A Reserve
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A superb opening spell of bowling from Brady Bartlett and Angus Heslin set up the first victory for A Reserve on Saturday.
The young quicks bowled good line and length capturing 2 wickets each to have Wangaratta Magpies top order reeling at 4 for 13.
Wily veterans John Ferguson and Garry Browning were then able to tie the middle order in Knots with dot ball pressure.
Young leg spinner Jobe Kennedy came into the attack with immediate effect taking the big wicket of skipper Leslie with a well flighted delivery.
Kennedy finished with the impressive figures of 2 for 17, bowling at the death.
Skipper Brendan Hill led the charge with bat crafting a magnificent 50, the left handers innings was sublime with anything slightly off line despatched to the boundary.
Hill was supported by top order batsmen Jacob Bartlett (15) and 14-year keeper/batsmen Zac Fraser who made a run a ball 36 in the match winning 57 run partnership with Hill.
The Lakers will head into next week’s round 3 fixture against Benalla full of confidence after a strong victory. Yarrawonga 5 for 134 defeated Wangaratta 9 for 100.
B Grade
Saturday saw the Lakers B Grade team take on Ovens Valley United in a one-day match at Lonsdale Reserve Mulwala for round 2. This was the B Grade’s first hit out due to round 1 being abandoned due to wet weather in Benalla.
On a cool but sunny day, stand in Captain Justin O’Brien won the toss and elected to bat, which proved to be the right decision with the Lakers taking toll of anything loose and dispatching it to the fence.
Sam Willett continued his form from last season and got the Lakers off to a good start with a solid 21.
Pat Martin also found the middle of the bat with 3 fours and a six in his tally of 24.
A great start but the middle and lower order failed to fire and the Lakers were looking precarious at 9/127 with quite a few overs still left to face.
The ninth wicket bought veteran Ted Graham to the crease to join Darcy Norman who had a sensational day with the willow.
The pair put on an unbeaten 51 for the last wicket to see the Lakers through the allotted overs and a very good total of 9/178.
Norman finishing the innings 72 not out which included 7 fours and 1 six, with Graham’s cameo of 11 ably assisting the power strokes of Norman.
The Lakers then took to the field to defend their total.
Cooper Bennett opened proceedings and with a nice breeze behind him he was generating good pace and carry.
That pace beat one of the openers, Bennett knocking back the woodwork.
OVUCC 1/13 early but it was a while before the Lakers could take their second wicket. This was not through lack of effort as the Lakers were keen as mustard and just couldn’t find the right formula to break the partnership.
Then Jack Kennedy came into the attack and bowled a terrific spell of leg spin bowling to turn the tide the Lakers way.
Kennedy’s spell took the game right away from OVUCC with great line and length.
Kennedy’s 8 straight overs returned the miserly figures of 1/15.
All bowlers bowled well for the first hit out of the season, Tom Hicks the multiple wicket taker with two and one wicket each to Bennett, Tom Elliott and Kennedy.
Bennett also affected a run out to keep himself in the game most of the afternoon.
A terrific effort by the Lakers, restricting the Ovens Valley side to 6/116 from their allotted overs.
A great win to start the season.
Next week sees the B Grade heading to Wangaratta to take on Wang Magpies at Barr #2.
C Grade
The YMCC C Grade have opened their WDCA season with a strong win against Delatite in Mansfield.
The opening round doubled as a team bonding exercise with a bus trip first up.
The C Grade under the leadership of Captain Jason Sharp batted superbly with Steve Lappin top scoring with 43 and Dave True smashing 38.
Newcomer Travis White hit 34 not out and Birthday boy Josh Bozzola made 26 in a team score of 7 for 209 off their 36 overs.
In response with the ball, the YMCC bowled well and were able to share the bowling amongst seven different players.
Trav White continued a great game taking 2 for 16 off 6 overs; and wily veteran Journo Sheahan took 2 for 16 off 5 overs.
Bozzola took 1 for 18 off 5 and Ben Pickering 1 for 25 off 7 overs. Restricting Delatite to 8 for 138; the YMCC won by 70 runs on a great day for the entire club.
But the highlight of the day for several players was having a celebratory drink at the Commercial Hotel, where 2010 Collingwood Premiership Captain Nick Maxwell shouted the team a round of drinks to celebrate the win.
The C Grade lads take on City Colts at Victoria Park 2 in Yarrawonga next Saturday from 1:30pm.