1st Grade Round 4: UTS North Sydney v Manly at Manly Oval
UTS North Sydney 6/83 (17 overs) (cc) (O Knight 41*) def by Manly 4/229 (31 overs) (cc) (JN James 1/21, O Knight 1/29)
After the week’s rain, we arrived at Manly Oval pessimistic about the prospects of play, but the rain abated around lunchtime and the Manly boys did some sterling work mopping the outfield, so we tossed at 2pm for a 2pm start, 31 overs per side. Tom Jagot called correctly and had no hesitation in inviting our Waratah rivals to bat in bowler-friendly conditions.
Things got even better for the Bears when Jack Edwards nicked the first ball of James Campbell’s second over to slip, where Jagot took a comfortable catch. Manly were 1/6 and their skipper, Jay Lenton, strode to the crease. He very nearly needed to head back to the sheds the following over when on 1, but the catch at square leg went down. Spoiler alert – it wasn’t the last drop of the day, and we were made to pay!
The openers bowled tightly, and the second breakthrough came in the 10th over when Jack James (1/21) was introduced. Ben Bryant, Jack’s former opening batting partner at the Bears, got the faintest of edges on the way through to Aiden Bariol and Manly were 2/40. Lenton and Ryan Farrell put on 43, but Olly Knight (1/29) kept the run rate under control before Rob Aitken (1/57) had Farrell caught on the fence by Jack James while going for a big shot. Joel Davies hit Olly for two successive fours, but our in-form all-rounder had the last laugh, Davies falling into the trap and pulling a short one to deep mid-wicket where Tim Reynolds took an excellent catch. It was 4/102 in the 21st, the run rate was just 5 an over and the Bears were up and about despite a couple more difficult missed chances.
Davies’ dismissal brought together Lenton and English import Tom Lammonby. The pair proceeded to dismantle the Bears’ attack and provide a masterclass in running between the wickets, putting on 127 off 63 balls to take the score to a commanding 4/229 off 31 overs. Lenton hit all of his seven sixes in the final ten overs, and was particularly brutal in the final one, taking 26 runs off it with four bombs to finish 120* – and rather ruining Campbell’s figures (1/51) in the process.
After the onslaught, the Bears were on the back foot, and it went from bad to worse with Tom Jagot nicking behind in the second over. Brent Atherton quickly followed his skipper back to the sheds courtesy of an absolute screamer at backward point. Jack James and Aiden Bariol put on 20, including a six over mid-wicket by Bariol to get off the mark, but he mis-judged a clip off his legs and sent it straight down the throat of deep wide fine leg. Reynolds and James (11) fell in quick succession and the Bears were in dire straits at 5/35 in the 12th.
With very little to lose, Olly Knight let loose, peppering the leg side boundary with three sixes and four fours on his way to 41* off 24. He found good company in James Aitken, who hit a bomb of his own and was well set on 14 when the heavens opened. The shower was short-lived but dark clouds had gathered, so that was all she wrote. The Bears closed on 6/83 off 17 – five runs ahead of where Manly had been at the same stage, but well behind in the wickets column and 68 adrift on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern par score.
It was a disappointing showing after a promising start with the ball, and we’ll need to dust ourselves off before a tough weekend of St George on Saturday and Manly again in the Kingsgrove Sports T20 Cup on Sunday, but we’re all looking forward to be back at the Home of Cricket, North Sydney Oval.