Day 1
We won the toss and elected to bat on what looked like a great wicket. Ross and Blayde opened up and got us off to an excellent start. Despite some tidy new-ball bowling from Donvale, both handled the early overs well and scored freely. Ross settled in nicely and once he passed 20, he was back to his reliable best. Both batters brought up half-centuries as we reached 0/151 at the tea break. After the break, Blayde reached his first century for the club, a fantastic milestone. A few balls later Ross was dismissed for a well-played 82. Lachie came in and scored positively from the get go as he usually does. Blayde’s outstanding innings finished on 118, leaving us well placed at 2/216.Lachie and I continued to push the scoring rate, finding the boundary regularly. Lachie out for 42, I reached 57 before being dismissed, and Shorty added a fast 40 to help us close on a very strong total of 7/374 from 80 overs.

Top performers
• Blayde – 118
• Ross – 82
• Myself – 57
• Lachie – 42
• Shorty – 40

DAY 2

A slight rain delayed the start, but once underway our young overseas player Charlie O’Dea set the tone for the day with a great piece of fielding with a direct hit run out. From there, the game stayed on our terms for the day. Donvale’s top order battled hard but struggled to get going. Backed by disciplined bowling early doors, I was able to take two early wickets to have them 3/50 at tea. Hopey struck with the first ball after tea, and I added two more wickets as pressure continued to build. With strong fielding in wet conditions, Donvale fell to 6/53. The Don finished the job, taking the final four wickets of the game in a clinical performance as Donvale were bowled out for 81 in 38 overs.

Bowling Figures:
• The Don – 4/18 (12 overs)
• Myself – 4/17 (11 overs)

We sent Donvale back in as we pushed for the outright with 25 overs at them. The Don struck early in the first over but after we didn’t build any further momentum we shook hands and called it a day. This concluded a dominant first-innings win as we really get our season up and running. A huge thank you to the ground staff for preparing and protecting the wicket throughout a wet week and for their work on Day 2. We head to Endeavour Hills away next week for a big challenge on the road.