Sunday - Northern Districts Butchers played against Kiama in Round 1 of the SCG Country Cup in Kiama today. Winning the toss and electing to field, great early bowling had the Kiama top order in trouble. Bondy (3/17 off 10) led early and took two wickets from his first two overs to have Kiama at 2/0 off 4. The wickets continued to fall with Rollo (1 wicket), Jamal (3 wickets), Robbo (2 wickets) and Neil (final wicket) all contributing to a meager Kiama total. One Kiama batsman dug in and played a good knock finishing on 66 until he played on from a quick inswinger from JB. The score at that stage was 7/97 and shortly after rain interrupted play.
Forced from the field for roughly 45 minutes the Butchers came back out to clean up the last 3 wickets for 10 runs, Kiama all out for 107. Fielding standards were high all day, a top effort from the lads. One injury hampered the Butchers as Shadow had to leave the field after dislocating his fingers; X-Rays suggesting damage is minimal which is good news in a potential disastrous situation for the top order batsman.
After lunch with the weather looming and knowing 20 overs qualifies a match Northern Districts went out with an attacking mindset. Cottom (4) played a couple of nice shots before mistiming a pull shot in the first over. Ean Martin (10*) came in with Salakas (12*) and set about chasing down the total in quick time. Great shot play was witnessed with little risk. After 3.2 overs we were looking great at 1/30, unfortunately the rain came and came hard. The Butchers were off for nearly an hour before coming to the sad realisation that there would be no further play for the day. A terrible shame, and as Kiama are seeded higher means that Northern Districts are cruelly out of the competition. A disappointing end to what was an inspiring and encouraging bowling and fielding display.
We can take many positives out of this game, and will give us confience going into next week. Well done to all the boys who put in a great effort and deserved a victory. Onwards and upwards from here lads.
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