By Ronen Erulkar
This weekend saw the return of all Lilydale Cricket Club’s junior and senior teams apart from the U18s boys team who have an extra week off in their summer break. Results were mixed across the club with quite a few wins in the juniors which was fantastic to see.
On Friday night, our U10 team #2 beat Mooroolbark by 12 runs. We batted first and made 8-78, with Emma Hartigan top scoring with 10. In reply, Mooroolbark could only manage 5/66, with Thomas Morrison taking 3/5. Scores were not available on MyCricket for our other U10 team.
The U12s also had a great win against Yarra Glen. Batting first, we made 3/11 – with James Cook retiring on 36, Jake Neagle making 22 and Aneesh Sriram making 17. In reply, Yarra Glen only made 5/82 – with Aneesh Sriram taking 3/7.
Our U16s had a fantastic win against Wonga Park. Having made 4/226 the previous week (Braeden Anthony-Digby 86 and Darcey Barker 72), we bowled the opposition out for 174. Wickets were shared with Braeden Anthony-Digby and Luke Green taking 2 wickets each. This now puts us inside the top 4.
The Stage 1 girls team played on Sunday and narrowly lost to Warranwood. We batted first and made 5/73, with Lacey Doughty top scoring with 14. Warranwood made 3/99 in reply, Lacey Doughty also taking 2/11 with the ball.
In the seniors, the First XI had a narrow loss against Wantirna South. Defending 194 from the previous week, the opposition passed us 9 wickets down. Shifran Muthalf (3/38) and Daniel Thompson (3/35) were the pick of the bowlers.
The Second XI couldn’t quite chase down the target of 238 set the previous week, being bowled out for 195 in the 77th over. Brett Smart (49) and Eddie Saunders (33) top scored.
Our Third XI had a tie against the top team Wonga Park, with both teams finishing on 208.
Batting first, the top scorers were Justin Roberts (62), Trent Davison (41) and Brandon Hempel (38). The best bowlers were Matt Browell (2/20) and Matt Goss (2/27).
The Fourth XI lost to Warranwood. Batting first, we made 7/153 with Dan Barker top scoring on 36. In reply, the opposition made 4/155, passing our score with a handful of overs remaining.
The Fifth XI had their second win for the season against Norwood. Bowling first we bowled our Norwood for 113, with Joel Tennant taking 2/8 and Steve Smith taking 2/22. In reply, we chased down their score, ending on 3/114. Joel Tennant top scored with 52* and was supported by Birra Whyman-Coombes who made 25.
Our Sixth XI had a tight loss to Warrandyte. Bowling first we restricted the opposition to 9/143 on a small oval. Cooper Doughty (2/10) and Anthony Cliff (2/18) were the pick of the bowlers. In reply, we fell 10 runs short with Anthony Cliff top scoring on 52*.
A few of the teams will be looking to bounce back next week and get themselves back on the winners list. This Thursday (Australia Day public holiday) our First XI are playing off in the T20 finals day at Silcock Reserve, with the semi final starting at 10am against South Warrandyte, and hopefully a grand final to follow at 2pm against either St Andrews or Templeton.
We’d encourage all our supporters to get down to the ground to see us take a shot at the premiership. We also have our trivia night taking place on Saturday 28 January from 7:30pm which should be a great night at the club.
