By Les Hutchings
All Saturday’s RDCA Junior and Senior matches were abandoned with no play due to the weather. Kilsyth’s First, Second, Third and Fourth XI’s fixtured two-day matches will now become one-day games next weekend.
On Sunday, Kilsyth Women’s First XI played Mooroolbark Second XI at Kiloran Park, Number 1 Oval. The Barkers won the toss and elected to bowl with showers forecast to occur during the afternoon. Kilsyth lost their first wicket on 33 in the 8th over, and the second on 49 in the 10th over, when opener Belinda Hutchings was out lbw for 22 off 39 balls from the bowling of Holly Brennan. On the last ball of the 20th over, with the score on 92, Sarah Gibbs was bowled by Penny Sinclair for 16 off 39 balls (1 four). The outfield was slow due to the heavy rain the previous day and at that stage only three boundaries had been scored. However, a 30-run partnership for the fourth wicket saw Kilsyth reach 4/122 after 28 overs. Only three runs were scored off the 29th over but the last over resulted in a further 13 runs with Avanthi Jayawickrema scoring two boundaries. Thus, Kilsyth finished on 4/138cc after their allotted 30 overs. The highlight of the innings was a brilliant 52 not out off 64 balls (7 fours) by Avanthi Jayawickrema, who hit the last ball of the innings for four to bring up her first ever half century. For Mooroolbark, Penny Sinclair took 2/21 off 6 overs, Holly Brennan 1/8 off 3 overs and Shayla Jones 1/13 off 3 overs. Opening bowler Willow Sinclair also bowled well, yielding only 12 runs from her 6 accurate overs.
In the run chase, Mooroolbark lost regular wickets: 1/10, 2/12, 3/24, 4/37, 5/37, 6/56 and 7/59 after 15 overs at the drinks break, with showers interrupting play for a short time on a couple of occasions. Mooroolbark were eventually dismissed for 99 on the last ball of the final (30th) over. The top scorers were Captain Shelley Vass 12 off 29 balls (1 four), Melinda Ruddick, 10 off 10 balls (1 four), and Shayla Jones 11 off 51 balls, whilst Extras contributed 41! Ruddick was batting well before she was brilliantly run out by wicket keeper Sharon Sheals, who threw down the stumps with a direct hit from short fine leg. There were also two other run outs, both by lightning throws from Eva Gottschling to ‘keeper Sharon Sheals. Courtney Anderson took the bowling honours capturing 3/11 off 5 overs (1 maiden), closely followed by Sarah Gibbs, 3/19 off 4.1 overs. Pace bowler Georgia Smith was the other wicket taker with 1/12 off 4 overs (1 maiden). Belinda Hutchings, 0/10 off 4 overs (1 maiden), and Stephanie Gibbs 0/12 off 3 overs, were both economical. It was another good win by Kilsyth’s Women’s team to retain third position on the ladder.
Kilsyth Men’s First XI remain undefeated in the T-20 competition after a tense finish against Seville in Round 4 last Tuesday evening. Playing at the scenic Seville Number 1 Oval, Kilsyth lost the toss and were sent in to bat first. A brisk opening partnership of 56 in 6.1 overs between captain Marcus Adams and Sudhir Prabhu came to an end when Prabhu was caught by Jared Carroll for 16 off 19 balls (2 fours) from the first ball bowled by medium pacer Kane Jones. This brought Andy Solomons to the crease, and he hit the first ball he faced for four. With the score on 80, Kane Jones took the second wicket in his second over when he bowled Marcus Adams for a blistering 45 off 24 balls (9 fours). Jones, who was putting a brake on the scoring, took another wicket in his third over and Kilsyth were now 3/90 after 10.5 overs with Solomons on 23 not out. Solomons and Jack Childs added 56 for the fourth wicket when Childs was bowled by Captain Liam Kay for 15 off 15 balls (1 six), on the second ball of the 17th over. In the same over he had Andy Solomons caught deep on the boundary by Jasper Barry for a brilliant 63 off 35 balls (3 fours and 5 towering sixes). It was an innings of power, mixed with patience, against some good bowling, demonstrated by the fact that he hit 10 singles and a two in 11 consecutive scoring shots, but “Solly” always kept the score moving with good cricket shots. It was Andy’s fifth consecutive half century for the Club. Thus, after 17 overs, Kilsyth were 5/148. Only two singles came from Bailey Humphrey’s next over, the 18th of the innings. Riley Foster’s final over only yielded 5 runs and after 19 overs Kilsyth were 5/155. Mackenzie Scott-Thomas then hit the first 3 balls of the last over for 4, 6 and 4 to give a much-needed boost to the team’s score. However, on the fourth ball, he was caught by Jasper Barry off the bowling of Bailey Humphrey for 17 off 10 balls (2 fours and 1 six), attempting another huge hit. A run out off the last ball going for a second run saw Kilsyth finish on 7/172cc after their 20 allotted overs. For Seville, Kane Jones was the standout bowler taking 3/20 off 4 overs, whilst spinner Liam Kay took 2/48 off 4 overs. Riley and Jordan Foster both bowled economically, yielding 23 and 30 runs respectively off their 4 overs each. Bailey Humphrey was the other wicket taker with 1/51.
