By Travis Gloury
Under 12
Yarra Glen 5 for 101 def by Healesville 6-116
Under 14
Yarra Glen/Kilsyth 2/200
Mt.Evelyn 6-192
Lucas Burke (35 off 25 balls, including seven boundaries) and Lawson Appleton (49n.o off 25 balls including 10 boundaries) were the two standout batsman in helping the team post a total of 2/200.
Single wickets to six bowlers restricted the opposition to 6 for 192 to claim a well deserved victory.
Well done to Yarra Glen/Kilsyth under 14’s.
Under 16
With the game evenly poised at halfway, Yarra Glen resumed at 3/87 looking to bat Yarra Glen;s remaining 25 overs and set a target for South Croydon to chase.
While Yarra Glen lost a couple of early wickets, Charlie Watts (28) counter attacked before losing his wicket with the score on 121.
Tristan Riddiford (20) and Kade Smith (14) continued to look to lift the scoring rate but when they lost their wickets, Yarra Glen were suddenly 9/154, and with a lead of only 72.
Sam Holland returned to the crease to partner under 14 player Riley Galea and the two put on a great match winning partnership of 47, Riley finishing on 31 out and Sam on 28 not out.
This lifted Yarra Glen’s score to 201 meaning South Croydon, resuming at 4/82, would need 120 to win off their 25 overs.
Charlie Watts (1/16) picked up an early wicket before a partnership of 30 threatened to take the game away from Yarra Glen.
Sam Donnelly (1/17) broke this partnership with a caught and bowled and at this stage we were on top with South Croydon at 6/118.
Their danger batter however came to the crease at this time and began to score freely.
Kade Smith returned to attack and knocked over their danger man for 39, Sam O’Callaghan taking a great pressure catch off a skied ball.
From there, the game was in the balance right until the end, with South Croydon needing 10 to win off the last over.
The final over was bowled by Sam Holland who held his nerve, conceding only six runs ensuring we secured a strong win in hot and difficult conditions.
It was a great victory for Yarra Glen boys who show great competitive spirit each and every week.
This is the second game this year where the game has come down to the final ball Yarra Glen boys holding their nerve and winning both games.
1st XI – two day game, 80 overs per day.
Yarra Glen all out 247
Bayswater 2nd XI 7/248
With key strike bowler Matt Donnelly off the field after injuring his achillies while batting last week, Jordan Bain and Phil Cowan took the new ball defending 247.
Phil Cowan picked up the first two wickets with a nice caught behind by club legend Tom Davey who filled the void as Yarra Glen’s wicket keeper this game with Phil following up to claim the team’s second wicket getting one past the defences of the other opening batsman.
By the 11th over the score was 3/20 after Liam Senti had their number four batsman caught by Brodie McCann.
All bowlers toiled hard as the day heated up in an effort to take Yarra Glen’s fourth wicket which came in the 31st over to break a 67 run partnership at 4/87 after leg spinner Tony Biddiscombe bowled their number five batsman who was looking good and scoring freely.
With some near misses, Yarra Glen had a stroke off good fortune with Liam Senti hanging on to a well struck full toss at square leg to dismiss their number three batsman on 55 at 5/125 in the 44th over, shortly after the tea break.
When Tony Biddiscombe hung onto a caught and bowled and Phil Cowan clean bowled their captain in the 62 over to be 7/174 to claim his fourth wicket, the game was up for grabs against the ladder leader.
Over the next 13 overs the ball was thrown around to various bowlers in an effort to break the eighth wicket partnership but in the end their batting depth was too strong for Yarra Glen’s weary bowling group who had toiled hard all day in the heat, with only 10 on the ground for the last two hours including Yarra Glen’s injured captain.
Phil Cowan bowled 21 overs in the heat to return excellent figures of 4/60 with good support from all bowlers, with Tony Biddiscombe collecting 2/41 off 15 overs.
2nd XI Two day game, 72 overs each day, split innings
Yarra Glen all out 115
Boronia 4th XI 7/115
The day began with Boronia requiring less than six runs to claim victory, with six wickets in hand.
In a remarkable game of cricket, Hunter Grenfell took three for 0 which left one more wicket required to claim victory as Boronia had only nine players for the day.
As chance would have it, a sharp chance went down at second slip to claim the last wicket and an unlikely victory before Boronia soon got the required couple of runs required to claim the win.
Both captains agreed shortly after to call the game off due to the heat.
Hunter Grenfell returned match figures of 5/21 off 6.4 overs to claim his first 5WI in senior cricket.
3rd XI one day game, 30 overs each
Yarra Glen all out 109
Chirnside Park 6th XI 3/115 (21 overs)
Under 14 player, Daniel Shaw was again the stand out batsman this week with 33, including two boundaries followed by Dave Taylor (25) and Stefan Atkinson (19) to post a total of 109 with 10 players after the late withdrawal of Sam Holland who fell ill.
Dave Taylor claimed an early wicket with all bowlers toiling hard in the reduced 30 over match as agreed by the captains due to the heat with Snowy Crawford taking the reigns as Captain in the absence of Lucas Walsh.
Daniel Shaw and Ryan Cowan also claimed a wicket each before Chirnside reached the required total in the 21st over.
