By Ronen Erulkar
A sunny weekend for cricket saw all of Lilydale Cricket Club’s junior and senior teams take to the park. On Friday night, both U10s teams took on Montrose and Mount Evelyn respectively and the kids had a great time as the season is coming towards the end with two games remaining. The U12s had a tight win against Yarra Glen, winning by 2 runs. They made 5/112 batting first, with Jake Neagle (17*), James Cook (16*) and Ashton Filleul (16*) top scoring. In reply, they managed to bowl out Yarra Glen for 110, with Aneesh Sriram (2/6) and Sebastian Centofanti (2/17) the pick of the bowlers.
The U18s made 113 on the first day against Eildon Park, with Braeden Anthony-Digby top scoring on 28 and Tom Smith making 20. In reply, Eildon Park are currently 0/38, with the result to be reached next Friday.
On Saturday morning, the U16s took on Vermont and made 8/167 from 50 overs. Darcey Barker was the pick of the batters, scoring 64, who was supported by Bryn Ballagh (23) and Luke Green (22*). The Falcons will be looking to bowl tight and defend the total next weekend.
On Saturday afternoon, the First XI took on South Croydon at Cheong Park. Losing the toss, they bowled on a warm day and after a tough start, they managed to restrict the opposition to 8/260 from their 80 overs. Next week Lilydale will be looking to take the game deep and chase down the total.
The Second XI had a home game against top side Croydon Ranges. They won the toss and elected to bat, scoring 177 from 76 overs. Brandon Hempel was the standout with 66 from 199 deliveries. With some tight bowling next week, they have a big chance of victory to cement our spot in the top four.
Lilydale’s Third XI had a fantastic victory against Warrandyte, winning by 27 runs. Batting first they made 9/165, with Connor Smith (42), Trent Davison (39) and Cameron Thompson (32*) the standouts. In reply, we restricted the opposition to 9/138, with U16s player Cameron Thompson also taking 5/20 in an amazing bowling performance to lead them to victory.
The Fourth XI secured a miraculous victory off the last ball of the day, which also saw young gun Darcey Barker reach a maiden century for the club. Bowling first, Warrandyte made 7/205 from their 35 overs – Dwayne Dobinson taking 2/28. In reply, Darcey Barker carried his bat through the entire innings to finish 102* off 110 balls, and hitting a 4 off the last ball to win the game.
The Fifth XI made a game of it against Montrose, who made 6/213 batting first. Wickets were shared between all the bowlers. Batting second, Lilydale fell 6 runs short on 7/207, with Ben Blackey carrying his bat on 55* and Rory Nyko making 39 in a gallant effort.
The Sixth XI made light work of Ainslie Park, bowling them out for 95 and chasing the total for the loss of only 2 wickets. U16 player Liam Hartigan took 4/29, and was supported by Cooper Doughty (2/5) and Bryn Ballagh (2/13). In the chase, Luke Spencer top scored with 28*.
The weekend was capped off with the stage 1 girls team taking on North Ringwood on Sunday. They had a fantastic victory, winning by 43 runs. Batting first the girls made 1/110, with Lacey Doughty top scoring with 21*. North Ringwood only managed 1/67 in their innings.
Well done to all teams on a fantastic weekend for the club.
