Goannas take on Iona
It was a sunny morning with a light breeze on Sunday as the Iona Over-60 cricketers were welcomed to the Duncan Cameron Oval in Traralgon for the game against the Gippsland Goannas Over-60 team.
The wicket was in excellent condition and the ground was absolutely superb as the Iona team won the toss and batted.
Peter Anton and Gordon Cowling opened the attack and the Iona batsmen were immediately on the attack, with 42 runs from the first 10 overs.
Rob Bacchetti and Rino Metlikovec were the next bowlers as the score mounted, with Rino inducing a false shot, and Iona were 1 for 77 in the 20th over, after the first 3 batsmen had retired. Rob took a wicket in his 8th over to finish with the good figures of 1 for 28. Metlikovec finished with 1 for 24 from his 8 overs. Ray Floyd came on and got a wicket with his second ball. 3/110 in the 29th over. Murray Moore took a wicket with his first ball and the score was 4/134 after 34 overs.
Fred Debono bowled an over and Moore (4 overs, 3 for 11) finished the innings taking another 2 wickets as Iona completed their 40 overs with a score of 6 for 164. Neil Meredith and Rino both took catches and the ground fielding of the Goannas helped limit the total, which looked like it could get to over 200 after the good start!
The breeze seemed to drop and it felt a lot warmer as Ray Smith and Debono opened the batting for the Goannas. Fred was caught in the 4th over and the Goannas were 1 for 7. Moore came in and hit the second ball he faced for 6, before he was smartly caught and bowled for 20 in the 12th over. The score was then 2 for 46. Smith and Metlikovec played steadily advancing the score to 85 in the 19th over, when Ray retired for a well made 40. Anton and Rino then put on 62 runs in 12 overs when Rino retired, also for 40. Merro came and went quickly, Pete retired for 42 at 161, leaving Barrie Nunn and Ray Floyd to complete the innings, with the Goannas finishing at 3 for 173 after 36 overs, and Nunn was 13 not out.
The Goannas Over-50 team were due to play the SE Melbourne team at Glen Iris today, but no scores have been forth coming from them.
The Goannas Over-60 team play a home game against Ringwood, at Morwell next Sunday, while the Over-70 team play at Endeavour Hills on Tuesday this week.