Round #2 Vs Eaglehawk
18/10/2009 & 24/10/2009
Round #2 Giraffe Report Vs Eaglehawk
1st XI @ Canterbury Park
Following on from Round one’s solid victory, Sandhurst faced Eaglehawk at Canterbury Park a ground that had not been kind to Sandhurst in recent years with Travis Crouch & Mark Holland into the side for Alex Trump & Simon Turnbull. A large number of this years side were part of last season’s contest at Weeroona Oval where Sandhurst had dragged themselves back into the contest thanks largely to Andrew Sheehan’s six wickets including a hat-trick & Dylan Gibson only to throw away any chance of victory with a poor batting display.
After the last minute blanket ban on cricket on Saturday, the players arrived on Sunday for a one day game with the pitch still a little soft. So it was fine work by Brenton Jones to win the toss and send Eaglehawk in with life in the track. Matt Fitt had dominated both clashes between these sides with the bat last year and would no doubt again be crucial to the contest.
If the drama of day one being called off, both sides chasing back to back wins to start off the season and conjecture as to whether play would be possible wasn’t enough more drama followed after just one ball of play when umpire Chad Morgan decided to clarify any uncertainty on balls that would be declared wides by having the lines remarked and causing a significant delay to proceedings.
Another star of recent clashes between the two sides was Tim Robertson and he claimed the wicket of Andrew Bourne in just the second over caught by skipper Jones. It was clearly a matter of survival in difficult conditions for the ’Borough but a change in bowling bought a double breakthrough with Matt Pask claiming Jason Abbott bowled, and then Quinton Bentley claimed skipper Fitt for 15 to have Eaglehawk 3 for 32 in the 17th over.
There was only one partnership of significance in Eaglehawks innings, 58 for the 5th wicket but once that was broken by Dylan Gibson, Eaglehawk lost continual wickets and as a result any momentum struggling through to 9 for 140 from 45 overs. Sandhurst bowlers all contributed to restrict Eaglehawk to a modes total with Quinton Bentley (2/33 off 9), Dylan Gibson (2/26 off 7) and Tim Robertson 1/9 off 9 overs the standouts.
With conditions ever improving, Eaglehawk were going to have make early in-roads to apply any pressure to Sandhurst in defending the total and had immediate success in removing Mark Holland in the 5th over to have Sandhurst 1 for 3. West and Scullie had looked dangerous together in Round 1, and the pair boosted the score along beyond 50 at a fair rate before Nick Scullie had a momentary lapse ion concentration to fall caught and bowled for 24 with total 66 in the 22nd over. Anthony West fell soon after for 40 from just 46 balls against his old side as Eaglehawk attempted to grab a fo9othold in the match.
Not satisfied with his masterful display with the ball Tim Robertson rounded out a masterful all-round display in compiling 40 not out from 48 balls amongst partnerships of 30 with Travis Crouch and an unbeaten 42 run stand with Matt Pask to hand the Dragons back to back victories to start the season in style by 6 wickets in the 37th over.
Match Summary: Eaglehawk 9/140 (D Gibson 2/26, Q Bentley 2/33, T Robertson 1/9) lost To Sandhurst 4/141 (T Robertson 40no, A West 40) by 6 wickets.
Man Of The Match: Tim Robertson bettered last years 1/11 off 9 overs in a total of 338 from 45 overs at the same venue last season with 1/9 from 9 overs and an unbeaten 40
The Key: Brenton Jones winning the toss on a lively Canterbury Park wicket.
Second XI @ Atkins Street North Bendigo
A mid-week decision by Bendigo CC to use Weeroona Oval shifted Sandhurst Vs Eaglehawk to Atkins Street North Bendigo. The second’s who’ batting had proven incredibly fragile in round 1 was further depleted by the loss of last seasons league best and fairest Travis Crouch & Mark Holland and a singed Clinton Botham who were replaced by current skipper of the Second Eleven Alex Trump and previous skipper Simon Turnbull and Jayden Saunders.
