Round 8 Vs Kangaroo Flat
12/12/2009 & 19/12/2009
Round #8 Giraffe Report Vs Kangaroo Flat Saturday 12th & 19th December
1st XI @ Dower Park
It was do-or-die, make or break for both Sandhurst and Kangaroo Flat heading into the Round 8 clash at Dower Park with both sides needing a win to stay in touch with the top four heading into the Christmas break. Sandhurst suffered a double blow with both skipper Brenton Jones and last games top scorer Mark Holland both unable to be considered for selection. The side did however receive a boost with strike bowler Andy Sheehan returning having missed the last four games, Brett Polson returning to the side and Justin Hancock was handed a first XI debut as an additional seam option having already taken 18 wickets this season.
The extra seam bowler “seemed” to be the correct move when the teams were presented with a Green Monster of a pitch conducive to the fast bowlers further re-enforced by the events of the third XI game in the morning. It looked an important toss to win and the coin fell the way of the stand-in skipper Nick Scullie who had little hesitation in sending Kangaroo Flat into bat.
Three consecutive maidens from openers Tim Robertson and Quinton Bentley built up the pressure and it was Quinton Bentley who struck the first blow to the Roo’s batting line up picking up Metelman without score caught by Andy Sheehan at point for no score. Tim Robertson was exploiting the bowler friendly conditions to perfection and claimed the wicket of number 3 batsman Matt Kile caught by Schneider with the total just 12 in the 9th over.
It was at this time that Andy Sheehan was unleashed into the attack and after a couple of overs to loosen up disaster struck for the Dragons with a recurrence of the leg injury which had kept him on the sidelines which would see him take no further part with the ball and leave the field for the remainder of the innings. The ball was then thrown to Justin Hancock who after completing the remainder of Sheehan’s over picked up the wicket of Rod Wight with the first ball of his first full over to leave Kangaroo Flat floundering at 3/19 in the sixteenth.
Around this time opener Andrew Hosking was given a life at slip and was determined along with skipper Adam Burns to extricate the Flat from a precarious position. The pitch appeared to have lost some of its zip as Burns and Hosking saw Kangaroo Flat through to 3/110 from 46 overs. For the second time this year Sandhurst fell victim to the substitute fielder rule and apparently not having advised the umpire that substitute fielder Bodee Scullie was coming on paid the price with a five run penalty as soon as he touched the ball - that may just prove costly in the overall scheme of things.
Having combined for a 133 run partnership and moving the score onto 152 in the 57th over Justin Hancock was introduced for a second spell and dramatically swang the match back in favour of the Dragons in the space of 3 balls picking up Adam Burns (68) caught behind and then Brad Orton LBW second ball for a duck. In the space of an over Kangaroo Flat was 5/152.
Kangaroo Flat were then able to consolidate with a 55 run partnership pushing them beyond 200 before overs and wickets begun to disappear. Travis Crouch claimed a wicket in his first over, Pasky chimed in with the wicket of Barber soon after and when Crouch and Pask split the final 3 wickets between them including Hosking LBW to Crouchy for 110, Flat had lost their last five wickets for 35 runs and finished with a more than respectable 242 all out in 83.1 overs. Things could have been better for the Dragons as only two Kangaroo Flat batsmen managed to surpass 20 for the innings. Pick of the bowlers for the Dragons were Hancock 3/37, Crouch 3/18, Pask 2/32 and Tim Robertson with an economical 1/26 from 23 overs.
Thankfully, the pitch had an extra week’s preparation and appeared to have a little less life on week 2, but the following 85 overs would go a long way to determining the respective sides finals aspirations for season 2009/2010. Brett Polson was thrown straight into the coalface to open alongside Nick Scullie against the dangerous Adam Burns.
The feedback filtering through was Sandhurst were starting well and the score ticked over nicely without the loss of a wicket, Brett Polson playing with the freedom and stroke-play of a man who had somewhere to be, he bought up his half century and soon after the 100 run partnership. Brett continued to punish anything loose and was soon nearing a maiden century in his first 1st XI innings for the club when he was caught behind for 82 from 115 balls including 13 boundaries in an opening stand of 133 just prior to the tea break in the 35th over.
The openers had certainly done their job, and left just 110 runs required for victory with 50 overs remaining. As is so often the case one wicket brings two and Brett Hamblin picked up Anthony West in the same over to leave Sandhurst 2/135 at tea. Quinton Bentley had been promoted up the order and unfortunately never found his feet falling shortly after tea for 0 from 26 balls. Tim Robertson whose last century was also at this ground in another famous Dragon run chase hoped to repeat the feat, but today would not be his day, as Adam Burns claimed his first wicket of the innings caught behind in his 19th over of the day.
