Terrific ton curbs Cats
Geelong coach laments lack of boundary opportunities
A TON by Frankston Peninsula keeper-batsman Liam Tonkin denied Geelong its maiden Premier Cricket victory of the season on Saturday.
The Cats had posted 6-231 off their 50 overs to set a challenging target for the visitor and snared an early wicket to have their rival at 1-26.
But the No.3 batsman proved the difference, smashing 101 off 102 balls including four fours and five sixes to help his side chase down the total with 15 balls to spare.
The Cats could manage just three wickets as Frankston Peninsula (3-234) secured its first win of the season.
“I still think we bowled pretty well, it wasn’t bad, it was more on the back of a great individual innings and a bit of backup here and there from Frankston’s top six,” Geelong coach Andre Borovec said.
“We just got met with a brilliant century — Liam Tonkin played really, really well and in the end his innings was the difference in the game.”
Borovec said his side was given few opportunities to find the boundary.
Cats skipper Eamonn Vines continued his hot pre-season form, knocking 79 off 118 balls, while Thomas Treble contributed 52 not out.
“I think ultimately their length was better than ours for longer,” Borovec said.
“I thought Frankston bowled really, really well. Their length was impeccable and made it really hard to score.
“The pleasing thing for us was we got our best ever result with singles for the last couple of seasons with 105 singles. That was a big achievement, something we’ve been focusing on all winter.
“It was just that Frankston’s length was so relentless, they didn’t give us any boundary balls.
“I think on the flip side, when we bowled we just gave up a couple too many boundary balls at crucial times.”
The Cats, who haven’t played finals since 2013-14, remain winless after two rounds, but Borovec said his side had produced plenty to like.
“I think in the first two games there are far too many positives that have happened to be worried about the winloss at the moment,” he said.
“We know if we keep building those we’ll get the wins.
“The mood is certainly positive because we’ve had enough things go right.”
Geelong faces Carlton in another one-dayer away from home this Saturday.