NDCC 1st Grade - After a diabolical collapse from the Butchers on Day 1 of the fixture, the boys knew that stemming the run flow early in the day would be key.
Jamal Banfield (1/28) and Jack Daskey went about this task with aplomb, starving the Corrimal batsmen of the early runs they needed to press for an outright victory. Jack was unfortunate not to have Kowalewski stumped early on, receiving a convenient 'not out' from the Cougar umpiring at square leg. It is a testament to his keen eyesight and mental focus that he could see the batsmen's willow touch inside the crease before Hugh Fullagar could whip off his bails.
Jamal (pronounced with a
soft 'j') was rewarded for his nagging line an length by trapping the aforementioned batsman with a good delivery. This brought former Butcher Stu Tobin to the crease. Taking advantage of some uncharacteristic wayward bowling from Bondy (1/56) and a tiring Daskey, Tobin bludgeoned his way to 49 before skying one to Browny at deep mid-off from the bowling of Rollestone (1-35)
With the declaration imminent Corrimal looked for some quick runs but tight bowling from Banfield and Rollestone somewhat stemmed the tide and Corrimal declared at 5/210 with a lead of 117.
With Corrimal's declaration leaving no incentive for the Butcher's to make a game of it, batting out the day was the next goal. Achieving this goal was made even more difficult with the early dismissals of Fullagar (1), Cottom (2) and Brown (1).
Salakas (22) and Murphy (28) then went about resurrecting the innings and batted well, putting on 44 for the 4th wicket before Murph was bowled attempting a slog sweep.
When Salad fell, caught behind to Fisher, Rhys Marsh was joined at the crease by the injured Scott Beckett. The efforts of both these players cannot be faulted.
Marshy (16 from 78 balls), the youngest batsman in the team, occupied the crease well and put on a display of both grit and class that many senior members of the team should take note of.
Scoo (32 from 77), batting with a slipped disc in his back, played through the pain barrier and refused a runner. Whether his refusal is down to him being a hard cabbage, or the fact he saw that Browny was padded up to run for him is a question that remains unanswered.
Rollo (8 from 26), Jack (2 from 21) and Bondy (4 from 22) all then occupied the crease to stave off an outright loss. The only disappointment was Rollestone's brain-snap, skying a wide delivery to mid-off and forcing the tail to bat, though they handled the job well.
Overall a disappointing start for the Butchers, but we can take heart from our performance on Day 2 and can look forward to further improvement next week at home to Wollongong.
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