Honours even vs Saints but Tahs too good for Whales – Weekend Wrap 10/11 Oct 2020

Coming into day two the Tahs were confident that after a strong batting performance that they could get the job done.  With the selection of Jack Edwards into the NSW shield squad to travel to Adelaide during the week, Manly welcomed Andrew Jamieson into the team to make his 1st Grade red ball debut.

Hadley and Jamieson opened the bowling being a fantastic sight for the spectators to see youth and raw pace from one end with experience and consistent line and length from the other.

Hadley got the first breakthrough with a short ball that had proved hard to play on this wicket. Not to be outdone a few overs later Jamieson got an important wicket bowling McDonald for 7.  Hadley then dismissed the Saints inform batter who had pilled on 160 the week before in second grade for 29.

With the score 3-57, the Tahs were in a strong position to get the 6 points however as spoken about earlier in the day the foot was not to be taken off the peddle.  As would be the case the Saints seemed to have rallied and began to build a partnership. Needing a breakthrough Jake Carden did what he does best hitting consistent areas and eventually getting Rose caught behind for 17.

With the seam attack doing a great job and the wicket showing signs of inconsistent bounce the skipper knew it was time to bring O’Keefe into the action. With little surprise runs dried up and overs were bowled quickly much to the distress of Carden who was having under a minute to recover from his previous over before again being asked to stand at the top of his mark.

Once the former Test and NSW spinner got into his groove signs look promising for the Tahs with a wicket looking likely most deliveries.

SOK was the pick of the bowlers taking 6/36 off 21 overs showcasing why he is one of the competitions best  players. Memorable mentions should also go to SOK’s spin partner Elliot Herd who despite bowling well bowled without luck and Lenton who took some incredible catches up to the stumps.

The Tahs bowled Saints out for 165 winning the fixture by 218 runs to remain top of the table after round 2.

3,2,1 Points:

3 – Steve O’Keefe

2 – Ollie Davies

1 – Cam Merchant

Ben Bryant

The lads rocked up to the Pacific Highway (Hurstville oval) with high hopes of chasing down a massive total. Things got off to a great start with a Tom Kaye mid-week photoshoot, creating great banter between the lads. As the first ball was bowled Brewster and Logan were looking in fine form. Both of them getting starts but unfortunately both of them throwing it away.

Young Joel Davis and Sully were both batting well above there years. Joel unfortunately throwing away another opportunity to go large. But Sully what an innings, 142* not out. Mate well batted and well played unfortunately no one else could go with you. Must admit your 100 was amazing but the next 42 runs weren’t quite as easy on the eye.

We were looking for a great victory after tea with the top order doing the job at 4/240. Unfortunately, the lads lost their way after tea and it was a great learning curve for chasing big totals.

After ending the day 350 all out it was a fantastic effort from the lads and a great learning curve as well. Looking for bigger and better to come in the near future. Well batted Sully.

3,2,1 Points:

3 – Jacob O’Sullivan

2 – Joel Davies

1 – Josh Wigney

Max Webber

The boys rocked up to a dry Manly wicket to take on a Mosman team who were comfortably beaten only 2 weeks ago by the same group in the 50 over format. The boys took great confidence from a strong bowling performance on the Saturday and a dominant win to the PG’s side only a couple of hours prior. 

Losing the toss we knew it could be a tricky one on a tired wicket, so it was spin to win! Taking 3-4 spinners into a T20 fixture was something new for the group, with the luxury of an abundance of high quality quicks to choose from not possible on the day. But boy did the lads deliver! Between Herdy, the returning AB and SOK to lead the group of tweakers, the boys put on an absolute clinic taking a clump of wickets through the middle to put us in a dominating position to ice the innings. A few special performances in the field, highlighted by a tremendous run out from the skipper Lento and a great catch from Ollie in the deep (cheers mate), kept the Whales to a mere 125, bowled out in the final over. 

Knowing it was going to be an awkward chase on that wicket, the plan was to take it deep and capitalise late with a long, experienced batting order. Finding it tough early, we saw a glimpse of Ollie yet again at his ridiculous best. Asking him after the game “what was the thought on slog sweeping the bloke behind square to long boundary for 6?” he replied with “oh yeh I don’t know hey. I just tried to hit for a single but I got a piece of it and it went for a bomb”. Who knows what goes through his head. Anyway, the 70 year old partnership of Nappa and AB was well paced and put us in a commanding position leading into the last few overs. Until AB decided to accelerate and hit a few onto Sydney road. A one-legged Farrell came to the crease to finish what was a strong performance from a group that is full of confidence and love for one another. 

What a weekend, what a fixture, what a terrific bunch of lads.

Ryan Hadley