The double header took place once again and after the last few attempts were marred with weather related events, this weekend’s went off without a hitch, with weather as good as the first instalment a few seasons ago.
🏏 B Grade – Centrals v Moe (9am)
With two mid-match rain abandonments so far this season, the two Lions teams clashed again in the brekky game (9am start) hoping for an actual result. On the back of a big score against Gormandale, the Lions batted first looking to do the same against the ladder leaders.
🏏 Moe Innings
Braden Finn & Mark Whitney gave the Lions a good start again, Finn (18) dismissed just before the score reached 50. Moe carried through to drinks at 3 an over, crucially with wickets in hand. Jesse Pheeney added 19 off 30 before being caught in the deep. Whitney saw the score into triple figures before he fell for 39 (105), at 3/110. The Lions pressed on with Ash Savige (31 off 30) & Jarryd Atkinson 20* the main scorers in getting Moe to 7/174 (45), just short of a run rate of 4. Pollard 2/10 & Shaven Rajapakse 2/27 got the late wickets with Ould, Hiran Rajapakse & Downs collecting one each.
🏏 Centrals Innings
Aaron Johnstone took 2 wickets & Hayden Edwards 1 (his 50th senior wicket), to have the hosts on the back foot early at 3/18. Shaven Rajapakse (18) & Brenton Ould (46) got the 3844 Lions back in the game adding 81 for the 4th pairing. Ould displayed fantastic sportsmanship, walking when caught behind off Atkinson to break the stand. Rajapakse & Hurley (1) followed soon after, 6/98. Downs & Doble joined and appeared to be Centrals’ last main pairing of hope, both with capability of hitting a long ball.
At 6/106, the 3825 Lions thought they might have had Downs dismissed for 6, a direct hit run out by Johnstone with his bat getting stuck, dropped in the turf just before the crease, but was adjudged to have his now bat-less body safely across the line at time of bails breaking. Centrals required 67 from 66 balls after 34 overs, as Atkinson 2/23 (9) finished his overs allotment.
Doble & Downs took to the remaining task at hand, scoring heavily to force bowling changes. 45 runs (8, 9, 14, 8, 6) off the next 5 overs from 5 different bowlers put Centrals in command, now requiring 22 off 36, as the Lions struggled to execute their plans as desired.
Whitney’s second over got the breakthrough Moe so desperately needed, Downs (35 off 32) picking out Johnstone in the deep. The 41st over saw Doble (22 off 24) sky to Farmer at point off the bowling of Blunt, 8 down, 20 needed and the tide had almost fully turned. The game swung further in Moe’s favour in the same over as Himesh Rajapakse (2) was run out by a Whitney direct hit. Whitney then followed up with the final wicket in the 42nd over, caught by Savige. A collapse of 4/8, Centrals all out for 161 giving Moe a 13 run win and a top two spot as things stand.
Johnstone 2/18 & Atkinson 2/23 were Moe’s best bowlers. Whitney finished with a crucial 2/13 late with Edwards, Blunt & Farmer picking up one each. Moe’s record vs Centrals in B Grade moves to 4-0 with 4 washouts but with both looking pretty safe to be playing finals, if they meet in the post-season, it will be their most crucial meeting to date (A Grade have met in semi finals twice but B’s haven’t).
🎥 Frogbox Highlights – https://youtu.be/PSD4wh-tejg?feature=shared
Next Up – Rovers at Rovers whilst Raiders (1st) visit (3rd) Centrals.
🏏 Premier C Grade – Centrals v Moe (3pm)
🏏 Centrals Innings
After losing Kyan Doble (5) early to Brady Cake, Alister Foley (39) & Nethul Gamage (10) put on 44 for the second wicket. The stand was ended with Ibrahim Glibanovic in his first match of the season, running out Foley, a trend that would occur throughout the innings.
Cake claimed his second wicket & Biggins picked up one to reduce the hosts from 1/59 to 4/73. Nine runs later, Matt Burridge triggered a 4/8 collapse taking 3 wickets starting with skittling CLV President Brad Howlett in his milestone 350th game (in all seriousness, congratulations on the milestone Brad 👏). The other wicket in the collapse was Gamage run out by Pickering.
Dillon Moorhouse (15) scored the majority of the 9th wicket 19 run stand, including a four and a six. Two run outs in the final two balls made it four runs out in total, as Centrals were all out for 109 on the last ball of the 40 over allotment.
Burridge took 3/10, Cake 2/14 & Biggins 1/27 with Veenman x2, Glibanovic & Pickering finding batters short of their ground.
🏏 Moe Innings
Burridge (7) was first to go early in the Lions inning (1/9). Randy Straughair & Stuie Palmer added 28, before Palmer was caught for 14. Biggins (7 off 5) & Semmens 🦆 found themselves quickly back in the pavilion courtesy of Brad Howlett, Moe 4/46. Veenman (14) joined Straughair to get the visitors to 69, forty-one short of victory.
Straughair (21) & Veenman fell in the space of two runs to Jensen Doble & Howlett to give Centrals back the ascendancy. 6/71, plenty of overs available but now just 4 wickets in hand for the remaining 39 required.
Howlett’s 7th over of 8 available saw him take a fourth scalp, Glibanovic (7) bowled. 7/86, needing 24. Centrals rotated their bowlers giving a number of younger players a go in hope they’d also manage to get the remaining 3 wickets. Fortunately for the Moe Lions, that didn’t come to fruition, Garry Edwards (19* off 43) & Brady Cake (8* off 30) cautiously seeing the victory through. Brad Howlett finished with 4/29 for the hosts with Hamish Pettie, Jensen Doble & Brodie Howlett picking up one each. Moe now hold a 4-0 head to head lead in C’s over Centrals, with 3 washouts.
🎥 Frogbox Highlights – https://youtu.be/OasBLXxoh_U?feature=shared
🏏 Next Up – hosting Morwell at Ted Summerton.
🏏 Thanks to Centrals for another great day at Apex with the double header structure, our clubs competing in two games that could’ve gone either way, each full of momentum swings as they progressed. It was good to see both sets of C Graders support B’s early and vice versa in the later game.
