| Three tons though out the grades was the outstanding highlight of this week.
Under 15 and Senior player Rob Howes hit 100* from just 69 balls to get his u/15 team over the line against Eildon Park Wildcats. Ash Hawkes helped Rob get over the line in the 10th wicket partnership of 64, Hawksy scoring just 5 of those!
First XI opening batsman Sammy Hettiarachchige smashed a quick fire 100* in the 2nd Innings in their win vs The Basin, plus took the $100 from Club President, Bill Leane's wallet on offer for any player in the 1's or 2's to hit a ton. Sammy took the long handle to the Basin's bowlers, scoring his ton from just 18.2 overs.
Veteran Knox Gardens player, Adrian Zandt also hit his first ever ton in the 3rds to secure their win against Lysterfield, Adrian was dismissed for 124, the highest score this season. Adrian was dismissed with the score at 175 from 35.3 overs and had good support from team mate John Mills who hit 68.
Tristan Wilkinson was back to his best again this week with another retirement, this time 51* in the 5ths easy win over Upper Gully. Gavin Harding also got to bat this week, and made the most of the opportunity making 51*. Upper Gully did push the boys a little harder than in recent weeks, posting 171, this week it took 22.1 overs (7.8 an over) to chase down the runs as the 5ths march on towards March glory.
Controversy marred some great performances in the 4ths, with both sides claiming victory. Daniel Hoggett surprised everyone with the bat, hitting 39 and taking 5/25 with the ball. Daine Vernon returned from a prolonged finger injury and hit 44 including a six! Steve Mackinnon also scored 40 runs.
The 3rds easily chased 266 against Lysterfield, with Zandt hitting 142, Mills 68, Zane Thomas continued his good form with 34* and Rob Howes 23*. Adrian Zandt setup the win last week with the ball too, with 5/100 from 24 overs, with himself and Adam Metherall bowling 48 of the 75 overs of spin (ok Zandty doesn't spin it). The 3rds are back on track and may take top spot on the ladder this round.
The 2nd's lapsed this round with a terrible batting performance vs Upper Gully. Ray Borg took a serious bruising on his way to a top score of 25 in the teams total of 67, including 4 ducks. Jason Buljubasic had his best bowling figures of 6/96 & Matt van Lith 3/72 took in a demoralising defeat for the 2's players. Upper Gully went on to get 280 but didn't try for an outright win.
The 1st's returned to the winners list against the Basin. Last week Knox Gardens posted a score of 187 with skipper Travis Mulder scoring 46, Jarrod Butcher 45, and Josh Gregory 36. Adam Wild then raced through their batting order taking 6/40, very close to his previous best of 6/34. Simon Taylor 34* and Sammy Hettiarachchige 100* then put on an unbeaten partnership of 137 in the 2nd innings, hopefully both can now take that form into next week.
Wilba followed up from his first visit to VB Country Week, taking 1 wicket per game in each of his 4 appearances. Wilba was ommited from the final and coincidentally the FTG team suffered their only loss of the week. |
