YOUR LOCAL CRICKET WRAP
SOME very tidy bowling and a lusty first-wicket stand to openers Justin Reid and Barry Weare has lifted Mulgrave to the club’s eighth one-day victory of the season.
The competition frontrunners put on another clinical display with both the bat and the ball at Crathern Park on Saturday afternoon to defeat Barron River by eight wickets.
Barron batted first and, while they showed improvement from last week’s efforts, only two batsmen managed to notch up double-figure totals.
Barron vice-captain Tim Ward topped his team’s scoresheet with 36 off 54, including two fours and three sixes, but the rest of the order struggled against Mulgrave’s pitch-perfect bowling attack.
Off-spinner Marcus McGregor-Cassady was the pick of the bunch with 3-15 from his eight overs, while Jake Roach took 1-8 from his six.
With 116 required for victory, Mulgrave skipper Reid and opening partner Weare made their way to the crease in a reshuffled batting line-up.
The pair were no doubt looking to make amends for their respective scores of 2 and 6 from last weekend.
“It was good (for me) to get some time out in the middle and for Wearey to get a hit as well,” said Reid.
“We changed the line-up a bit, just to try and get a few of the other guys in there.
“That’s the thing about having a good year – sometimes not everyone gets that time out in the middle. Especially coming up to this part of the season, you want everyone to be in form for the big games.”
Barron skipper Jordan Fulton had nothing but praise for the ladder leaders after the match on Saturday.
“They’re pretty clinical – very good all round,” he said.
“They did it comfortably, but they played with a lot of respect, which is credit to them.
“They’re going to be very hard to beat come finals time.”
Fulton said Barron would be gunning to get back into the winner’s circle in the final three rounds of the season.
“A few more wins would be nice,” he said. “We’ve got three more games and we’re really targeting to get a win.”