LMS T20 (8-a-SIDE) EASTERN SYDNEY SUNDAY DIVISION 3 ROUND 1 v ‘STUMPED’ AT MP8 , ROBERTSON ROAD, MOORE PARK ON SUNDAY 16 APRIL 2023: REPORT BY MICK McGRATH
Our first game of the season was played under blue skies at Moore Park, the guys playing to defend last season’s winter championship title.
We batted first and Charles Sharpe and Shahzeem Ajani got us off to a tidy start, knocking singles around and picking off the bad balls, Charles was caught out for 15 which brought Mick McGrath to the crease who proceeded to smash his first two shots for 6! Shahzeem and Mick ticked the scoreboard over at a good rate early, including scoring an impressive 20 from one over before Shahzeem was adjudged lbw for 36 off 27.
Wade Butler played his shots and seemed solid before being caught for 23 off 11.
Joel Uddstrom came to the crease with the opposition’s best bowlers coming back into the attack, the boundaries became hard to hit but the runs continued to accumulate. Mick brought up his 50 off 31 balls, an important contribution to the team on the day and a great start to his season.
Sanjeet Bhandari (8) and Joel Uddstrom (14) faced the death overs and moved the score onto 5-153 before both being dismissed in the final over to end the innings.
With 153 on the board Craig Fordham (“Fordo”) took the new ball and started well with a tidy first over, Sanjeet Bhandari at the other end was hit for consecutive fours but got his man the next ball to grab the first wicket of the season. Fordo followed suit picking up an important wicket; he bowled his four straight with a very economical opening spell at 5.25rpo.
Charles Sharpe came into the attack and kept the pressure on the batters, not allowing them to score freely. Mick McGrath bowled a one over spell at the other end, picking up the key wicket of Schoeffer for 9 (Ed note: LMS career average over almost a hundred games of 82.84 at a strike rate of 183.16) to leave the opposition reeling.
Batters number 5 and 6 tried to consolidate but the pressure became too much as the run rate climbed above 10. Will Jacobs was excellent with the gloves taking a catch and handy stumping.
Sharpe, McGrath, and Uddstrom all picked up wickets and successfully bowled “Stumped!” out for 113 in the 20th over securing a CCNSW win by 40 runs.
This was an excellent way to start our winter season, and hopefully we can end round 2 with a similar result! Awesome stuff from everyone involved!
The Team was: – Shahzeem Ajani 36, Charles Sharpe 17, Mick McGrath (c) 50*, Wade Butler 23, Joel Uddstrom 14, Sanjeet Bhandari 8, Craig Fordham 0*, William Jacobs (w) 0*
The Result was:-
CCNSW: – 5-153 (20 overs) (M. McGrath 50*)
Defeated
Stumped: – 8-113 (19.1 overs)
By 40 runs.
The Bowling was: – C. Fordham 4-0-21-0; S. Bhandari 4-0-17-1; J. Uddstrom 4-0-32-1; C. Sharpe 4-0-30-1, M. McGrath 2.1-0-6-2; W. Butler 1-0-4-0
The Fielding was:-
Stumpings: – One to W. Jacobs
Catches: – One to W. Butler and one to M. McGrath
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to M. McGrath; 2 points to W. Butler; 1 point to S. Bhandari
See: https://www.lastmanstands.com/leagues/scorecard/1st-innings?fixtureid=385123