Winchelsea needs just 11 runs for victory with eight wickets in hand when play resumes against Collendina on Saturday, but captain Shane Murdoch is not eyeing off a potential outright win.
With the ball swinging around at Eastern Reserve, Murdoch used only four bowlers on day one to dismiss the Cobras for 73.
The seam attack of Ricci Sauni (4/25), Jarrod Groves (2/25), Cameron Primmer (2/11) and Shane Currie (2/12) had the Cobras back in the sheds in the 44th over.
“I think seven of the ten wickets were caught behind the wicket, so it was pleasing to have one of those days when you do get a few catches behind the wicket and you stack the slips,” Murdoch said.
Corey Walter dug in for 21 from 68 deliveries and Murdoch said he was relieved when he saw the back of the Collendina champion.
“Earlier in the season we dropped him on about fifty and he went on to nearly get a hundred,” he said.
“We sort of dropped a half chance off him and we were able to get another one. He’s been a pivotal player in the Bellarine A2.”
Sauni’s haul came after taking four wickets in the opening six rounds.
“Ricci played at Winch early doors and went to St Peters,” Murdoch said.
“He’s got family ties there through his girlfriend and he’s played twos and ones there and been a consistent bowler for a few years. Obviously I wanted him to come back and we were pretty pleased to get him.
“He’s a really good bowling all-rounder. He can whack the ball when he needs to and played a pretty pivotal role in our win against Newcomb.”
Winchelsea had 28 overs to bat before stumps and ended on 2/63 with Groves still there on 49 and Murdoch on three. While wrapping up first-innings points on day one would have been nice, Murdoch said the Cobras’ bowlers made things difficult.
“Look, it’s always nice to wrap it up on day one,” he said.
“But looking at the long-range forecast, it doesn’t look too bad. And to be fair, Jude de Jong bowled bloody fantastic and Stan (Grazotis) came on to bowl tight at the end.
“So there’s no point to take a risk and try and make the runs and lose two or three wickets and give that little bit of a sniff when we’ve got 10 runs to get.”
Murdoch said the pursuit of an outright win wasn’t high on the agenda, given that the likes of Walter, Grazotis, Nathan Frye and Harrisyn Wingrave are unlikely to fail twice in the same game.
“I’ve been on the end of some of Stan’s knocks and it’s not pleasant to be chasing the ball around the ground,” he said.
“Our mindset is to tick off the runs. There’s a few guys that haven’t really had a hit at the end of the order, so it’d be nice to get them in for a bit of a hit.
“There’s some quality in Collendina’s side, so they could make your life hard on day two. So we’ll try and finish on a positive and knock off the runs when we can and see where we go from there.”
THIRTEEN wickets fell in the Ocean Grove vs Wallington game with a late twist that will make day two very interesting. Grove was all out for 107 with a 49-run stand between Zac Jones (24) and Campbell Snookes (21) the only real resistance. Dane Wise-Graham followed up his six-for last week with 4/16 from 18 overs. The Grubbers gave themselves a chance late in the day, leaving Wallington 3/9 with Jones snaring two wickets.
PAUL McGrath showed that he has lost none of his class with a polished 70 while Jack Baldi contributed 45 in Portarlington’s 202 all out against Surf Coast. Blake Robinson (4/45) was the Suns’ best bowler.
NO play was possible between Newcomb and St Leonards after rain fell before play. The game will revert to a one-day clash this Saturday.
