ES Black 140/6 (40 overs) lost to St Albans BBBB’s 141/6 (34.3 overs)
This was the last game of the main President's Grade competition. We went into it half a game behind Burnside Robbies, so needed to win and hope Burnside would get knocked over by Sumner in their game.
Easts batted first on a Burwood track that had some variation in bounce, but it was probably the quality of the bowling from both teams that made this a low scoring match. With three of our front line bowlers out this week (Eagle and Wellsy away, RJ injuring himself on the morning of the game), Murray Griffin led the attack. He bowled superbly, only conceding 4 runs from his first 6 overs, and Easts went to drinks at 38/2. Muzza got excellent support from Potty (2 for 19 off eight) and Mantis (14 off eight). Murray Seaton (79 n.o.) anchored the Easts innings, batting through while wickets steadily fell at the other end. G kept well, throwing himself around to save several potential byes on a ground with short straight boundaries. We also caught well, with Potty taking a stunning one-hander.
Regular updates from ex-Saints player Andrew Nuttall revealed his Sumner side had bowled Burnside out for 130 and were well on the way to victory. This added extra tension for our batsmen, realizing how close we were to winning the competition. Barry Cox made full use of the short boundaries, getting his 51 quickly, but wickets at the other end kept nerves high. A valuable 18 from a clean-shaven James Alabaster relieved some of the pressure. Jimmy received loud applause after lofting the first ball he faced over mid-off for four; his last four innings having lasted a combined total of seven balls for no runs. It was left to Mantis (41 n.o.) to guide us home, hitting the winning runs and topping off a superb all-round performance by him, and capping a superb team effort over the whole competition.
