It was an overcast day on Day 2 at Brighton High. A good omen for South Road, who were bowling and defending 133 to win.
Opening the bowling from the Southern End was the star with the ball from the first two games, Poul Petersen. He bowled a vicious spell to begin with and was unlucky not to strike early on.
Jordan Bocock bowled from the other end and he got some success early in his first over with batsman Greg Marks top edging the ball to Petersen at second slip, who made no mistake.
Angelo Pansini came in to replace Marks and went BANG! with successive boundaries. He took a liking to Bocock hitting him for a monster six over cow corner, going through the fence and almost onto the road.
Petersen decided to bowl around the wicket and he struck immediately first ball. He bowled a ripper of a delivery, which took out Pansini’s stumps. Warradale 2 for 29, the game evenly poised. Poul remarked a week ago that he would remove Pansini by clean bowling him from around the wicket.
Dave Ewers replaced Bocock from the Northern End. He bowled some good balls and there a couple of close calls that could have been given out but weren’t. Such as one where the batsman got a huge nick and keeper Matt Altus took it. The Umpire however said ” Not Out”. South Road had Warradale at 2 for 38 at the first drinks break.
Ewers and Petersen continued and the batsmen, Conley and Wilson were beginning to look comfortable. Wilson hitting Ewers for a massive six over long on.
A change came about with Steven Broad, replacing Petersen at the Southern End and he tasted success straightaway. Conley had been very patient and batted well, but he decided to play a shot that he didn’t time very well. It went up in the air straight to youngster Josh Ewers at mid off. He took it to complete his first catch for South Road. Well done, Josh. It was a great catch and it gave Broad his first wicket for the day. Conley gone for 25.
South Road were in need of a couple of quick wickets but sadly it wasn’t to be. Gary Wilson and Warradale Captain, Grant Craiglie blasting their way towards the total. There were a couple of opportunities that weren’t taken and that could have been the difference.
Skipper Roger Nunn had made the worst mistake in his career in not bringing on spinner, Mark Mitton earlier than he did. The skipper had still been recovering from the previous week. Mitton came on to bowl the last over before drinks and as it turned out, the last over of the match. Captain Nunn admitting that he should have brought his spinner on after about 8 overs.
Mitton bowled a good over despite the fact he conceded 6, which involved a misfield on the last ball that should have been kept to a single but instead went for four.
Roger needed yet another recovery session at Maslin’s Beach. He was in shock at not bringing his star spinner on earlier and giving him more of a bowl. The game finished at 4 and Roger didn’t reappear at the Roadhouse for a couple of hours.
Warradale winners by 7 wickets. Gary Wilson blasted 61 not out and their Captain, Grant Craiglie was with him at the end on 20. Other contibutors were Andrew Conley (25) and Angelo Pansini (23). Well done to Warradale, who set their victory up with their bowling on Day 1. They only needed 30 overs to chase the runs.
Poul Petersen was the pick of the bowlers once again with tidy figures of 11 overs 4 maidens 1 for 28. He was unlucky not to have taken more wickets with a couple of lbw shouts that could have been close. His spell was vicious and had the batsmen worried about being hit for a while. Petersen was backed up by Jordan Bocock and Steve Broad, who took a wicket each. Dave Ewers bowled well without any luck.
This defeat can only be used as a lesson for the Roads, who are developing and are quickly showing some signs of being better cricketers. They’ll take a lot out of this loss and use it to learn as the season goes on. Having the experience of the Captain, Roger Nunn, Poul Petersen and Darren Percival in the team will no doubt see the younger players benefit in the future with the wisdom and knowledge that these players possess.
The Roads had their chances but didn’t take them when it counted. The general effort in the field was good and it was always going to be difficult to defend 133 against a very strong opposition, but South Road showed good spirit and didn’t give up one bit.
The Roadhouse have Sheidow Park at home next week. They should start favourites but won’t treat Sheidow Park lightly. South Road IV have a good team who have potential to do a lot of great things.