Round 2 vs. Strathdale Maristians
20/10/07 / 27/10/07
Round 2 Vs Strathdale Match Reports October 20th & 27th
1st XI @ Bell Oval
After a delayed kick-off to season 2007/2008 in order to allow the curators more time to prepare the pitches, the original Round 1 Fixture against BUCC's was re-scheduled to Jan 12th & 19th, but Sandhurst was dealt an equally tough match away to Strathdale at Bell Oval in the 1st XI.
In the absence of skipper Mark Keck, Tim Robertson & Nick Scullie took over the captaincy, and still fielded a similar looking line-up to the side that finished last year in 5th position, with Pace bowler Nathan O'Neill the only new face to last season. Sandhurst won the toss and sent Maristians in, and bowled tightly and eventually reaped rewards with last season's 1st XI Bowling award winner Tim Williams claiming the 1st wicket of the season. Nathan O'Neill was then rewarded for his strong bowling with the wicket of Polglaise and Sandhurst was in a reasonable position having Maristians 2 for 60.
Numerous missed chances including dropped chances and missed run outs then allowed Strathdale off the hook. A 120 run 3rd wicket partnership put Maristians on top when shortly after tea, Nathan O'Neill again got the break through and claiming his 2nd wicket. When Geoff Mclean picked up the dangerous Andrew price soon after, Sandhurst again had the opportunity to reel Strathdale in. Unfortunately there was insufficient life in the pitch and ball, as Dom Taylor was repeatedly let off the hook, which along with Craig Howard put on a devastating 119 run partnership to push Maristians past 300. Tim Robertson claimed 2 late wickets, but Maristians had compiled an imposing 6 for 341 and shown just how to have wickets in hand at the interval and pick up the pace after tea.
Faced with an ominous task, Sandhurst needed to replicate Strathdale's solid start and attack after tea, on the small but lush expanses of Bell Oval. Unfortunately Brock Fletcher Fell early for 10, Ben Leed then joined Nick Scullie at the crease, and the pair added 66 before Ben Leed fell to the spin of Craig Howard for 35. This sparked a mini collapse as Tim Robertson & Joel Schneider also fell cheaply to Strathdale's spin attack leaving Sandhurst 4 down with a mountain of work to do after tea.
Needing to launch a recovery mission as well as pick up the run rate, any realistic chance of victory was snuffed out when Sandhurst 1st loss Nick Scullie for 39, and then Trav Crouch, mark Holland & Geoff Mclean in quick succession. Anthony West (28) & Nathan O'Neill (23) then added a solid 40 for the 9th wicket to bump the total up to 150 before Sandhurst was eventually dismissed for 150 in 61 overs.
With time remaining, Strathdale batted a 2nd time, allowing Sandhurst the opportunity to restore some much needed percentage and through Geoff Mclean (2/32 & a run out) & Nathan O'Neill (2/14) Sandhurst did a good job in restricting Strathdale to 5/56 in its 2nd innings.
The loss is a disappointing start against a side Sandhurst are going to be challenging for a spot in the top 4 come finals time, the side will no doubt learn from their mistakes and tackle a resurgent Kangaroo Flat at Atkins Street next week whilst the QEO is out of action.
Man of the Match was awarded to Nathan O'Neill making his return to the club for 4 wickets and a solid 23 with the bat.
Dream Team Star Performers Nathan O’Neill 74, Nick Scullie 69, Geoff Mclean 52.
2nd XI @ Weeroona Oval
Sandhurst 2nd XI had a much different look to the side that was narrowly defeated in last years grand final. Gone from the round 1 side were a lot of experience in Captain Simon Turnbull, mid order batsman Jason O'Neill & Reigning Best & Fairest Matt Felini, as well as younger players Joel Schneider & Ben Leed who were both promoted to the 1st XI. This gave many new faces an opportunity including Gavin James, Bryden McFarlane making his senior debut, & bowlers Nick Cook (Carisbrook) & Brock Gibson brother to last years semi final hero Dylan Gibson.
Last years vice Captain Alex Trump assumed the captaincy of the side eager to start with a win against Maristians, who had been humbled by an outright defeat in the corresponding fixture last season. Trumpy unfortunately lost the toss and Strathdale opted to make 1st use of the flat batting deck. As well as they bowled, and as often as our bowlers beat the bat, they could just not find the edge, as the Strathdale batsmen applied themselves well, and once the shine was off the ball the runs began to flow. After exploring most of his pace options without success, spin was tried in the form with almost immediate success as Dylan Gibson picked up two wickets prior top tea both caught by brother Brock at mid-on. This gave Sandhurst a sniff and if they could make a couple of key breakthroughs after tea, they well and truly back in the contest.
