Country and Metro day two report

UNDER 19

The second match kicked off with the under-19 Metro side batting first.

Beautiful sunshine and a brand new white Dukes ball in the hand of Phil Dunphy look-a-like Jake Wood and we were ready to go.

Both bowlers, Wood and Leigh Diston, struggled to control the swinging ball, with extras the main contributor early and when Phil Dunphy trapped Ash Armstrong in front, Country were looking the goods.

Unfortunately for them, this bought Ejaaz Alavi and Jacob Serry together, and when Serry hooked Adam McMaster over square leg for four, Metro were 1-50 after 13 overs.

Whilst all of the action was going on, two figures sat on a nearby hill, in heated discussion.

Two Cricket Victoria officials (Lynch and Graf) were discussing all things tanning oil and bicep curls, as they kept their bronzed skin at a peak.

Out in the middle the two vertically challenged batsmen continued their march onwards.

After 32 overs, Metro had accelerated to 1-163 when Serry notched his century from just 95 balls.

When Serry was finally caught on the boundary for a well compiled 107 off the bowling of lanky Bomber Tom O’Donnell, Alavi stepped up a gear and kept the runs ticking along.

Alavi soon reached 50 before emulating his partner and being caught on the boundary, this time from the bowling of Waterfall.

Zac Allen and the Ouija board Ashan Wijayakumara kept the Metro score ticking along with some good running and power hitting to have Metro 3-225 after 40 overs.

Allen was caught and bowled by Nankervis for 65 off just 40 balls and soon after the Ouija board was caught on the boundary for 43.

Dunphy (Jake Wood) and Nankervis pegged back the Metro boys with some good death bowling but Metro still finished 9-323.

Country’s mountain to climb looked even bigger after Josh White bowled a maiden.

Openers La Brooy and Willet were well held with some good controlled swing bowling from White and Ringwood Ram Jonty Rushton.

And when Bobby Q V2 (Shea Gribben) and Big Shishy Nishy Perera began operating, Country were 0-25 in the 12th over.

BQV2 finally got the wickets column rolling, edging out La Brooy for 27 and Country were 1-48 after 16.

Some good economical bowling made sure the required run rate began to escalate.

Nankervis and Willet started to go after the Metro bowlers but when Alavi got Nankervis all tied up in a knot, after a well-made 34, Country were 2-120.

Some good spin bowling from Alavi and Hawthorn Monash’s Gehan Seneviratne made sure Country were all but out of the game, with the score at 4-140 after 35 overs.

Things got worse, very quickly, when White and Kieran Elliot struck in successive overs for Metro leaving Country 8-185 in the 42nd over.

Some lusty hitting from Phil Dunphy gave Country’s scorecard a little more substance but it never enough as they finished 9-245, meaning Metro have a six-point lead heading into the 80 over match tomorrow.

Metro Batting: Serry 107, Allen 65, Alavi 56, Wijayakumara 43
Bowling: Alavi 2 wickets, Elliot 2 wickets.
Country Batting: Willet 52, Wood 36
Bowling: Nankervis 3 wickets, Wood 3 wickets.

UNDER 17
Across the road, Nick King and Luke Inglis opened the batting against Port Adelaide Power president and Sunrise co-host name sake Jonah Koch and Boy Giant Lachlan Downes.

At 6ft 5in, Downes is a scary figure for just 17 years of age, and the two of them had Country in trouble at 1-29 after seven overs.

Josh Hudson and off-spinner Ben Roughsedge kept Country under wraps for the next few overs, whilst King and new man Matthew Underwood settled at the crease.

Eventually the Country batsmen took back the momentum and kicked on to have Country well placed at 1-61 in the 21st over.

King was retired on 51 after Blake Parsons got Metro back into the swing of things dazzling Underwood and Chaproniere with figures of 2-8 off six overs.

A Ryan Hartley cameo at the end of an innings gave Country what they thought was enough at 8-194.

Parsons was the pick of the bowlers, although Jonah ‘David’ Koch took 3-27 off his eight overs.

Metro started their chase with Roughsedge and English, who were both dismissed early by Cameron Brown leaving them at 2-17.

Damon Egan and Thaveesh Attanayake slowly steadied the Metro ship, to have them at 2-35 in the 12th over.

The runs started flowing nicely with classy drives and powerful pull shots.

Chances were being created, however, with quick wickets from Xavier Crone and Angus Boyd swinging Country back in front.

Crone struck again to leave Metro at 5-67 after 23 overs.

Big Bad Bustling Josh Hudson and Chris ‘Wiggle’ Diggle steadied yet again to have Metro 5-84 after 27 overs.

Hudson kept striking them until he was run out for 35, and Metro were 7-139.

Mark Butler and Blake Parsons made the most of their time at the crease to drag Metro into a winning position at 7-154.

But when Butler skied one to point, off the bowling of Symonds, it was all but over, and they were soon dismissed for 162, giving Country a white ball clean sweep.

Metro Batting: Hudson 35, Diggle 28
Bowling: Koch 3-27 Parsons 2-10
Country Batting: King 51 (retired), Hartley 28, Underwood 27
Bowling: Brown 2-23, Crone 3-18

INVITATIONAL XI
Across at Cobram, the Victorian XI won the toss and elected to bat.

A solid start from the boys after being well placed at 2-45 after 15 overs.

Jackson Koop started his innings positively and went about getting the Victorian team a big enough total on what is a very solid batting track out at Bank Street.

Some good strokeplay was met equally by some fine ACT bowling and the game never really swung either team’s way.

Koop continued going strong until the 40th over when he was dismissed for a well-made 79, however, it was not a good time to lose wickets and the Victorian side were dismissed for 216, a total coach McCaskill was sure would be a difficult one to defend.

ACT started like a house on fire and was 1-70 off 15 overs, with the Victorian side rattled.

Tanner Stanton bought the Vics back into the game claiming three quick wickets and along with Koop and Bartlett the Vics pegged ACT back to 6-151.

ACT did enough to scrape across the line eight wickets down, however, to wrap up four points and now lead the Vics 4-2 heading into the 80-over match.

Two run outs were the highlights of the fielding, and Stanton remained the pick of the bowlers.

Vic Batting: Koop 79
Bowling: Stanton 3 wickets, Koop 1 wicket, Bartlett 1 wicket, Van Der Merwe 1 wicket.

Things are all looking good heading into the longer formats of the game, where the really patient cricketers come to the fore.

Personally I can’t wait.