O’Connell lifts Aztecs in high-scoring thriller
An incredible knock to Ben O’Connell has lifted the Aidacare Aztecs to their first win of the Darling Downs Bush Bash League season.
After the George Banks Umbrellas posted a very solid total of 7/156 thanks to 66 runs from Daniel Wilson, the Aztecs needed someone to step up.
That man was Ipswich allrounder O’Connell.
The opener carried his bat throughout the innings, belting 15 boundaries to finish with a league-high 88 runs from 56 balls, leading them home with 10 deliveries remaining.
“Once you got in and gauged what the wicket was doing bounce wise, the outfield was very quick,” he said.
“We figured that one or two partnerships would get us pretty close. That’s what they did and we were able to break that momentum with our bowling.
“One of us top-four guys had to stay in for the majority of the innings to put us in a close position, and that was me today.”
As well as starring with the bat, O’Connell led the way for the Aztecs with the ball as well, finishing the game with three wickets.
He was smacked for 15 in his first over, before recovering with his second over to remove Chris Hall, Liam Brown and Geoffrey Klease in the space of five balls.
“It’s going to happen in T20. Balls are going to go for six and four,” he said.
“Spin is a good challenge bowling in T20. Sometimes it’s your day and you can get a couple of quick wickets.”
The win puts the Aztecs on the board in 2019, as the team keeps itself in the finals picture at an early stage.
“The whole competition is going to be pretty close, so you have to be thereabouts,” O’Connell said.
“It could come down to a couple of points at the end for finals, so you have to fight as hard as you can for every game.”
The anticipated contest between unbeaten sides Hip Pocket Rockets and Livewired Lightning at Cahill Park turned into a one act affair.
Winning the toss and electing to bat, the Rockets started strongly, with opener Jarad Sippel (21) and Chris Gillam (22) powering their way to 0/41 from the opening 35 deliveries.
That was until Lightning skipper Kris Glass removed Sippel, sparking stagnancy in the Rockets batting attack that saw them slip to 5/75 with five overs remaining.
John Cleary chipped in with 16 runs late to help the Rockets limp to a total of 6/101 from their 20 overs, with Glass finishing with figures of 2/11 from three overs.
In response, the Lightning were never in any danger, with Anthony Wilson again the star, top-scoring with 60 runs from 43 deliveries to help his side reach 3/103 with 28 balls remaining. The Valley Raptors remained undefeated after a 32run defeat of the Liebke Lions.
Lachlan Vellacott was unstoppable on both sides of the ball for the Raptors, scoring an unbeaten 36 runs with the bat to help them to 8/132, before picking up 4/20 to help dismiss the Lions for 100.