Joel Schneider joined Scullie at the crease and having seen a collapse of four for 11, the pair consolidated things until Schneider fell victim to Burns for 17 leaving Sandhurst 5/183 with 20 overs remaining. Matt Pask joined Scullie and the pair appeared to have things in hand for Sandhurst until a dubious LBW decision ended Nick’s marathon innings for 75. Kangaroo Flat’s Brett Hamblin then picked up the wicket of Travis Crouch for no score to hand him a five wicket haul.
This bought Andy Sheehan to the crease with the aid of a runner as he and Pasky pushed towards victory, then with a cracking square cut to the fence from Rob Haw Pasky secured victory for the Dragons from the final ball of the 83rd over with 3 wickets in hand. Sheehan (17no) and Pask (35no) saw out the remainder of the day finishing with an unbeaten 42 run partnership as Sandhurst finished 7/253.
Match Summary: Kangaroo Flat 242 (Crouch 3/18, Hancock 3/37) lost to Sandhurst 7/253 (Polson 82, Scullie 75, Pask 35no) by 11 runs.
The Key: In such an important match, the toss of the coin was crucial on a lively wicket. Sandhurst’s ability to regroup after consecutive wickets and some cool finishing got the Dragons the points.
Man of the Match: It was an even display from the bowlers but for a blistering start with the bat in his maiden First XI innings for the club and leaving just 110 runs to win Brett Polson was awarded man of the match for his 82.
Second XI @ Weeroona Oval
An anomaly in the fixture somehow had Sandhurst Second XI playing their 4th straight game at Weeroona Oval. A spanner was thrown in the works when having already lost pace bowling options Justin Hancock (1st XI) and Elias Bowe, (unavailable) Traviss Russell was a late exclusion with an upset tummy. This gave a call up to Tim Knapman for his Second XI debut. Sandhurst won the toss and needed their top order to produce in order to provide a target for their depleted bowling attack to defend having elected to bat.
Brophy and Horan opened up and after a circumspect start were into just the sixth over when opening bowler Liam Jones worked Brophy over and picked him caught behind for six. Will Horan then found a handful of deliveries to his liking and showed that there were runs available picking up four boundaries and ticking the scoreboard over. Dylan Gibson went for a big shot too early in his innings and chopped on without score and Sandhurst were heading down a familiar path at 2/23 after 10 overs.
Will Horan continued to grow in confidence and moved into the 20s before he miss timed a flick off the pads from a leg stump full toss, top edge straight down short fine leg’s throat and Sandhurst were 3 down for 38. This bought Second XI’s leading run scorer for the season “Chooka” Burn to the crease to join Simon Turnbull and both batsmen continued to play their shots. This bought about Tippa’s down fall flashing at a wide delivery and out, caught behind for six.
Skipper Alex Trump found himself in a familiar position with his top order having disappointed again and needing to consolidate to try and post a reasonable total, with 65 overs remaining there certainly was still plenty of time. Craig Burn was scoring the bulk of the runs in the partnership and appeared to be guiding the side through to tea with some hope that with a few wickets in hand, scoring would become easier after tea. Unfortunately “The Chook” lost his head and attempted to clear the infield straight down the ground off the bowling of Mitch Collins only managing to pick out Mid Off for 30 and reducing Sandhurst to 5 for 86 in the 39th over.
What happened next is hard to describe, as it was pain-stakingly slow going just after the tea break – needing to bat out their overs and with spinner Sean Rashleigh bowling particularly well Sandhurst managed just 2 for 22 including the wickets of Burn and Saunders in between overs 30 and 60. Stuck with a no win situation and needing to try and lift the run rate Alex finally found a ball he liked and attempted to heave it onto Napier Street only to toe end the ball and pick out Mitch Collins at wide mid-on – dismissed for 25 from 115 deliveries having spent 48 overs at the crease.
The end was swift for the Dragons, Leigh Mcdonald popped one up from a leading edge and was gone for four, “Beefy” Botham made his first expedition down the track with disastrous consequences – stumped for 14. (Maybe keep those dance moves to the dance floor on Saturday Nights hey Beefy?) and when Tim Mcglone was caught behind soon after Sandhurst were all out 131 in the 75th over. This left Sandhurst 7 overs to attack the Newlans – Steve and Josh as opening batsmen for Kangaroo Flat but were unable to generate a breakthrough as the Flat went to Stumps at 0/12 on day one.
