13s
The under 13’s boys lost the toss in batsman friendly conditions and had to bowl first. They got off to a great start with 2 early wickets until a 70 run partnership put Melville back in front. The 2 spinners in Jax and Jedd pulled the run rate back in the middle overs allowing Freo to get back some control. A late flurry of wickets kept Melville to a score of 155 which the boys felt like was very getable considering the nature of the wicket and lightning quick outfield. Oli was the best of the bowlers with 3/27 from 8, Sam 1/27 from 7 and Jedd 1/24 from 8.
Gabe was making his debut having not played the first 2 games and started magnificently. He hit 4 early boundaries giving freo the perfect start. When he was dismissed he had made 38 from 29 balls and by the 10th over we were 1/60 and well on track. Albert played the perfect innings at number scoring 32 before he was out then needing 50 from the last 20 overs Levi And James C put on a magnificent partnership of 70 giving freo a comfortable win.
That’s 2 wins and 1 loss now for the boys with Perth the next game in 2 weeks.
14s
v Melville
Our long-awaited Round 3 match v Melville had finally arrived. Melville who was last year’s Grand Finalists in U13s and starting the season 1-1 would be a dangerous proposition on their home deck at Tompkins Park.
We went in with a slightly change line up due to yet another unique plan devised by Head Coach Sharad. Alex won the toss and gave us first use on a deck that was showing signs of age…. we suspected it may be difficult to score freely and this proved correct. Both Alex and Farran, who had been promoted to open following his superb form in rounds 1 & 2, gave us an excellent start in the first 15 overs. Farren succumbed to one unfortunately that skidded through, which we started to see more and more as the ball softened. Alex kicked on into the 20s until he holed out against Leg Spin trying to keep the momentum going.
An excellent, steady stand was then put up by Parth & Johnson of over 50 runs, getting us into the 120s with 15 overs left. Johnson was run out for 25 in the push to increase the run rate and we lost 6 further wickets to close on 171 for 9 with a host of boys running hard and doing their best for the team without regards for their wickets. The standout was Parth who batted brilliantly to stay undefeated on 57. Fantastic to see one of our top order hold one end which allows other players some freedom.
After the usual afternoon tea rush for delicacies, it was now time to spring Sharad’s long planned trap, opening the bowling with pace at one end and Leg Spin via Felix Cambell at the other! What a plan it was too…not a run scored in 6 overs and then 2 wickets falling, one to Sarth and the other to Felix who bowled brilliantly it must be said. It was clear Melville had not expected or been prepared for the opening combination….pat on the back for the Coach.
The fielding up to this stage was excellent and a clear difference between the sides. A superb catch at slip by Parth was the first example, then an excellent and crucial caught & bowled by Johnson removing Melville’s most powerful player saw the Port Boys take a firm grip on the game. Spin from Rohan then removed Melville’s next biggest threat with a lusty LBW shout by a hunting ring of fielders bringing an affirmative from the Umpire. The pressure being exerted was now superb. Regular wickets started to fall as the pitch became more difficult in the afternoon and the result was somewhat inevitable in the end with Melville being bowled out for 95 and 10 overs short.
What was very pleasing is we used 9 bowlers, 8 taking wickets. Both Heath Eade (2 wickets) and Harry Kucan taking their first wickets in District Cricket certainly topped off a great day in the field for Freo. This spread of contribution has been key in all three games thus far. Both Felix & Harry played their first match for the season and delivered results which is a reward for their patience and coachability at training.
Currently sitting alone on top, after some very surprising results elsewhere, in Pool B with 3 Wins we have pulled off an excellent start to the season. Our next game however will be against the only side that has defeated this group of boys over the past season and a half, Perth, on Dec 17th at Fletcher Park. I’m sure the lads will be highly motivated to take their performance a step further……and who knows what new plan coach Shard has up his sleeve this time?!
Thank you to all the parents and supporters who continue to help the boys get better and support their cricket. The coaching staff could not be more pleased with the performance and behaviour shown thus far. They are certainly playing “The Port Way”.