Aggressive Saints on track for first win of season
GUILD-SAINTS are in the box seat to claim their first victory of the season after a devastating 17-over burst with the ball in the shadows of stumps.
Bowled out for 203, the Saints then went on the attack inside the last hour on Saturday to leave Bannockburn reeling at 4-21 at Frier Reserve.
Guild opening bowler Chris Dickenson was the chief destroyer, claiming 3-7 off nine overs, including the wickets of opening Bulls pair Nathan Broster (0) and Tanner Hay (6).
James Hickleton (10) and Nick Christensen (0) also both fell as Guild exposed a middle order minus Bannockburn captain-coach Dan Davies, who was unavailable on Saturday but will be able to bat at No. 7 at the earliest next week.
“Chris Dickenson bowled extremely well during that time,” Guild-Saints captain Steve Kelly said.
“I turned to him after a couple of overs and I wanted to give spin a try to see if we could get a wicket that way, but he said ‘I reckon I’ve got him’ and I ended up bowling him out because he was bowling an absolute treat.
“He was moving it both ways off the wicket, and as a batsman that’s what you don’t want.”
Earlier, Guild looked to be in a dominant position at 3-174 after being put in to bat, with Kelly (32) and John McLaren (98) putting on 123 for the fourth wicket until Kelly was bowled by Connor Jervies (3-39).
Kelly’s dismissal then triggered a collapse, with the Saints losing 7-29 as Bannockburn fought back, with Sam Riseley (4-40) the pick of the Bulls bowlers, bowling Dickenson, Bailey Kelly and Greg Gray all without scoring to finish the innings emphatically.
“It was disappointing to only make 203 from the position we were in,” Kelly said. “But in local cricket if you get over 200 you put yourself in a good position to have a crack at winning it.”
The Guild captain was full of praise for top scorer McLaren, who fell agonisingly short of his second century in the first XI.
“It was an absolutely sensational knock,” Kelly said.
“It was hard to knuckle down and get in, but he did it and made it look easy.
“Right from ball one he was creaming the ball and doing everything that everyone else was struggling to do.
“It was great to watch him from the other end plough the ball to every part of the ground.”