Wanderers v Ipswich Grammar School
2 December 2019
Ipswich Grammar Playing Fields - Brassal
Another beautiful day for cricket, this time at the Gregory St fields of Ipswich Grammar. Enviable facilities once again with grounds wonderfully prepared. A howling wind only bothered the scorers, the players welcoming it in the summer heat.
Aryan Jain and Sheldon Stackpoole set Wanderers on course for a potential 280 taking the score to 83 before Sheldon was caught on the boundary right on drinks for a swashbuckling 55.
After drinks the pace was a little sedate, frustrating Wanderers into errors which saw 4 wickets fall for just 25 runs in 12 overs.
Veteran, Andrew Walsh, then combined for a 54 run 6th wicket partnership off 69 balls with Christian Murphy. Together the pair picked off singles and grabbed the occasional boundary.
Andrew and Christian fell within a few balls of each other with the score in the 160s to bring Lance Roudenko in to join Lewis Robinson for an 8th wicket 31 run partnership in just 29 balls. The pair showed that boundaries were not necessary to score at a run a ball.
The chase for quick runs saw wickets tumble at the end; Wanderers completing the 50 with 218 on the board. Credit to the IGS spinners who bowled tightly taking a combined 3/58 from 22 overs.
The IGS chase stuttered a little as Jacob Anderson (brother of Wanderer, Todd) was trapped in front by a Palam Singh special in the 4th over. Noah Emerson and Lachlan Bell then consolidated with a 53 ball, 44 run partnership for the second wicket. Both looked the goods, before Noah turned one from Palam into the waiting hands of Roudenko at leg slip.
A mini collapse followed as Dobson overbalanced and was stumped by Christian Murphy off Josh Gittens. and a top edge off James Girolami was accepted by Aryan Jain at short mid-wicket. Lunch was taken with IGS 4/66.
After lunch, Skipper Tom Whitney looked threatening before a slog-sweep off Girolami picked out a well-placed, Mark Brown on the boundary and all of a sudden IGS were 5/88.
In a similar way to Murphy and Walsh, Lachlan Bell and Jay Csurhes compiled a 37 run, 6th wicket partnership picking off singles and punishing errant deliveries. It was Girolami who snuck through Csurhes’ defences to claim his 3rd for the day.
A promising 7th wicket partnership was snuffed out by a good throw by Todd Anderson to veteran keeper Brad Murphy, then Lachlan Bell made his only error of the day, hitting one in the air off Harry Carroll straight to Mark Brown at shortish mid-wicket to leave IGS with 60 to get from the final 14 overs.
Dupinder Singh and James Koch seemed set to polish off the runs taking 35 off the next 7 overs, before Todd Anderson caught the edge of Dupinder’s bat for Brad Murphy to take a beauty standing up to the stumps, unfortunately doing a calf muscle in the process. 😖.
Koch fell in the next over to a screamer by Girolami off Harry Carroll and the final nail was hammered in by Todd Anderson with an LBW in the next over, the 45th, leaving IGS just 20 runs shy of the Wanderers total.
A great day and a very close game. Well done to all.