Sandhurst did not have fond memories of last years two day fixture, suffering a heavy out-right defeat to last years eventual premiers. After day one was abandoned by the league board, Sunday reverted to a one day game and a wicket that had looked playable 24 hours previous, was still expected to offer some assistance to the seamers early on.
Openers Walker & Ford never looked comfortable as Hancock & Trump applied the pressure from the outset as it was Trump who claimed the initial breakthrough, when Simon Turnbull devoured an outside edge in the slips cordon to remove Walker with just six on the board. Justin Hancock backed up the initial breakthrough trapping Dave Ford LBW in his 4th over to have Eaglehawk 2 for 10 after 8 overs.
Alex then swung a surprise swinging a double change to bring on Tom Wilson & Elias Bowe who had both performed well in Round One. Eaglehawk had a card up their own sleeve with new recruit Todd Brown looking a very accomplished batsman. Elias found his rhythm and broke a very dangerous looking partnership in his fourth over claiming Herdman caught Wilson for 16. This bought Phil Kerr to the crease a man who had tormented Sandhurst 2nds no end in recent times. Elias Bowe remained unfazed and picked up Kerr caught in the well guarded gully area for 8.
Elias was enjoying some additional overs not only due to his impressive bowling in the season too date but also due to the celebration of his 17th birthday during the week enabling him an extra 2 overs in each spell. Todd Brown picked up his half century before falling without further addition caught and bowled Bowe to have Eaglehawk 5 for 91 after 24 overs.
Elias looked capable of taking a wicket with nearly every ball, and appeared to have the Eaglehawk batsman under his spell claiming a 4th wicket with the final ball of his 8 over spell to finish with the outstanding figures of 4 for 18. Unfortunately Elias did not receive sufficient support from a wayward Dragons bowling attack giving up a plethora of extras (19 wides) and loose deliveries to allow Eaglehawk off the hook at 7 for 123 in the 30th over to 197 all out in the 42nd over. Simon Turnbull showed his all-round abilities claiming a the final wicket with just his second legal delivery. Something noticeable from Eaglehawk was their insistence on backing themselves and continuing to bat aggressively despite a steady flow of wickets enabling them to compile 197.
With batting conditions ever improving, the target was not impossible but would require a much improved effort with the bat in order to reel in the 4.5 runs per over required. Openers Turnbull & Mills got things off to a steady start before a horrible mix-up between wickets saw Turnbull & Mills stranded at the same end with Mills sent on his way despite the crease at the other being unoccupied. Simon Turnbull had done a reasonable job at ticking the run rate over and the score up to 43 before number 3 batsman Alex Trump and then Turnbull were dismissed within an over of each to leave Sandhurst in trouble a long way from home.
This bought Craig Burn to the crease, and relishing his new role as specialist batsman striking the ball cleanly in a well compiled knock of 45 from 42 balls before he fell to Phil Kerr for 45 from 42 balls. Jayden Saunders promoted into the second eleven to add depth to the batting looked relatively untroubled in occupying one end and rotating the strike whilst runs were scored from the other. Jayden (16) was at the crease for 74 runs. The remainder of the batting line up succumbed to Phil Kerr 4 wickets and Shane Herdman 2 wickets with the leg side wide that corresponded with the stumping of Tim McGlone to bring up the teams 150 and the end of the innings in the 39th over, 47 runs short of victory.
