Warriors top Crows
by Adam Johnson With the wet weather delivering as promised over the weekend it was great to see Western Park and Longwarry opting to play their match on the Friday public holiday.
It was one of only four games contested across the competition as almost 20 millimetres of rain overnight saw all of Saturday’s games called off.
Western Park 10/161 def Longwarry 10/106 Western Park got their COVID Cup campaign underway with a resilient win over Longwarry. Choosing to bat first the home side made a watchful start as Raman Gautam (29) and Elliot Kennedy (15) put on 33 for the first wicket. Some sharp fielding gave the Crows a lift, an assisted run-out sparking a flurry of wickets that saw the Warriors looking a bit shaky at 4/69. Chris Wettenhall and Matt Towt were equal to the task however, settling in for a crucial 52-run partnership.
A second run-out saw Towt (25) sent back to the sheds after a well compiled knock that included two fours and one heaved over the boundary.
Wettenhall (26) quickly followed and at 7/123 it looked like the visitors again held the upper hand. Timely cameos from Ethan Le Brocq (10) and Dave Nobels (15) were enough to help their side to set a challenging target. Liam Kirkman (2/18) and Jack Henning (2/10) got amongst the wickets late to be the pick of the bowlers.
In reply, Longwarry were in all sorts of trouble as Connor McCluskey (3/21) and Dave Nobels (3/11) tore through their line-up, leaving the Crows reeling at 6/30. Evan Wright (40) watched from the non-striker’s end as the carnage unfolded, doing all the scoring in the early part of the innings.
With survival now the focus, Ben McKenna (22) and Rohail Rafat (16) combined to add 33 for the eighth wicket.
Jack Henning capped off his day with some valuable late runs, finishing on 18 not out as the Crows innings petered out late in the afternoon.
In an extraordinary spell of bowling Raman Gautam returned figures of five overs, five maidens, 1/0.