Solid first day giving Highfields a shot
CRICKET: Highfields-Railways have put themselves in a position to cause a boilover in the Toowoomba A-grade competition.
Looking to move into the top-three, the Bulldogs bowling attack was at its best against defending premiers Western Districts.
Fresh off Queensland Country duties, Sam Neale’s 79, along with 49 from brother Luke, helped the Warriors tick along nicely at 3/160.
Highfields then was able to gather momentum, taking five wickets in the space of eight overs to leave Wests reeling at 8/191.
A late fightback saw them finish the day at 9/215 with Scott Schultz still at the crease on 13 runs.
Highfields captain Kurtley Nielsen said he was pleased with the position his bowlers have been able to get the side into.
“It was looking a bit ominous for us when they were only three wickets down,” Nielsen said.
“We stuck to our plans though and ended up going through their middle order.
“We would’ve liked to have taken all 10 wickets on the day, but we’ll look to get the job done early on day two.”
Blake Martin bounced back from a horror opening spell that saw him concede 30 runs from three overs, with three wickets from as many overs in his second dig.
“Obviously he was a bit rattled after the first few overs,”
Nielsen said.
“We gave him the ball back and told him to stick to what he does. He really pulled it back in that second spell.
“Especially getting the wicket of Luke Neale. It was a big wicket at the stage of the game, and they probably would’ve been looking at 350 if he kept going.”
Nielsen said they would look to take a controlled approach with the bat, as they hope to clean up the final wicket early.
“In a situation where they are nine down, we want to try and get in early and take the momentum, not giving them a chance to,” he said.
“The key for us when batting is to have wickets in hand after tea.
“Wests have some pretty handy bowlers like Shaun McCarthy, so we want to be in a strong position at the break.”
An enthralling second day at Rockville Oval is in store with Northern Brothers Diggers and Metropolitan-Easts fighting out a classic opening day.
Diggers were sent in to bat by the Trojans, and were propelled by knocks to Kris Glass (64), Kieren Gibbs (53) and Cody Walker (47) on their way to finish the day all out for 284.
Campbell Rathie, Ben Brocherie and Pieter van der Kooij had three wickets apiece with the Trojans set to chase 285 for a first innings victory on Saturday.
Over at Middle Ridge Park, University is in a commanding position to take down Southern Districts.
The Magpies were unable to handle a barrage after being sent in to bat, with Rick Smith (4/17) and Jye Wallis (4/29) restricting them to 123.
In response University is sitting comfortably at 2/52 with captain Tully Willson unbeaten on 15.