Sandhurst needed early wickets on Day two in order to test the strength of Kangaroo Flat’s batting line-up. After an unconvincing start from Josh Newlan, it was skipper Alex Trump who picked up his wicket caught behind by Leigh Mcdonald with the total on 37. “Beefy” Botham was keeping it tight at one end whilst Alex Trump was making the batsmen look most uncomfortable at the other end. He had Darcy Geyer bowled for six, Chris Dixon LBW for five and the big wicket of prolific run scorer Brett Scholes caught behind for 0 to breathe some life into the contest with the Roo’s 4 for 69 still requiring another 63 for victory. Between them Trump and Botham bowled for the first 24 overs unchanged. Alex continued on attempting to claim the key scalp of Steve Newlan who was holding the innings together.
Unfortunately, despite some tight line and length bowling and some solid work in the field, there would be no further success for the Dragons as Kangaroo Flat went through to tea at 4/125 just 7 runs short of victory with Sandhurst having raced through 46 overs for the day. With the result already secured Sandhurst needed to maintain the high standards they had set throughout the season with the ball and in the field. That solid work was highlighted when Tim Knapman came charging in from the covers with a casual flick to the strikers end running out Shelton for 41.
Dylan Gibson chimed in with the wicket of Collins LBW for 2, and when Alex Trump effected a second run out in the innings to remove Steve Newlan for a steady and influential 68 Kangaroo Flat had lost 3 for 3. Will Horan had proven to be a wicket taker in his limited spells with the ball this season and having been thrown the ball claimed the wicket of Garsed caught freakish casualness by Wicket Keeper Leigh Mcdonald to hand him his 3rd catch of the innings.
The deceptive angle of left arm Horan was again effective and handed Mcdonald a fourth catch of the innings and leaving just one more wicket required. Skipper Trump who had bowled 21 over straight in his opening spell bowling up until just four overs before tea took just 2.1 more overs in his second spell to claim a deserved five wicket haul finishing with 5/60 from 27.1 overs as Kangaroo Flat were dismissed for 190 in the 78th over. Will Horan 2/11 from five overs and Clinton Botham thrust into the role of a new ball bowler deserved better than 0/45 from 23 overs.
Match Summary: Sandhurst 131 (Burn 30, Horan 26, Trump 25) Lost to Kangaroo Flat 190 (Trump 5/60)
The Key: (Paragraph copied and pasted from reports for Rounds five through 7) Sandhurst’s top four had failed to do their job, and placed too much pressure on the middle and lower order to bat out the overs.
Man of The Match: It was a clear cut decision again with skipper Alex Trump’s 5/60 and dogged 25 with the bat handing him his 3rd award for the season in just his fifth second XI match for the season.
Third XI @ Dower Park
The Third XI side had won their last two games and were hanging onto a spot in the top four heading into their clash with bottom of the table Kangaroo Flat. The side received a boost acquiring the services of First XI skipper Brenton Jones for the match. In some additional fortune Trewy won the toss and took the risk that despite only having Brenton Jones available for day 1 of the match elected to send Kangaroo Flat in on what appeared to be a very lively wicket and risk losing the services of one of the club’s leading batsmen for the game.
There were early signs that something out of the ordinary was going to happen on this fine December morning, the first indication being - for reasons unknown Kangaroo Flat were allowed to alter their team sheet 15 minutes after the toss of the coin without clearing it with the opposing captain so in retrospect it appears anything was possible. It didn’t take long for the demons in the wicket to appear in just the second over for “Dangerous” Dave Hunter to strike caught behind by Leigh Draper with the total on 4. Just when Kangaroo Flat appeared to be consolidating after the early loss of Cameron, a spell of blistering pace and swing from the “Dangerous One” as a hidden bonus of having Brenton Jones in the side was revealed – an astute slips fielder handing Dave his second wicket. Brenton Jones was then introduced into the attack and claimed opener Jason Maher bowled with the first ball of his spell.
Some average shots handed the Dragons wickets four, five and six two more to Hunter handing him 4/24 from 10 overs and one to “Jonah” reduced Kangaroo Flat to 6 for 29 in the 15th over. Kangaroo Flat’s middle order then settled things down and were able to add 40 for the 7th wicket before a mix-up between wickets attempting to keep Jarrod Orton on strike and the panther in the red floppy hat Dean Trew effected the run out for the seventh wicket of the innings.
In the following over Brenton Jones had Orton bowled and allowed Jonesy to finish with figures of 3/24 from 9 overs. One wicket a piece to Cloke and Knapman ended Kangaroo Flat’s innings on 79 in the 31st over. What was astounding amongst such destruction was that strike bowler Matt Felini had finished wicket less on such a lively deck with 0/24 from 10 overs.
Sandhurst had 15 overs to bat on day one, and with Brenton Jones in the side there was always the possibility of securing the points on the first day. Things didn’t exactly go to plan, with the curse of the returning First XI player again failing in Third XI, Jonesy was caught behind for two in the second over. Just a couple of overs later Glenn Trew was dismissed for four leaving Sandhurst 2 for 21 after seven overs.
