By Les Hutchings
The First XI played the undefeated Croydon Ranges in a Trollope Shield one-day match at Alan Smith Oval, Pinks Reserve. Croydon Ranges won the toss and elected to bat. At drinks they were 0 /128 off 20 overs and in complete control with Jack Kearns 88 not out and Darcy Turnbull 28 not out. After the drinks break Kilsyth bowled two left arm spinners in tandem, Mackenzie Scott-Thomas and Uvindu Wimaladharma, and they put a break on the scoring. In the 23rd over, with the score on 133, Uvindu had Jack Kearns well caught at deep long-off by Jack Childs for a brilliant 89 off 79 balls, including 12 fours and 1 six. In the next over, Turnbull was caught behind by Will Beard off Scott-Thomas for 33 off 60 balls (2 fours) and Croydon Ranges were now 2/133. A change of bowler in the 27th over saw leg spinner Jack Childs take a brilliant catch off his own bowling with his second ball to see Ranges 3/140. Andy Solomons took the fourth wicket LBW with the score on 4/156 in the 32nd over. At that point Ranges had lost 4/28 in the 12 overs since the drinks break and Kilsyth were fighting back. Opening bowler Kamal Kuruppu was recalled into the attack and had Matt Steiniger caught for 16 off 20 balls (1 four) by Uvindu Wimaladharma at short cover, with Ranges now 5/187 in the 37th over. They added 20 in the next 2 overs to be 5/209 with one over remaining. Mackenzie Scott-Thomas was reintroduced to bowl the last over and he picked up two wickets with his last two balls (both bowled) and Ranges finished on 7/213cc off their allotted 40 overs. Joe Blyth, who had batted well, was dismissed off the second last ball for 19 from 15 balls (1 four). For Kilsyth, Mackenzie Scott-Thomas took the bowling honours with 3/27 off 8 overs (1 maiden). Other wicket takers were Jack Childs 1/9 off 3 overs, Kamal Kuruppu 1/36 off 7 overs, Uvindu Wimaladharma 1/39 off 8 overs and Andy Solomons 1/43 off 8 overs.
After tea, Kilsyth set about the run chase with Kevin Baldsing and Jack Childs opening the batting. The first over yielded 12 runs, including 11 wides! A fine opening partnership of 95 came to an end in the 17th over when Keving Baldsing was bowled by opening bowler Darcy Carrigan for a bright 50 off 56 balls, including 6 fours and 1 six. Andy Solomons and Jack Childs then put on 58 for the second wicket when Andy was well caught by Matt Steiniger off the bowling of first change Will Spencer for 30 off 36 balls (2 fours) in the 29th over. Jack Childs was then on 49 not out. With boundaries hard to find, Pasan Ganegoda and Childs ran brilliantly between wickets to keep the run rate up. They lifted the score to 200 when Pasan was bowled for 30 off 34 balls (1 four) with Jack Childs then on 65 not out. Kilsyth were 3/200 after 37 overs when Captain Marcus Adams joined Jack Childs. After 38 overs the score was 3/207 and then 3/210 at the end of the 39th over, with Kilsyth needing 4 runs off the final over to win. The first ball saw Jack Childs caught by Carrigan off the bowling of Joe Blyth for a splendid 74 off 107 balls (5 fours), his highest First XI score. This brought Mackenzie Scott-Thomas to the crease with four needed off 5 balls. “Macca” missed an attempted ramp shot and then attempted a quick single to get his Captain on strike. Unfortunately, Mackenzie was run out by Matt Steiniger and Kilsyth now needed 4 runs off 3 balls with the game going down to the wire and the tension building. However, Marcus Adams cover drove the next ball for four to give Kilsyth victory with only two balls to spare. For Croydon Ranges, Darcy Carigan took 2/39 off 7 overs, Joe Blyth 1/42 off 8 overs and Will Spencer 1/44 off 7 overs.
