Wynnum Manly v Sunshine Coast
Men’s First Grade Round 6 - Two Day
1 & 8 October 2022 at Bill Albury Oval
A big Thank You from Statzman to Nav Kahlon for stepping in to score Day One of the first two-dayer of the season between the Sea Eagles and the Sunshine Coast Scorchers. Wynnum Manly won the toss and elected to bat.
Day One:
Jordan Kingdon joined Sukhveer Singh at the top of the order and it was slow going for the Sea Eagles in the face of some tight bowling by Leyton Chick and Brendon Schultz in the early stages. Schultz made the initial break-through, trapping Sukhveer in front in the 12th over and Kingdon followed a few overs later when Brodie Murphy snuck one through to rattle the stumps. It was 2/30 at drinks, but some good work had been done to see off the new ball. After a slow start, Ali Nasar and Corey Hunter began to build, guiding Wynnum-Manly to 2/76 at lunch. The 50 partnership from 116 balls came up three balls after lunch, but ended two balls later when Nasar was caught by keeper, Alex Maidment off the bowling of Nick Selman. Selman grabbed a second wicket breaking through Hunter’s defences four overs later and a third when he claimed Grayson Jones in similar fashion 15 minutes before drinks. Wilson and Nick King negotiated the remaining four overs to drinks, but the break worked its evil magic again - King caught by Alecz Day off Mitch Cook four balls after the restart. The innings was teetering at 6/120. Rueben Burger and Jed Wilson rose to the challenge, compiling a 44-run partnership over the next 13 overs. Wilson’s 92 minute stay at the crease ended just 10 minutes before drinks when he was caught for 36 by Sam Gardiner off Murphy. Burger and Liam Guthrie continued the fight-back defying the Scorchers’ bowling attack in a 99-ball, 8th wicket partnership of 54. Burger brought up a second consecutive 50 in first grade and made his way to 67 before he was also caught by Alecz Day off the bowling of Cook. The new ball was taken an over later and was met with a flurry of boundaries by Guthrie and Josh Fraser. A valuable 33 runs from 43 balls was added for the 9th wicket, before Fraser was eventually out to Brendon Schultz in the 87th (😬) over. Cameron Steinhardt proved that the steel of the lower order went right down to No.11 as he fought to see Guthrie to a well-deserved 50, but alas, the cricket gods were looking the other way when Chick pouched one off Schultz to end Guthrie’s 105 minute innings two short of the milestone!
An excellent over rate by Sunshine Coast meant that four overs were possible late in the day. Selman and Harry Clark-Burnham negotiated these without loss.
Day Two:
As was the case in the first dig a week ago, batting was tough on the Bill Albury track. Liam Guthrie and Josh Fraser gave up just 13 runs in the first ten overs (Oh.. let’s not forget a maiden by Nick King in there.. 😲). A burst of boundaries in overs 15 to 19 took the score and opening stand to 50 just before drinks, but the bowlers settled, batsmen went back into their shells and with King and Cameron Steinhardt operating in tandem, just 19 came from the next ten. With a half an hour to go before lunch, Steinhardt pierced Clark-Burnham’s defence and he was on his way for 46. Josh Matthews deposited Steinhardt over long on at the start of his next over, but edged to Burger three balls later to make it 2/80. Three overs later, Nick Selman edged Guthrie to slip where Jones took a sharp chance overhead and 0/72 six overs before, had become 3/88 at lunch! Alecz Day and Blake Maher threatened to take the game away from Wynnum in an aggressive 47 run partnership in seven overs after lunch, but in the 43rd over, Steinhardt drew Day out of his crease and Burger whipped off the bails in a blur to make it 4/131. Four overs later, Blake Maher was also mesmerised by the Steinhardt/Burger combination and found himself trudging back to the clubhouse. Brendon Schultz and Mitch Cook managed just three scoring shots in their 31 ball partnership, then on the cusp of drinks, Steinhardt struck again; Schultz prodding forward and Wilson taking a superb catch at silly point. 5/64 by Steinhardt and 6/64 two overs later when Jones took a cracker coming forward at slip to remove Scorchers’ skipper Sam Gardiner. Sunshine Coast were in a spot of bother having lost 7/85 in the last hour and half of play. The SC lower order needed to wag if they were to run down the Wynnum Manly first innings total. Mitch Cook was certainly up for the fight, smacking Steinhardt to cow for 16 in the 61st over, but Guthrie’s re-introduction in the following over saw Maidment edge to slip and an alert Jordan Kingdon take a good grab to make it 8/182. The following passage of play was enthralling as Mitch Cook and Brodie Murphy stonewalled the Wynnum bowling for 20 overs; exercising great patience while punishing the very few bad deliveries on offer. Cameron Steinhardt’s marathon spell which started at 10:52 am came to a close at 3:24pm; 29-7-6-101 (😲). Cook brought up his 50 from 80 balls in the 77th over and in the second over with the new ball, the 50 partnership with Murphy came up with a Cook boundary. Then, just one ball later, the drama intensified when Guthrie’s short ball enticed a hook shot from Cook toward Fraser who took a spectacular catch at deep backward square leg to give Guthrie his third wicket. Sunshine Coast 9/235..Just over an hour of play remaining..33 runs to get.. One wicket in hand. Once again, patience was the key. Murphy and Chick accumulated runs and played out maidens for the next 59 dramatic minutes before the final run was scored with 7 minutes remaining in the day’s play.
An amazing start to the two-day matches. Both teams can hold their heads high.
