LMS T20 (8-a-SIDE) EASTERN SYDNEY SUNDAY DIVISION 3 ROUND 2 v ‘FLAT TRACK BULLIES’ AT MP3, ROBERTSON ROAD, MOORE PARK ON SUNDAY 23 APRIL 2023: REPORT BYJAMIE MURTHA
This week the CCNSW LMS side played at Moore Park 3, located next to Sydney Boys High School.
Jamie Murtha won the toss and elected to bat, on the basis that the opposition had spent approximately 45 minutes fielding and must be tired already!
Richard Clark and Dan Waldron, making his debut for the Club, opened the batting. Richard played some sweetly timed offside drives for four and the highlight of Dan’s innings was a big six straight down the ground, both players eventually picking out fielders on the boundary in consecutive overs.
Scott Williams struck the ball well from the get go; he found the deep mid-wicket boundary regularly as he reached a swift retirement with 50* off only 23 balls. Wade Butler at four was also in great touch at the other end. He found the boundary five times and made good use of the longer boundaries, turning several ones into twos. Wade looked certain to retire before another good outfield catch saw him dismissed for 43 off 23.
With a good platform set, Toby Forbes and Rhys Longbottom both scored freely with an over 200 strike rate in the final overs. Both took on the men on the boundary successfully. Both batters were unbeaten at the end of the innings, Toby with 25* off 12 balls and Rhys 21* off 9 balls and lifting our score to 198 in 20 overs.
Jamie Murtha opened the bowling with Sanjeet Bhandari. The pair bowled tightly and good fielding also meant that runs were not easy to come by. Jamie grabbed two wickets thanks to the safe hands of Toby Forbes at long on and Sanjeet picked one up too with a catch at gully for a rare wicket maiden. (Editor’s note: normally there are not more than about 2 maiden overs in a whole season)
Toby Forbes bowled well without luck and the run rate climbed every over as the opposition struggled to score more than a single at a time. The batters tried but failed to attack the bowling of Richard Clark, Dan Waldron and Rhys Longbottom, each of whom took a wicket, credit due to Scott Williams who pulled off an excellent stumping through a backhanded flick.
By this point, victory was within reach, and confirmed thanks to two excellent fielding efforts, Wade Butler and Rhys Longbottom each picking up a run out with throws to keeper Williams who safely removed the bails.
The team has chalked up back to back wins and sits on top of the table after the first two games of the season.
The Team was: – Richard Clark 35, David Waldron 22, Scott Williams (w) 50* ret not out, Wade Butler 43, Toby Forbes 25*. Rhys Longbottom 21*, James Murtha (c) dnb, Sanjeet Bhandari dnb
The Result was:-
CCNSW: – 3-198 (20 overs) (S. Williams 50* ret not out; W. Butler 43)
Defeated
Flat Track Bullies: – 8-96 (18.4 overs)
By 102 runs
The Bowling was: – S. Bhandari 4-1-14-1; J. Murtha 4-0-17-2; T. Forbes 3-0-23-0; D. Waldron 3-0-20-1; R. Clark 2.4-0-15-1; R. Longbottom 2-0-5-1
The Fielding was:-
Stumpings: – One to S. Williams
Catches: – 2 to T. Forbes; One each to W. Butler, J. Murtha and S. Williams
Run outs: – Two: – W. Butler and R. Longbottom
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to S. Williams; 2 points to T. Forbes; 1 point to R. Clark
See: https://www.lastmanstands.com/leagues/scorecard/1st-innings?fixtureid=389005