The Second XI won the toss and batted first against Croydon Ranges at Silcock Reserve. Openers Rhys McKean and Mark Unternahrer put on 44 for the first wicket when Unternahrer was caught off the bowling of Xavier Spencer-Welch for 16 after facing 15 balls (3 fours). The loss of two more wickets, both taken by Spencer-Welsh, saw Kilsyth 3/74 when Hayden Pleming joined Rhys McKean. They added 102 for the fourth wicket before Pleming was caught by Chris Whittaker off the bowling of Harrison Low for a well-made 36 from 57 balls (5 fours). With the score on 219, Rhys McKean was the sixth wicket to fall for a magical 122 off 127 balls with 18 boundaries. After 40 overs Kilsyth had compiled 7/233 cc and was in a good position. For Croydon Ranges, Xavier Spencer-Welch captured 3/22 off 7 overs (2 maidens), Tom Noonan 3/25 off 4 overs and Harrison Low 1/41 off 8 overs. Harrison also took 3 catches in the field.
After Matthew Young captured an early wicket to have Ranges 1/7, the game was set up for Ranges with a magnificent 181 run second wicket partnership between Michael Henley and Captain Michael Crosbie. Crosbie was eventually bowled by Hayden Pleming for 66 off 90 balls (9 fours). The third wicket fell on 224 when Aston Buffey was caught by Rhys McKean off the bowling of Captain Matthew Coghlan for 15 from 11 balls (3 fours). However, Ranges soon chased down the target in 39 overs, finishing on 3/234 with Michael Henley a scintillating and match winning 131 not out off 119 balls with 20 fours. Wicket takers for Kilsyth were Matthew Coghlan 1/38 off 7 overs (1 maiden), Hayden Pleming 1/39 off 8 overs (1 maiden) and Matthew Young 1/43 off 4 overs.
The Third XI won the toss and chose to bat first on Roy Baldwin Oval at Pinks Reserve against top of the ladder team Chirnside Park. It was not looking good early on when the Redbacks had lost 4/24, including three ducks! Opener Anthony Cook had scored 15 off 21 balls (3 fours), before being caught by Sugar Ray Turner off the bowling of Matthew Cooper. Swing bowler Cooper was doing the damage, taking all four wickets for Chirnside. However, a 92 run fifth wicket partnership between Justin Smith and Dan Beard got Kilsyth back on track. Smith was the fifth wicket to fall, caught by Barry Collins off the bowling of Sandip Kumar for an excellent 61 off 71 balls (9 fours and 2 sixes). Kyan Harper then joined Dan Beard and they shared an unbroken sixth wicket partnership of 101 to see Kilsyth finish on 5/217cc after their allotted 40 overs. Dan Beard played a magnificent innings of 81 not out off 95 balls (11 fours) and Kyan Harper also batted well to score 35 not out off 40 balls (4 fours). Wicket takers for Chirnside Park were Captain Matthew Cooper, 4/20 off 8 overs (2 maidens), and Sandip Kumar, 1/46 off 8 overs (1 maiden).
Chirnside Park put up a good effort in the run chase but in the end were dismissed for 195 in 38.1 overs. The highlight of the innings was a top score of 74 by Kaiden Holliday, who faced 75 balls and struck 9 fours and 1 six. He was well supported by Sugar Ray Turner with 25 off 29 balls (4 fours), and Mitchell Walliker 24 off 50 balls (3 fours). For Kilsyth, Mark Wells took 4/40 off 5.1 overs, bowling the pressure overs at the end of the innings. Matthew Burgess 3/23 off 7 overs, Justin Smith 2/20 off 8 overs (1 maiden) and Luke Paolini 1/18 off 4 overs were the other wicket takers for the Redbacks. In the field, Dan Beard and Luke Paolini both took two catches each.
The Fourth XI also played Chirnside Park, who won the toss and elected to bat at Kimberley Reserve, Number 2 Oval. An opening partnership of 47 between Captain William Hailon, 20 off 24 balls (1 four and 1 six), and Cameron Anderson got them off to a good start. After being 2/53, a 99 run third wicket partnership between Anderson and Donovan Shortt took the score to 3/152. Cameron Anderson batted well to score 62 off 87 balls (6 fours) and Shortt went on to score a brilliant 81 not out off 82 balls (11 fours and 1 six) with Chirnside Park finishing on 4/205cc off their 36 overs. Leg spinner Andrew Smith snared 2/34 off 6 overs, Captain Anthony Sequeira 1/21 off 4 overs and Ryan Kaal 1/35 from his 4 overs. Opening bowler Michael Sturt was impressive with his 3 overs only yielding 4 runs.
