Alexander Thomson captain Zach Mevissen praised his attack for toiling away on a hot day to bowl top GCA Division 3 side Thomson out for 165 on day one at Highton Reserve.
The Vikings’ attack proved difficult to get away with veteran seamer Jay Dunstan taking 3/44 from 16 overs and spinner Bailey Forssman applying the brakes with 1/43 from 19.
“We did a really good job basically keeping them under two an over all day, which in conditions like that is tough to do,” Mevissen said.
“Often bowlers are fatiguing and bowling bad balls eventually just due to the conditions, but we stuck at it all day and kept them under two and over, which was really good. And then eventually (we) just drew some foul shots out of them, which was our plan going into the day just to grind it out for longer than them.”
New-ball bowler Angus Cranny took 1/15 from 10 overs, Mevissen took 1/23 from 11, Jake Dubbeldam chipped in with 1/15 from nine and Tayne Hewson grabbed 2/9 from six.
“I can really only remember one over where our spinner got hit for a couple of boundaries and apart from that I can’t really remember a period where they got on top of it,” Mevissen said.
“It was a really good fight from everyone. We just decided we were going to bowl one side of the wicket and set fields accordingly.”
Mevissen knows the game is far from finished though. Thomson is unbeaten on top of the ladder for a reason.
“We’re under no illusions that it’s going to be an easy chase, especially with the weather this week,” he said.
“Who knows what the pitch ends up looking like after a week under the covers. We’ve got the talent there and (in) our top order to win, it’s just about being able to put it together as a team.”
BANNOCKBURN’S Darren Fernandes took 6/39 from 20 overs as Modewarre made 205 all out. Brendan Wemyss top scored for Modda with 64 and Bannockburn was 1-5 at stumps.
CORIO’S Ben Strachan made a delightful 124 against Marshall. Strachan faced 183 deliveries and hit 20 fours and two sixes in a final total of 218. Marshall’s Brad Greenwood put in a marathon spell to take 5/72 from 32 overs. The Bears are 0/10 in reply.
WAURN PONDS DEAKIN holds the upper hand against Manifold Heights. Tom Carroll took 4/20 to help bundle out the Sharks for 105. In response, the Eagles are far from over the line at 3/46 with Nick Pratt snaring two wickets.
