1st Grade Round 5: UTS North Sydney v St George at North Sydney Oval
UTS North Sydney 5/247 (46.4 overs) (TL Reynolds 68, A Bariol 58, BS Atherton 52* J Avendano 39) def St George 244 (49.2 overs) (JN James 3/25, M Alexander 3/36, J Aitken 2/43)
Prior to the commencement of play there was a special presentation for Rob Aitken to recognise his 500th NSW Premier cricket first grade match, the first player in Australia to achieve the feat in Premier Cricket. Bears’ President, Pat Lindsay, Craig Hambleton of the SCA and Cricket NSW CEO, Lee Germon, all spoke of Rob’s immense contribution to the club and cricket in Sydney, which goes well beyond the statistics and his incredible milestone. Rob was presented with a special 500 match baggy cap by the club and a plaque by Cricket NSW.
After winning the toss, captain Tom Jagot decided to send the opposition in on what appeared to be a pretty good surface. In the absence of his regular opening partner, Matt Alexander was entrusted with first use of the new white rock. Matt did not disappoint getting the third ball of the innings to hit the seam and move away from the opener collecting the edge of his bat on the way through to the keeper and Saints were 1/0 – wicket maiden to Alexander.
However, rather than going into their shells, the St George batsmen, led by State player Kurtis Patterson and international T20 specialist Colin Munro, went on the attack. They plundered our opening bowlers, hitting 5 fours and a six in the next four overs to move to 1/32 before Alexander struck again, claiming Munro with the catch being taken on the square leg boundary by Olly Knight, and St George were 2/32 at the end of five.
Patterson was joined by Blake Macdonald and despite the loss of two wickets, the pair continued to go after our bowlers moving the score past 100 in the 13th over. James Aitken gained some control over the scoring rate with several dot balls, but anything in the batters’ zone went to the boundary or beyond. After 17 overs St George had reached 2/134 at a tick under 8 per over and, alarmingly, appeared to be on track for a score around 400. One of the boundary riders even thought 600 was not out of the question the way they were going.
Aitken continued unperturbed and, on the first ball of his fifth over, he took the wicket of Macdonald who hit the ball hard from the bottom of the bat into the hands of Justin Avendano at mid-wicket – an excellent catch. Then, on the first ball of his sixth over, he cleaned up the dangerous left hander, Patterson (77 off 60), shattering his stumps and reducing St George to 4/143 at the start of the 20th over. It was to be a pivotal moment in the match.
Olly Knight bowled a couple of tight overs in his second spell, while Aitken continued, and the momentum started to slow. James was joined by his brother Robbie and, from over 24 to over 29, the pair tightened the screws on the St George batsmen, allowing only 20 runs and bringing the run rate down to 6 per over. James finished his 10-over spell with very tidy figures of 2/43.
Things got even better when Jack James joined the attack. Jack bowled in tandem with Robbie and ,on the first ball of his second over, he deceived the opposition captain Nick Stapleton, who sliced the ball to backward point where Olly Knight took a great catch. James struck again on the first ball of his fourth over with a plumb lbw. Robbie and Jack then combined in the next over for a run-out with Jack making a good stop at short cover and then lobbing the ball in for Robbie to remove the bails with the batsman halfway down the pitch – once again on the first ball of the over. More pressure was applied by the two spinners and, all of a sudden, Jack had his third wicket of the game with another confident lbw shout – once again of the first ball of the over. By the end of the 40th, St George had limped to 8/199 with the run rate under 5 for the first time since the first over.
Robbie completed his spell in the 41st over without a wicket, but with outstanding figures of 10 overs 1 maiden 0/32 in his 500th game. It can sometimes be forgotten that bowling is also about partnerships, and from over 30, Jack and Robbie bowled 13 overs in partnership taking 3/32 and a run out turning the game on its head.
Olly Knight (1/72) replaced Aitken, collecting his first wicket of the match on the first ball of his third spell. Olly pushed the ball across the set left hander with the catch taken comfortably by Bariol behind the stumps. At the start of the 43rd, St George were now 9/205 and in real danger of being rolled inside their fifty overs. Unfortunately, for the Bears, the tail had other ideas. James finished his spell with his best figures of the season to date - 10 overs 1 maiden 3/25. The two tailenders were content to keep the ball out and pick up the odd single, but with four overs to go they started to look for the boundary. A couple of maximums helped their cause with 12 coming off the 49th over. It was the big quick Matt Alexander coming back for his second spell that put an end to their innings with the ball hit very high and Justin Avendano running a good distance from cover to behind the bowler to take an outstanding running catch. Alexander (3/35) also registered three poles for the match from his 5.2 overs including the first two and the last wicket of the innings – his best haul of the season.
Despite the tail wagging, every Bears supporter would have been thrilled to hear the final score of 244 after the early onslaught.
The Bears response got underway with Tom Jagot hitting two fours in the first two overs before being bowled to leave the home side 1/9. Justin Avendano joined Jack James with both players taking a cautious approach with the bowlers making full use of the new ball. When Jack was caught low down at first slip the Bears were 2/25 in the 7th over. Aiden Bariol also found it tough going early but eventually he and Justin settled into their groove and set about stabilising the innings. They built a very important partnership of 75 runs that took the score to exactly 100 by the start of the 23rd over. Unfortunately, Justin (39) was caught punching through the covers and at 3/100 the game was evenly poised. Tim Reynolds joined Bariol with the pair adding a few more to the total before Bariol (58) flicked one straight to the man on the fence at backward square leg. It was the first fifty for Aiden in the Belvidere Cup this season after going close with 47 in the first game. The Bears had now lost their fourth wicket with 125 on the board and 21 overs remaining.
Tim was joined by Brent Atherton with St George opting for a dual spin attack. This played right into the hands of the left-right hand combination as the boys rotated the strike regularly, running brilliantly and sent a couple of balls to the boundary. A telling blow by Reynolds over the fence on the final ball before drinks moved the score to 4/155. Tim hit two further maximums and, in the 39th over, clipped a single to reach his second fifty of the season. By the 40th over the pair had put on 71 runs and moved the score to 4/196. This left just 49 runs for victory at a very manageable 5 per over.
Brent then took over from Tim as the aggressor hitting a six and several fours of his own to reach his second fifty of the season. With both players well set and a fifty each under their belts, it was a shame that Tim (68) could not be there at the end, but it was a fantastic innings and a very important partnership of 108 runs to move the score to 5/233 and place the team in an almost unassailable position needing just 12 more runs from the final 5 overs. In the end it was Olly Knight (10*) who dispatched the spinner over the fence at deep cover to bring up a remarkable victory considering the position the team was in at the start of the game. Brent remained not out on 52, the second time this season he’s been in at the end of a chase having made a crucial 50.
The win against the previously unbeaten St George side consolidates our position in 7th place on 18 points (equal with Gordon and Randwick Petersham – who also recorded victories) and just behind Manly and Sydney on 19 points. Next week we take on Mosman who are also undefeated and currently sit in second place.