Unfortunately opener Mark Arnott and opposing captain Ben Smith had other ideas, as Sandhurst bowlers were continually frustrated at a lack of success. Looking down the barrel of a mammoth run chase with Maristians 2 for 230 Alex Trump then bought Sandhurst right back into the game with wickets in 3 successive overs picking up the Dangerous Ben Smith for 49, then 2 more wickets to have Strathdale 5 for 249. The pressure was well and truly back on Strathdale as Matt Hall (2/33) & Matt Pask (2/28) applied the brakes and when Gavin James claimed the final wicket, Sandhurst had claimed the final 8 Maristian wickets for just 65 runs.
This unfortunately left Sandhurst with a tricky 4 over period to negotiate, and looking for volunteers Gavin James bravely opened the innings with skipper Alex Trump. Things did not start well, as Gavin was cleaned bowled with an unplayable off just the 3rd ball of the innings and when matt Hall was adjudged LBW in the 3rd over, Sandhurst had lost most of the edge gained earlier in the afternoon.
Day 2 didn’t start any better for the Dragons as with the final ball of the 1st over of the day Trump was caught behind and Sandhurst was 3 for 6.
Senior batsmen Fawcett & Pask started the comeback with Pasky looking dangerous before falling for 36. This bought Dylan Gibson to the crease who along with Fawcett added 73 for the 4th wicket before Tapper was adjudged LBW for a well compiled 55. From there the wheels fell off, with Gibson (40), Kinniburgh & McFarlane all falling prior to the tea interval leaving Sandhurst 8 down and with a mountain to climb. Trav Russell (15no) and Nick Cook applied themselves well and some entertaining hitting from Brock Gibson pushed the score beyond 200 before Sandhurst was dismissed for 202 in a disappointing 56 overs.
This left Strathdale with approximately 22 overs to bat, and on a lifeless wicket the bowlers toiled manfully to restrict Strathdale to 2/67 with Alex Trump & Dylan Gibson the successful bowlers claiming 1 wicket each.
It was a missed opportunity for a side that showed a lot of resilience throughout the course of the match and again demonstrated the importance of batting the overs in order to succeed. The next round pits Sandhurst against Kangaroo Flat who amassed over 500 in the opening game of the season.
Man Of The Match – Went to Dylan Gibson for his 3 wickets and 40 with the bat.
Dragon Dream Team Star Performers: D Gibson 86, Alex Trump 66, Brad Fawcett 65 & Matt Pask 63.
3rd XI @ Bell Oval
The 3rd XI side contained a mix of familiar faces and young new talent taking the field against Strathdale who were semi finalists from last season. With strike bowler Paul Stingel's late withdrawal, new recruit Jimmy O'Bree & Dave Hunter took the new ball. Sandhurst made a nervous start with Strathdale flying to 0/35 in just 3 overs. Dave Hunter etched his name in the record books as the first individual to score points in Dragon Dream Team Competition by clean bowling the dangerous Anthony Rogers with the 1st ball of the 4th over.
When Clint Botham struck in his 1st over of senior cricket Sandhurst had applied the brakes. Sandhurst had numerous strong LBW appeals turned down throughout the course of the innings that could have put a whole different complexion on the match and if the boys had managed to hold onto some catches the run chase could have been considerably smaller.
The fresh faces amongst the bowling attack all contributed with Clinton "Beefy" Botham (2/26) Josh Ennis (1/27) & Courtney Cornell (1/35) with the assistance of a superb stumping from keeper Leigh Draper all proved successful with the ball. It was then left to the experience of skipper Dean Trew (2/48) and Keith Cloke (1/24) to finish off the innings and attempt to limit Strathdale in the latter stages to a more than handy 8/219 from 50 overs.
Whilst there was some average efforts in the field, debutant Martyn McDonnell got some serious hang time in a pearler of a catch that had to be seen to be believed in the 46th over to remove innings top scorer and Captain Rob Murrell for 66.
200 plus in any 3rd XI game is always going to be a very competitive total, but with the talent contained in the Dragons line-up the win was still well within reach. Strathdale were more disciplined in their bowling and never allowed the run rate to get out of hand. Most batsmen got starts, but it was the middle order of Bayliss (27), Kinniburgh (27) & Leigh Draper (48) who provided the Dragons greatest source of hope. Unfortunately as they perished chasing boundaries in the run chase that had seen the rate required push out to 8 and 9 an over, only a quick fire 30 from Jimmy O'Bree pushed Sandhurst total in excess of 180, but eventually the task proved too much as Sandhurst was dismissed in the 48th over for 186 and falling short by 33 runs.
Sandhurst 3rds has the unusual experience of a home game at North Bendigo's Atkins Street reserve next week against Kangaroo Flat due to the unavailability of the QEO wicket.
Man of the Match went to Leigh Draper for his run a ball 48 from 48 balls.
Dragon Dream Team Star Performers: Leigh Draper 58, Dean Trew 42, Jimmy O'Bree 40, Clinton Botham 36.
Finally the Giraffe report doesn’t normally extend to include Under 17s matches, but the weekends performance by Ben Leed and the entire Under 17s team fielding just 8 players to avoid outright defeat after the events of the week before deserve special mention, and the boys should be proud of their efforts and have shown how quickly it is for a team to bounce back in true Dragon fashion.
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