Colts vs Wests - Round 6 - 2011/12

Captain Andrew Coleman's century the highlight of a dominant Colts performance.

Having not played since the upsetting defeat away to Sydney University three weeks ago due to rain and shortage of players the Colts team were eager to taste victory again. A strong batting line up was selected giving captain Andy Coleman more than enough reason to bat first after keeping his 100% toss winning record this season.

Coleman amongst the runs

The pitch looked like a typical Beauchamp oval track offering some assistance early on for the bowlers and opening batsman Mark Fonseka and Tim van Zuylen walked out prepared for a tricky new ball period. However with Wests only starting with 9 players plenty of gaps were there for the taking. The pair crafted a classical opening stand with patience shown early on before building into some aggressive stroke play. The showing of West’s 10th player and normal opening bowler had only a small impact on the run rate which was free flowing at over 4. It took until the 21st over for the stand to be broken when a lapse in concentration first ball after drinks led to 'the Fonz' being trapped extremely adjacent to middle stump for 40 with the teams score at 84.

Wests may have thought that this was a way back into the match however they were to be proven wrong as the skipper Andy came to the crease and combined with Tim to crash the ball all around the ground devastating the bowlers. Andy showed great poise at the crease waiting for any ball to waver in line or length before smashing it through his favoured leg side to the boundary.

Iqbal punching through the offside

In fact 9 of his first 10 scoring shots were boundaries. Running between the wickets became a rarity as the pair dealt largely in boundaries with Tim bringing up his 50 only a few overs before Andrew brought up his own. The long and prosperous partnership was brought to an end when Tim played down the wrong line to one from their strike bowler which clipped the top of off ending his innings on 64 and the partnership just shy of the century mark. Paul Woodford was unable to keep out a delivery early on and fell in the same over before scoring giving Wests a hope of possibly forcing a collapse with the score at 3 for 182. However no such respite was shown as the mighty Iqbal Ahmed strode to the crease forging a partnership with the well set Coleman. Complementing each other nicely they pushed the score on past 200. Andy was lucky to survive on a few occasions picking out fielders in the air however luck favours the brave and he lived on punishing them for their mistakes bringing up his first century for Gordon. Iqbal’s stylish innings came to an end on an unfortunate 49 ending the century stand between the two which blasted the bowler’s confidence.  A few quick wickets fell including the centurion and captain for 118 however it made little difference in the end as the mighty Stags posted an imposing 310.

The Wests were in for a tough chase which was made even harder when Tim van Zuylen made a direct hit run out in the second over before any runs were on the board. To add further worry in the opposite camp Dave Leiboff took the second wicket leaving them reeling at 2/3. 

Skipper Andrew 'Elton' Coleman during his century

Gordon never looked challenged as the run rate fleeted around 3 an over for most of the innings. No major partnerships were formed which was a credit to the bowling, keeping lines and length tight for long spells forcing batsman to take risky singles which led to three run outs (Tim van Zuylen, Paul Woodford, James Ham). Iqbal was the pick of the bowlers with 2 wickets from his 6 overs. All bowlers contributed with a wicket and low run rate. Wests were finally dismissed for a little over 100 after only 32 overs earning Gordon maximum points in a highly pleasing showing from all aspects.

Tim Van Zuylen