Colts Report vs Blacktown - Round 7 |
Playing against Blacktown out at the massive Whalan Oval is a road trip that's difficult to get excited about and this game has done nothing to change that view. However the mighty Colts are still undefeated, although not in their typical conquering fashion. It was hardly an ideal start from the get go with a disrupted warm up with two players arriving 35 minutes after the first ball was bowled. However captain courageous Millar fluked another toss and elected to bowl knowing full well that 10 wickets were required during the day to win due to the unusual 2 day format jammed into a 120 over 1 day game. Luke Ham in action The opening combination of Owen "Heinz" Hynes and Tommy Bangs was tight and restricted the batsmans' runs, who failed to capitalise on the missing fielders early. Both wickets and runs were hard to come by early as the batsmen continued to play and miss and frustrate the bowlers to no end. Bangs eventually got the breakthrough against the opening bat literally half his height. From there, the game continued to meander along and at the first drinks break Blacktown were 1 for 40 off 20 overs. The Stags then continued to pick up the odd wicket but couldn't really get any momentum going due to an abysmal fielding effort. When Blacktown were 4 for 80 we had an opportunity to roll them for under 150. Unfortunately, we let ourselves down in the field grassing more chances then a whole family of octopuses could count on their tentacles. Seriously. The bowlers all toiled hard with Millar and Bangs the pick along with solid support from Luke Ham and Selby. The sun continued to beam down and the runs started flowing and the catches kept going down. All this led to one long hard day in the field. Blacktown kept batting and batting until mercifully they declared at 4-251 from 67 overs with one bloke notching up 110 (106 of those all ran) who I dare say is still dehydrated. Chasing down 250 from 53 overs was always a tough ask especially on a gigantic ground comparable to the MCG which turned 6's into 3's and 4's into 2's.We got off to a slow start with the youngster Lachlan Charles feathering one to the keeper. Wickets continued to trickle just as partnerships were gathering momentum. Selby couldn't match his superb knock from last week this time making an untimely and perhaps unlucky exit. With Brendan Gray and Luke Ham both out cheaply - the latter to a suicidal 2nd run from the other end - we were sitting at 6-118 and had to shut up shop and play for the draw. The only resistance came from Dedman and soon to be Dr Paul Campbell back from the land of academia making a classy 69 unbeaten including some majestic drives and a hell-of-a lot of running. Heinz then pigged out on some loose bowling to help boost his average and show the selectors he's a bowling all rounder with a vast array of shots. We ended up at 6 for 182 taking the draw and with it the consolation prize of remaining undefeated. All in all a disappointing game for a team which should have really put up a significantly better sowing against the opposition. Plenty of fielding practice needed at training and we should come up with the good against Wests next week. James Dedman |
Colts have a draw against Blacktown after a poor performance in the field
