Our onfield season officially came to a close two Sundays ago with a grand final victory for the 2nd XI and a heart wrenching loss 10 minutes after the 2nd XI win for the 1st XI. The 4ths also played in their preliminary final on Saturday and came off second best against Sacred Heart. See the match reports below:
MATCH REPORTS:
1st XI
The 1st XI headed into day 3 of their grand final against Old Mentonians with a 50 run lead and Old Mentone on 0/3. On the best batting pitch most players had ever seen and it was going to be a toil and effort to get wickets. But that all changed when we picked up 3 early wickets to have Old Mentone looking very shaky at 3/37 early on. The Mentonian middle order dug in though and got to afternoon tea without losing another and adding 150 runs. Skipper, Aaron Fenton, brought himself on and got the breakthrough. As the afternoon went on, old Mentone upped the run rate and lost their last 3 wickets all run out with 10 overs left in the day. Along with Fenno, Al Patey got an LBW, Bimal Shah got 1 wicket, Regan Buckley got 2 and the pick of the bowlers was Kieran New with 3 to his name. We had to bat out the last part of the day and we looked steady with Tarun Rabari and Fenno at the crease before Fenno was bowled. Kieran came out as night watchman and we went into day 4 at 1/10 with 166 to take the win or bat out the day to win the flag. Kieran and Tarun got us of to a solid start in near perfect conditions on day 4 by seeing of the opening bowlers when Kieran fell just before the drinks break. Danny Davies joined Tarun and it was all going smoothly at 2/50 odd. Danny went out after getting his eye in but Tarun was looking solid, keeping up a steady scoring pace. Our middle order failed to fire though and we lost a spate of wickets and when we lost Tarun on 43 we went into the afternoon tea break at 8 wickets down with Regan and Al at the crease. The break was good for the pair and both were determined to finish the job. They got through the first part and almost made it through to the drinks before Al mistimed a shot and was caught at cover. It came down to Bimal Shah and Regan Buckley for a last wicket stand. In controversial circumstances, Old Mentonians brought their gun fast bowler onto the field for the first time on day four with less than 15 overs remaining in the match after he had been playing in a football game. Despite Fenno’s queries and protests to the umpires, he was allowed to bowl. Regan and Bimal were holding strong, negotiating each ball with ultra care. There were seven overs left for the match and a hush around the oval. Bimal was on strike and got struck on the pad with mad appeals from all fielders. The umpire stayed steady, gave it an eternal amount of thought, before finally pointing to the sky and dashing Carnegie’s 1st XI premiership hopes.
2nd XI
The 2nd XI resumed their battle on day 3 after a tough finish to the week before and the game in the balance again. We were 5/65 and holding a 133 run lead from the first inning. Stuart Easton wasted no time and got the runs flowing quickly before missing a drive and having his off stump removed after a quick fire 12. Luke Meyer joined Christian Hollingworth who was 43no from the previous week. They played carefully and successfully made it through to drinks. As the day went on the conditions got easier to bat and the runs flowed and we went to tea without further loss and the score at 6/150 (215 run lead) and Christian in the 90s. They picked up where they left off after tea and Christian brought up his century in fine style and our lead extending well above 250. More aggressive batting was the order of the day with the new ball due before drinks. As the lead got closer to 300, the Mentone Tigers finally got their new ball and with immediate effect had Christian dropped and then caught the very next ball at first slip to for an excellent 126. Lukey continued but was dismissed for 47 a few overs later. The tail wagged and Glenn Murphy got a valuable 17 at number 11 which included 3 boundaries before we were all out with about 15 overs left in the day. The left handed Mentone skipper opened the batting and went on the attack before having his leg stump knocked by a Louie Turpie inswinger (for the 3rd time this season) and we were up and about. The other Mentone opener continued to attack though and the runs came easily for him. Tim Dodgson cam in and removed him LBW (for the second time in the match) and we came close to having Mentone 3 down before the close of play with a couple of missed chances. Day 4 – we needed 8 wickets and Mentone needed 266 runs. Spin was used right from the start with Christian Hollingworth taking the first over and Murph toiled from the other end. It took a while to get the first wicket with the Mentone batsmen taking their chances with plenty of french cuts to get them to 92 before a great captain’s catch at mid off down low by Murph off Tim’s bowling. After drinks we got a few more wickets and Mentone got a few more runs and afternoon tea score of 5/156 and Mentone still needing 160+ off 37 overs and their highest run scorer for the innings not out after being dropped several times. After tea we brought Matt Bayliss into the attack and was looking likely to get a wicket and making it difficult for batsmen to score. The Mentone boys had plenty to play for and took him on. Christian finally dismissed the main batsman thanks to Matt Bayliss holding a catch at backward square. Matt Bayliss got the next 2 and we were into the tail enders with the score at 8/203 thanks to a great outfield catch from Stuart Easton under pressure from the Mentone fans in the deep. Mentone were not done though and went on the attack needing 6+ runs per over for any hope of victory. Christian got an LBW and the Mentone number 11 came out and went whack! 3 boundaries and the 10th wicket partnership had already reached 24 in a couple of overs, we had three fielders in the deep and the balls were sailing over there heads. Christian was the man and bowled him after playing over a full ball to get us the win and the man of the match award to add 4 wickets to his 126 with the bat!
4th XI
Whilst there was action a plenty at Princes Park, the 4ths were at Koornang Park on Saturday in their do or die preliminary final against Sacred Heart. We started well by getting 2 early wickets but with plenty of short stuff the runs were flowing. The Sacred Heart batsmen attacked all game and we dismissed them for 203 with the Skipper, Dave Goodey, getting another 4 fa. Our turn to bat saw us in trouble early before steadying but with another glut of wickets and we were all out for 69 and the 4thXI’s season was over.
It was great to see all the support at the grounds over the 2 weekends and a really big crowd back at the rooms on Sunday afternoon for match reports.
Stay tuned for announcements about the Presentation Night
Go Neggies!
