Green Shield 3 from 3 Heading Into Christmas Break

uesday saw Manly have their first home game of the season vs Western Suburbs. After winning the toss, Manly elected to bat first on a good-looking wicket. Seward and Lucius opened up proceedings and unfortunately both fell cheaply. Thornton and Davies put on a further 20 before Thornton fell LBW for 14. With the score at 3/37 Manly were in a spot of bother early, however thanks to a 30 run stand Manly began to take back some momentum. Barnett fell cheaply for 11 which saw in-form batsmen Ollie Melville come to the crease.

Ollie and Joel combined for what ended up being a match-winning partnership for the Manly boys as they put on 104 for the 5th wicket. Davies (79) and Melville (40) fell in quick succession which was unfortunate as we looked to push for 200. We fell just short on 196 from our 50 overs however with the very sluggish outfield we were happy with our efforts.

Our bowling innings got off to a great start with Sommerville, Seward and Dunn all picking up early wickets to have Wests 3/30. A 73 run partnership began to shift the momentum with the game evenly poised at the fall of the next wicket. With the Manly fielding not quite up to standard, Wests continued to fight and claw their way back into the match thanks to a well made 60 from one of their middle order batsmen.  Manly held on by 7 runs as Wests were dismissed with two balls remaining in the innings. A match that probably shouldn’t have been as close as it was in the end, however credit goes to the Wests side for showing a lot of fight as the game looked out of their hands for a lot of their batting innings.

Special mention to all involved in setting up our lunch-break feast, definitely setting the standard across the competition. 

Onto Round 3… 

TK

fter a nail biting win over Western Suburbs on Tuesday, Manly ventured to Glenn McGrath Oval with the hopes of continuing their unbeaten start to the Green Shield season. Skipper Davies lost the toss and the home side elected to bat first on a typically flat Glenn McGrath wicket with the outfield as fast as ever despite the heavy rain throughout the week. 

Sutherland got off to a steady start with a few of their top order batsmen looking quite threatening. Sammy Dunn bowled beautifully up front, finishing with great figures of 3/22 from 8 overs. Seb Bush came into the attack early and picked up a wicket with his very first ball in Green Shield. Sutherland were looking like posting a much more competitive total before Josh Seward came back into the attack and dismissed the set batsmen on 47. Jones, Davies and Melville all bowled well towards the back end of the innings, restricting Sutherland to 191 as they were dismissed in the 49th over.

With 192 needed for victory, our opening pair of Seward and Lucius looked solid before Seward was the victim of a mix-up off a dropped catch. Lucius and Jones continued to build our innings before Oscar fell LBW leaving many spectators behind the sight screens in disbelief. Joel Davies joined Sam Jones at the crease and the pair started to take the game away from the home side. Both men batted with great composure throughout their innings, finishing with half centuries respectively. Jones fell for a well-made 53 as Barnett and Davies continued to push the scoreboard along.

Special mention to both batsmen who batted unselfishly as they continued to push for the coveted bonus point victory. With 6 needed from 6 balls, Davies unfortunately held out in the deep which brought Dunnachie to the crease. Evan and Sam batted smartly as we reached the total with 21.1 overs to spare.

An impressive run chase resulting in a comprehensive, bonus-point victory for the Manly Boys. We now enter the Christmas break in equal 1st position on the ladder. Special mention to the parents and Henry Lucius who helped out scoring throughout the day. 

Bring on the New Year!

TK