5th Grade Report vs Bankstown - Round 2 |
A full compliment of players arrived at Jensen Oval on Saturday morning, confident after a bonus point win in the previous week with a man short. However, Bankstown, our opponents had pulled off a bonus point win in their round one clash as well, so we entered the contest with a very cautious approach. Sajdeh gets the batting off to a handy start Rain delayed our start of by half an hour with the Bulldogs skipper keen to head home and Captain Dave Millar champing at the bit to bowl with the wind again. After winning his 3rd toss from 20 attempts we sent Bankstown into bat on a pitch that looked like it would offer a bit to both bat and ball. Not after the Gordon boys had pulled the home team's covers on and off the deck a couple of times. A heavy downpour sent us from the field after only 2 overs during which we were able to knock off one of the openers. With the rain getting heavier and a now freshened up pitch the opposition skipper again pushed for calling the day off. But armed with his laptop and wireless internet Millar was on the bureau of meteorology's website studying the radar as if he were Tim Bailey. He managed to convince the umpires (but not the opposition skipper) that the rain would pass and we would be back on the field at 1:30 before fitting in the rest of the days play. As predicted, the rain stopped and we were able to take the field again. Despite losing another two early wickets, Bankstown got off to a fairly quick start and were 3 for 40 before Justin 'Embryo' Avendano gave his hat to the umpire. Turing the ball square and landing them in the right spot he was able to keep the Bankstown batsmen scoreless for his first 6 overs. Dave Millar supported the young leggy well going for just 6 runs from his 8 overs. The pressure was building and Justin, grunting like Maria Sharapova, was able to get wickets consistently throughout his spell including a LBW, two bowled and a handful of catches using great pieces of deception. He bowled 22 overs straight with figures of 5 for 18. After each wicket he took he made sure to reminded us how many fantasy points he was worth this week which and encouraged us to pick him as captain in our own sides. No-one did.
Justin "Maria" Avendano with 8 wickets already this season At the start of day two we were keen to knock off the last wicket without giving Bansktown any bonus runs. Luckily the Embryo, fresh from a warm-up in his backyard net, hadn't lost any of his form and was able to clean up the final wicket in just 3 balls with one run added to the Bansktown total to finish with figures of 6 for 19 ' this one round his legs and all! Sunny Sajdeh got our chase to a great start, playing shots on both sides of the wicket ' but mainly his trademark leg-side nudges, noodles and knocks - and had a crucial partnership with Jono Wigham to steady the top order after the loss of some early wickets. Sunny was trapped in front for 38 to a well bowled wrong-un by Bankstown's very own fetus, aged 14. Boy did Justin feel old! Rain, once again stopped play at the tea break. As Millar again studied the weather radar, Kris Colley's grandfather showed us the best way to kill time during a rain delay by visiting the local strip club for a cappuccino. He rated the coffee and Sefton's Monday morning line up as 'not the best he's ever had.' Once the rain cleared, play restarted and we found ourselves in a very comfortable position at 3 for 70. The runs were ticking over nicely before Jono Wigham fell for 30 and Mark Fonseka departed after making a solid contribution. Only a handful of runs were needed with 5 wickets in hand and it seemed as though a relatively comfortable win was on the cards. In the closing stages only 5 runs were required with 5 wickets left in the shed before three quick wickets sent nerves throughout the side. But Nathan Kinny and Tim Fulton were able to steady the ship and score the remaining runs for the win. Not a moment too soon either as the remaining 2 wickets fell without adding to the score, so we won by a solitary run. The Bankstown captain felt it appropriate to have second dig for 9 overs, despite there being less than a snowflakes chance in hell of a result, before both captains agreed to call it a day. Overall a good win set up by a great spell of leg spin bowling by the Embryo. Tim Fulton |
5th Grade gets over the line to grab points 
Mark 'Lotto' Fonseka also bowled a good spell, managing to keep the batsmen, the keeper and more often than not himself guessing as to what ball would come next ending with figures of 1 for 23. The day ended with Bankstown in trouble at 9 for 129.