When Kilsyth opener Andrew Smith retired hurt for 34 off 39 balls (7 fours), Captain Anthony Sequeira was joined by Kasun Ekanayake. With the score on 113, Kasun was the first wicket to fall in the 17th over, bowled by Trent Summers for 16 off 15 balls (3 fours). At that stage Anthony Sequeira was on 44 not out. A second wicket partnership of 48 was shared between Sequeira and Greg Gommers, who made a classy 28 off 25 balls (4 fours) before being caught and bowled by Paul Dryden. Dryden then dismissed Anthony Sequeira for an enterprising 60 off 71 balls (6 fours and 1 six) to see Kilsyth 3/164 after 25 overs. Dryden and Donovan Shortt then picked up a wicket each and suddenly Kilsyth were 5/179 after 28 overs with work to do. However, Ryan Kaal 11 not out off 9 balls (2 fours) and Jordan Relf 15 not out off 11 balls (3 fours), steered Kilsyth to 5/209 in 31.2 overs to achieve a well-earned victory. Captain Paul Dryden was the best of the bowlers for Chirnside Park taking 3/21 off 4 overs, whilst Trent Summers took 1/23 off 4 overs and Donovan Shortt 1/42 off 5.2 overs.
There were no fixtured matches for the Fifth XI or the Women’s First XI this weekend.
The U16-1 team played Norwood on Saturday morning at home in another one-day fixture. Kilsyth won the toss and bowled with Norwood amassing 4/189cc off their allotted 25 overs. The top run getters for Norwood were the following players who all retired not out off 25 balls: Lucas Clausen 39 (7 fours), Will Adzijovski 35 (5 fours and 1 six), James Matthews 28 (3 fours), whilst Shaurya Pratap Mondal scored 21 off 19 balls. Joel Harris was the multiple wicket taker for Kilsyth with 2/22 off 4 overs (1 maiden), supported by Jack Childs took 1/17 off 3 overs and Max Wills 1/24 off 4 overs. In reply, Kilsyth finished on 6/132cc off their 25 overs with Jack Childs 38 not out off 33 balls (5 fours). Additionally, Kyan Harper 26 (3 fours) and Max Wills 24 (3 fours), were both retired not out off 25 balls and were the other main run scorers.
Also on Saturday morning, the Under 14-5 Yarra Glen/Kilsyth merged team played Mount Evelyn who won the toss and elected to bat, scoring 3/142cc off 25 overs at Mount Evelyn Reserve. The main run getters were Captain Ezra Joyce, who was run out for 25 off 24 balls (2 fours), and Ranen Gereg, who retired not out on 23 off 25 balls (3 fours). Yarra Glen /Kilsyth batted well to achieve a good win finishing on 7/179 off 24.1 overs. The chief run scorers were Lawson Appleton 34 retired not out off 25 balls (6 fours), Tait Harper 27 retired not out off 16 balls (5 fours), Hayden Monds 22 retired not out off 25 balls (3 fours), and William Asbury 22 off 24 balls (4 fours).
The U12-4 team played on Friday night against Mitcham on Roy Baldwin Oval, Kilsyth. Mitcham won the toss and elected to bat scoring 4/115cc after 20 overs. Oscar Hooke, 28 retired not out off 26 balls (3 fours), and Winslow Teys, 23 retired not out off 15 balls (3 fours), top scored for Mitcham. Kilsyth’s Zion Solomons captured 2/22 off 3.5 overs, Aiden Nicoll 1/9 off 3 overs (1 maiden) and Bailey Kennon 1/17 off 4.1 overs. In reply, Kilsyth were 6/60 after 17 overs with Zack Mellerick scoring 19 off 18 balls (2 fours) and Tate Lindsay 9 not out off 36 balls.
