Atherton seize moment for sniff of victory
A LOOPHOLE exploited at Loder Park has given Atherton a sniff of outright points to keep the race for top spot alive on the Cricket Far North ladder.
Fresh off their one-day and T20 grand final wins, the Tableland side made hay with an extra 10 overs of play on Saturday to start the chase of United’s 133.
Usually a compulsory innings closure at 75 overs would mark the end of the day’s play, but the visitors being dismissed three balls prior with time to spare meant a rare continuation of play.
While United pushed for the extra play knowing two of their key bowlers would be missing for day two, they played right into the hands of again-promoted Michael Salerno, who slammed an unbeaten 35 to lead his side to 1-57 at stumps.
It followed the spinner’s 3-18 on a surprisingly good wicket considering the challenges groundsmen faced to prepare it after recent rain.
United skipper Cam Davis said it was last pair Jarrod Koch and Kieran Pietras with a stand of 40 that showed the way to a middle order that faltered.
“It turned into a road for the last couple of hours, we just didn’t bat long enough to make use of it,” he said.
It only got worse when United got their hands on the ball, putting it in the slot for Salerno to “bash them”.
“We bowled to his strong points,” Davis said. “What we have to do next week is not bowl like we did in that spell. We definitely have put ourselves under a lot of pressure.”
Salerno said it all went to plan but felt there was still work to do before dreaming of an outright win.
“We’ll just have to sum it up when we get there. The first goal will be to get first innings points, but they will be undermanned next week, so it could open the door,” he said.
“We won’t be counting our chickens that’s for sure.” THE LOSER Justin Reid is human after all. The Mulgrave opener had been dominant up until a globe on Saturday. THE STAT 3 catches for Norths’ Mathew Hopkins in his first A-grade start WHAT THE? There was no love lost for Ethan Sanderson. Atherton gave it to the youngster for his midseason switch but he handled it well in a long stint in the middle.