LMS T20 (8-a-SIDE) EASTERN SYDNEY SUNDAY DIVISION 3 ROUND 3 v ‘FLAT TRACK BULLIES’ AT MP4, ROBERTSON ROAD, MOORE PARK ON SUNDAY 14 MAY 2023: REPORT BY JAMIE MURTHA
It was difficult to round a side up for round 3 of the winter season, due to the match being scheduled on Mothers’ Day. However, with the help of 4 debutants, a returning player and a few regulars we managed to get on the pitch with a full side.
Jamie Murtha won the toss and chose to bat first on the rather small Moore Park 4. Shahzeem Ajani and debutant No 1 Aaditya Mahata (Editor’s note: he had played some C&S games for us last season) opened the batting and started building a platform, before Aaditya was caught for 16,Richard Clark was likely to suffer the most for his decision to play cricket that day and was unfortunately out for 1.
Shahzeem scored freely and retired on 50* in no time. While Brandon Clarke kept the score ticking over, Yair Edinburg and Nicholas Kochanowicz fell trying to keep the pace going, but didn’t muck around either!
Ming Heng, a local legend batted well for 16 including a lusty 6 down the ground. His wicket brought Shahzeem back to the crease who continued his good form with some more boundaries; he finished on 75*, a highlight of the innings, and Jamie scored a couple of boundaries in his cameo of 15* off 8 and we finished our 20 overs with 6-156.
Jamie Murtha took the new ball and grabbed two early wickets, one thanks to Yair Edinburg with an awesome running, diving catch at deep square leg. Ming bowled some nice balls and troubled the batters with his left arm inswingers. Yair backed up his fielding with 2 wickets of his own, assisted by more good fielding from Shahzeem and Jamie. Nick Kochanowicz and Brandon Clarke tried to contain the set batters and were unlucky not to get wickets.
Aaditya Mahata (slow left arm) took two in two, both bowled, which left the opposition reeling, and Richard Clark put them out of their misery grabbing 2 for himself, both thanks to Ming’s safe hands at long off, something to tell the kids at least!
It was a good win, without many of our usual players we still managed to put on a dominant performance, and stay undefeated among the top of the table.
The Team was: – Shahzeem Ajani (w) 75*, Aaditya Mahata 16, Richard Clark 1, Brandon Clarke 17, Yair Edinburg 6, Nicholas Kochanowicz 5, Ming Heng 16, James Murtha (c) 15*
The Result was:-
CCNSW: – 6-156 (20 overs) (S. Ajani 75*)
Defeated
Flat Track Bullies: – 8-106 (17.3 overs)
By 50 runs
The Bowling was: – J. Murtha 3-0-9-2; M. Heng 3-0-22-0; Y. Edinburg 3-0-22-2; A. Mahata 3-0-13-2, N. Kochanowicz 2-0-18-0; B. Clarke 2-0-18-0, R. Clark 1.3-0-3-2
The Fielding was:-
Stumpings: – one to S. Ajani
Catches: – Two to M. Heng; one each to J. Murtha and Y. Edinburg
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to S. Ajani; 2 points to R. Clark; 1 point to A. Mahata
See: https://www.lastmanstands.com/leagues/scorecard/1st-innings?fixtureid=389026