After the break, Kilsyth opening bowler Kamal Kuruppu struck in his first over, following a catch by wicket keeper Will Beard, to leave Seville 1/1. This brought Kane Jones to the crease and he batted impressively, striking three consecutive boundaries in the second over and hitting two big sixes in the fourth over to get Seville back on track at 1/40 after 4 overs. Fortunately for Kilsyth, Jones was caught by Jack Childs at deep point off the bowling of Kuruppu for an impressive 29 off 15 balls, including 4 fours and 2 sixes and Seville were now 2/43 in the fifth over. Opener Finn Saurine and Bailey Humphrey then took the score to 2/115 off 12 overs and they looked like taking the game away from the Redbacks. At that stage, Seville needed 58 to win off 8 overs with eight wickets in hand. Captain Marcus Adams then introduced left arm spinner Uvindu Wimaladharma into the attack, and with the score on 120, after a 77-run fourth wicket partnership, Uvindu had Saurine brilliantly caught by Andy Solomons after the ball went miles into air. Left hand opener Saurine had batted very well to score 45 off 45 balls (3 fours and 1 six), with Humphries still not out on a brisk 41. The score progressed to 3/140 off 15 overs, so Seville now needed 33 off 5 overs with 7 wickets in hand. Then Andy Solomons picked up two wickets in his second over, including the prize wicket of Humphrey, who was caught by Sudhir Prabhu at deep point for a dashing 57 off 37 balls (5 fours and 2 sixes). The other wicket resulted from a good catch by Hayden Pleming at fine leg. After 16 overs Seville had reached 5/146, needing 27 off the last 4 overs. Six runs came from Unvindu’s next over, which included Jared Carroll’s second boundary, and the score was now 5/152 off 17 overs. The tension was building with Seville requiring 17 off 18 balls with 5 wickets in hand. Interestingly, at the same stage Kilsyth were 5/148. The 18th over resulted in four singles and a wicket to Andy Solomons (clean bowled). Uvindu Wimaladharma bowled a superb fourth over which yielded only 2 runs so the score was now 6/158 after 19 overs. Kilsyth were 5/155 at the same point, indicating how close the game was. The first ball of the last over was edged past the ’keeper for 4 and the equation for Seville was 11 needed off 5 balls. However, it wasn’t to be with Andy Solomons picking up 3 wickets in the final over, including that of Jared Carroll, who was bowled by Solomons for a quick-fire 16 off only 10 balls (3 fours). In the end, Seville finished on 9/164 in a very exciting match, well played by both sides. Mackenzie Scott-Thomas took a great catch at midwicket in the final over after running in from the boundary. Andy Solomons was certainly the star of the match, finishing with 6 for 25 off 4 overs, together with his 63 with the bat off 35 balls and a brilliant catch. The best of the other bowlers were Kamal Kuruppu, 2/19 off 4 overs, and Unvindu Wimaladharma, 1/22 off 4 overs, bowling at the death.
A great effort by Kilsyth to be undefeated and fourth on the ladder after 4 rounds in a field of 44 teams. However, there is certainly room for continued improvement in all aspects of the game, batting, bowling and fielding, as the competition will hot-up in the finals and the team will need to be on their game to keep progressing in the competition.
On Friday evening the Under 12’s played an away one-day match against Heatherdale at Simpsons Park. Heatherdale won the toss and elected to bat, posting 3/113cc off their 20 allotted overs. Best of the batsmen were Krish Kedar 22 not out off 25 balls (4 fours), Reyansh Goswami 18 retired not out off 15 balls (2 fours), Yashveer Kohli 10 off 14 balls (1 four) and Krishna Marwaha 10 off 15 balls (1 four). For Kilsyth, Aiden Nicoll took 1/11 off 3 overs, Isaac Donley 1/13 off 2 overs, and Noah Sterling 1/20 off 3 overs. In reply, Kilsyth tried hard but struggled to score against some good bowling and finished on 6/68cc. Bailey Kennon scored 13 retired not out off 30 balls (1 four), Isaac Donley 6 not out, Zack Mellerick 6 (1 four) and Tate Lindsay 6. Heatherdale’s Reyansh Goswami captured 3/4 off 3 overs (1 maiden), Farhan Alam 1/1 off 2 overs (1 maiden), Yashveer Kohli 1/6 off 3 overs, and Chloe Bryant 1/9 off 3 overs.
