Round 4 – Sunday, 17 November 2013
Harold Moore Shield – Under 14s Manly Warringah 4/181 (28 overs) defeated Georges River 6/145 (28 overs) at Old Park #1
Nick Osborne – 4/31
Jacob O’Sullivan – 1/10
Jack Edwards – 1/30
Jack Edwards 98
Ned Hole 38 n.o
Matt Brewster 29
The weather was looking good during our 45min trek to Mortdale. The road was dry with no rain in sight, that is until we arrived at the ground and the rain bucketed down. A sense of déjà vu overcame us as we unpacked the car with umbrellas….. up! The good news was the ground had excellent drainage & looked in good shape. Brooms have become as important as cricket bats & they were put to good use by our broom committee members.
Conditions improved enough for a 10.30 start, the captains made the important coin toss, we lost & were sent into bat. The game started as a 45 over match in good conditions, however after 7 overs the rain came & we were 1/21. We had lost Aiden to an excellent delivery which took his off stump bail. Deep down we knew the rain would play havoc all day & the game would eventually become a 25-30 over match so we set about scoring 5-6 runs an over & aim to have at least 130-140 runs by the 25 over mark. Matt Brewster stepped up and got the bat swinging in a very well composed & aggressive innings. A few wickets fell, more rain delays occurred and after 14 overs the umpires declared the game to be a 28 over match. We had to get rolling & aimed for 7-8 runs
per over for our remaining overs. Jack & Ned batted exceptionally well together putting on 114 runs in only 13 overs. They put pressure on the fielders & took full advantage of the slippery outfield & wet ball, picking off 1 & 2’s regularly while also hitting the occasional boundary on what had become a very slow outfield. Jack’s innings was a treat. Balance & timing are words we have used regularly this season with our batters and Jack had both working in sync. His innings typified a young lad determined to work hard, watch the ball carefully & fulfill his wonderful potential. Just as impressive was Ned who scored at a run at a ball & worked the ball from side to side making it difficult for the opposing captain the set a field. Due to this excellent partnership we finished our innings on 181. Georges River had to score at a challenging 6.5 runs an over to win. More rain fell during the interval, but cleared enough for the umpires to get the game re-started & give both teams the opportunity to get a result. We just needed the rain to stay away long enough to get 25 overs bowled.
We knew it was going to be tough fielding with a wet ball on a damp outfield with light rain falling. The opposition started positively hitting 2 fours in the first over. After 6 overs they were cruising at 0-34 and things were looking dangerous for us. Shahill was brought onto bowl & he had an immediate impact by bowling tightly and getting dot balls. These were going to be as important as wickets. Jacob came on at the other end and broke through with the first wicket after a fine catch by Jadon. Unfortunately this didn’t slow the scoring too much and Georges River continued playing the game as though it was a 20/20 & piled pressure on our fielders by taking quick singles. At the halfway mark the game was evenly poised. We had runs on the board, they had wickets in hand and 2 batsmen building a good partnership & growing in confidence. The drinks break came at a good time for us. It helped us compose ourselves & get back to the game plan. Nick Osborne bowled well after the break taking another wicket and this helped slow the scoring as the new batter had to adjust to the deteriorating conditions. The game was slipping away from the opposition as the run rate increased & our boys could sense the opportunity to snatch an amazing win. We reached the 25 over mark, their run rate was slightly behind, but they had wickets in hand and a result was imminent, we just had to make sure it was going to fall our way. Fortunately a few late wickets swung the game in our favour and the opposition just couldn’t get the run rate going
again. Credit to the umpires who gave the game due respect enabling as much playing time as possible allowed within the playing conditions and to the parents of both teams who kept the
pitch clean & water free.
Paul O’Sullivan &
Roy Vumbaca
