with overs running out was dismissed in pursuit of a century for 72 from 103 balls. Jayden Saunders also added a handy unbeaten 20 runs as Sandhurst gained a healthy percentage boost as well as 6 points to move to 3 and 0 for the season.
The win was no doubt set up on the first morning of the game and for that reason Paul Stingel bowling one of his finest spells seen for some time narrowly claimed man of the match with his 3/21 from a raft of bowlers, Leigh Draper and the all round performance of Matt Felini.
Sandhurst battle Strathfieldsaye as cricket returns to the QEO for the first time this season whilst the two’s get to test their wares at the new Strathfieldsaye Sporting facility.
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