This bought Leigh Draper to the crease, and as always things happen in a hurry when Drapes is at the crease. After a couple of overs of consolidation the chase for day one victory appeared out of reach with Sandhurst needing 52 from just five overs. The change in bowlers saw an explosion in the run rate and the following four overs saw 9, 6, 17 & 8 scored leaving Sandhurst needing 12 to win from the final over of the day. Dean Trew managed three from the first ball, handing the strike to Leroy, a dot, followed by a four and a single, followed by a two to Trewy left Sandhurst needing two to win from the final ball, Trewy found the necessary gap and managed three runs to give Sandhurst the six points at 2 for 81 from 15 overs.
A declaration at the beginning of day two, enabled Sandhurst to attempt an outright result heading into Christmas. Kangaroo Flat were also in the Christmas spirit and wished to make a game of Day two and promoted their big hitters to the top of the order in the hope of scoring quick runs and leaving a total for Sandhurst to chase at the end of the day. Kangaroo Flat batted aggressively and wickets were hard to come by, Dave Hunter obtained his fifth wicket for the match. Matt Felini finally broke his duck for the match claiming his first wicket to leave the Flat two down.
Things were made all the more difficult for the Dragons by some average efforts in the catching department, but no names need mentioning but maybe some additional time out on the training track with Anthony West or Terry Scullie belting cricket balls at you might be advisable, hey boys? (You know who you are!). Things progressed steadily, and maybe Sandhurst just bowled too well for Kangaroo Flat to score quickly enough to set up the match. One wicket to Keith Cloke and two wickets to Craig Moyle fell before Kangaroo Flat ended their second innings at 5/120 from 35 overs.
This left Sandhurst with an improbable 119 for victory from eleven overs. Things didn’t begin well, with Matt Felini and Dean Trew dismissed inside the opening two overs to reduce Sandhurst to 2 for 9.
Then there was an emergency situation at Dower Park, the game was nearly abandoned things became that serious, the Police, Ambulance and Fire Department all called as there was a fire-bug in attendance. Leigh Draper managed to claim two victims “torching” both Glenn Trew and Keith Cloke in the space of 15 minutes in the pursuit of quick runs whilst keeping his wicket intact at the same time. After a somewhat precarious 4 for 38 Sandhurst finished 4 for 74 from 11 overs with Drapes 48no from 39 balls and Craig “Sammy” Moyle 14no.
Match Summary: Sandhurst 2/81 Dec (D Trew 38no L Draper 37no) & 4/74 (Draper 48no) Defeated Kangaroo Flat 79 (Hunter 4/24, Jones 3/20) and 5/120 Dec (Moyle 2/16) on first innings.
The Key Moment: For no other reason than the continuation of the curse, Brenton Jones’ dismissal for an unconvincing two will be what’s remembered most in years to come.
Man Of The Match: There was a couple of standout performers for the Dragons, but a return to the halcyon days Dave Hunters 4/24 and five wickets for the match got him the Man of the Match.
Ok now because all my loyal readers have been predominantly good this year, The Giraffe has decided to give you all a Christmas present, you know you want it! A Bonus Goat of the Round. Any predictions?
Goat Number One you may have worked out is our illustrious A Grade captain, doing the right thing and assisting our Third XI, but he fell victim to the Third XI curse. His brief innings of two wasn’t pretty. Just saving all your runs for the big league hey mate? Not sure you could force your way back into the ones on that effort. Trumpy is licking his lips at the prospect of some additional depth.
Goat Number Two – You may think that Leigh Draper maybe making his second appearance in this segment for his handy work in torching two team mates but his innings on day 1 to secure the points gives him a pass on this occasion. It is unfortunately another regular who earns the rounds 2nd nomination for the round, and their third nomination for the season. After a recent night out, young Will Horan found himself acquiring a ride home in the boot of an unidentified club mates vehicle. Poor Will’s luck was out as he was exiting the vehicle, he opened the boot of the car right in front of a trailing Police car. That will be costly Will.
The Wash Up: Sandhurst First XI find themselves fourth on percentage at the Christmas break, but things are all too close to think beyond a one dayer against Strathfieldsaye first game back January 9th. The Seconds finals hopes appear slim, sitting in eighth, 18 points outside the four. A string of three wins sees the Third XI in 2nd position but just three points clear of 5th position. The action doesn’t stop for the Dragons with the sixth annual Ron Slattery Memorial match taking place at the QEO on Tuesday 29th December with the curtain raiser between Sandhurst-Weeroona and Bendigo Girton Under 17s Twenty 20 kicking off at 4pm.
Finally, a very happy and safe Christmas and New Year Period to all players, officials, supporters, their families and you my loyal readers, may you all return refreshed and ready for 2010 – “The Year Of The Dragon.”
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