Match Summary: Sandhurst 150 (Burn 45, Turnbull 29) Vs Eaglehawk 197 ( Bowe 4/18 Hancock 2/23)
Man of The Match: A clear standout was Elias Bowe with 4 for 18 from 8 overs
The Key: The final fifteen overs of the respective innings told the story. After 30 overs Eaglehawk were 7 for 123 compared to Sandhurst 5 for 120. Whilst Eaglehawk managed 3 for 74 before being bowled out Sandhurst managed 5 for 30 in 9 overs before being bowled out. 19 wides compared to Eaglehawks 7 also didn’t help
Third XI Vs Eaglehawk @ Canterbury Park
An anomaly in the fixture which had the third’s playing Round 2 on the same day the firsts and second’s were playing Round 3 compounded by week one’s abandonment due to wet weather meant Sandhurst Vs Eaglehawk was played at Canterbury Park for a 25 over a side one dayer. Glenn Trew was a key omission from the side after his Round One heroics, but the side had key inclusions in Botham & Mcfarlane as well as Patrick Brophy who was returning to Bendigo cricket after a three year hiatus.
Eaglehawk won the toss and predictably sent Sandhurst in. Openers Trew and Botham got Sandhurst off to a cautious start scoring 5 from the first four overs before beginning to pick up the pace. Dean Trew had just begun to find his feet when he was first man out for 17 in the 7th over. Eaglehawk’s side was bolstered by regular First Eleven opening bowler Kallen Geary who after a wayward start caused massive headaches for the dragons top and middle order in just 3 overs he claimed 3 for 12 including 9 wides and was at one stage on a hat-trick removing Botham & Felini in successive deliveries. These were the second and third wickets to fall with the total locked on 45 after Patrick Brophy’s return to cricket ended prematurely, bowled for 2.
The experience of Draper and Cloke gave brief momentum to the Dragons innings adding 26 for the 6th wicket but the inning s never really exploded with just six fours and 2 sixes scored for the entire innings 2 of each coming from the bat of Leigh Draper. The innings ended with the loss of the tenth wicket off the final ball of the Dragons allotted 25 overs with 112 runs on the board. Leigh Draper’s 22 off 18 balls with just five scoring shots the only score above 20 for the innings. Of the 112 runs scored by the Dragons, 18 of these came in wides bowled by the Eaglehawk side.
Sandhurst had managed to post 150 in a one day fixture earlier this year against Eaglehawk and it had proven to be far from enough with Eaglehawk chasing it down for the loss of one wicket in just 16 overs so whether 112 would be enough this time around would rely on early wickets and tight bowling. After an inspired piece of fielding from Skipper Dean Trew grabbed the initial breakthrough run out in the third over Eaglehawk handled the conditions with relative ease scoring at well above the required rate throughout the innings.
The Dragons best chance of victory arrived with the loss of three quick wickets (two to Cornell and one to Botham) inside a five over spell. However wicket-keeper batsman Murley had found his rhythm and blasted his way to unbeaten half century from just 41 balls to guide Eaglehawk to a five wicket win with five overs remaining. The drama didn’t finish there, with confusion as to whether Eaglehawk passing the Dragons total meant the completion of the game. The umpire looked for and found no answers in his trusty rule book before the game was eventually bought to a close one over later than what should have been the case. Courtney Cornell 2/23 was the only multiple wicket taker for the Dragons.
Match Summary: Sandhurst 112 ( Draper 22, Cloke 18, D Trew 17) Defeated By Eaglehawk 5 for 121 (Cornell 2/23)
Man Of The Match: Unfortunately no real standouts, but Leigh Drapers entertaining 22 from 18 balls with 5 scoring shots got the nod
The Key: The Dragons were generally outgunned across the board, with bat and ball, in such a short game only one batsman surpassed 25 with the bat, unfortunately for the Dragons he wasn’t wearing Maroon and Blue.
Goat Of The Round: By popular demand Round 1’s Special effort award has been renamed the Goat of The Round Award. And with some of the memorable efforts from the round didn’t always come from the players in Maroon & Blue. Just to show The Giraffe doesn’t play favourites, - new recruit Will Horan earns the Round 2 nomination for sparking a club wide search for his car keys at North Bendigo after the game was washed out. Ably assisted by Pete Schneider, the pair conducted a long and exhaustive search until the keys were finally located. In Will’s Shorts Pocket. Never mind Buddy.
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