This was our first away game at JT Gray Reserve where we won the toss and elected to field. Leo opened the bowling and got his first wicket with a high catch by Beau who was fielding at short third man.
With this start we were confident that we could get a few more wickets but Williamstown was steady and built good batting partnerships and kept the runs flowing. The second breakthrough came with Xavier Sherrard knocking the stumps over, breaking the bails. During the 12 over changeover I had a chat to the boys, asking them to tighten up the bowling and with self-belief they did just that, taking a few quick wickets and keeping the score down, with Beau taking two wickets with his extra bounce with a catch to Dylan and an excellent running catch by Owen mid on. Overall the boys kept the score to 6/142 in 24 overs, with Leo 3 overs 1/18, Beau 3 overs 2/18, Xavier Sherrard 3 overs 1/15, Owen 3 overs 1/15, Sriram 2 overs 1/14 with all the boys contributing and keeping the score tight and with a very good spell by Xavier Mom 2 overs 0/7 and a maiden over.

Chasing 1/142 was going to be a challenge but I believed our boys had the talent to get the runs for us. I asked the boys to get their eye in, push the ball around and build a strong batting partnership. Owen & Sriram opened the batting, facing the ball with pace and spin. Owen kept the score ticking and punishing the bad balls for valuable runs. Unfortunately, Sriram was bowled by their spin bowler, losing our first wicket. Dylan rocked up to the crease with a sore ankle, but with cool heads both Dylan and Owen kept the score going with both not out. Xavier Sherrard was next to bat but unfortunately didn’t make an impact on the score. Next up was Leo, Lennox & Gilbert up to bat but again not able to impact the score, up against some good bowling. Xavier Findlay and Beau’s partnership steadied the ship with both on 8 runs each. With wickets falling I see Xavier Mom with his cheeky grin all padded up and ready to have a go, asking if he was good to go after an earlier injury to his finger. He contributed a valuable 6 runs, but a bouncy ball trickled over his head and hit the stumps and he was bowled. At this stage we were 6/83, chasing 142 runs. Owen and Dylan were back at the crease, with both of them talking to each other, they kept the score going for the required run rate needed. It was an awesome batting display by Owen hitting a 6 to get 52 not out and Dylan doing the same with a 6 to get to 53 not out, leading the team to a terrific final result of 6/174. Amazing batting!!

Well done boys for a great game and fantastic teamwork. Great win. You made Spotty proud.

Coach Prem