Kukerin Bowling Club
This completes the first round of fixtures with the pennant ladder in an interesting situation to begin round two on December 3rd. There were no bowls Sunday owing to most players deciding to get on with the harvest. There is a general bye from pennants next Saturday. Social bowls Friday afternoon for those available from 5pm and Sunday’s competition time to be advised by the captain.
Article by P. Adams
Kukerin Dumbleyung Cricket Club
Captain Kalan Joyce won the toss, a good toss to win with warm and dry conditions, and did not hesitate in opting to bat. Dame Leo and Matt Gilfellon again got the team off to a solid start before Matt Gilfellon was the first casualty in the seventh over with the score on 34. Kalan Joyce then entered and set about forming a good partnership with Dame Leo, who was taking his turn to be the dominant opening batsmen. Shortly after the partnership passed fifty Kalan was out but Scott Jefferis entered and with Dame they repeated the dose. It was looking good with the score ticking along six runs an over when Harrismith switched to spin. It had the desired effect of lowering the run rate but after thirty overs, with the run rate at five an over and plenty of wickets in hand, Kukerin-Dumbleyung were looking like they would build and imposing total. A few wickets fell in quick succession which led to some more conservative batting, an approach that Lee Smith was not overly familiar with. It worked though having soaked up some overs, with the help of Ryan Taylor, Lee Smith and Conan Holder exploded at the end of the innings, starting to reach the ropes before the Harrismith bowlers, aided by a vacant eleventh position in the batting order, quickly finished of the last few batsmen to bowl Kukerin-Dumbleyung out for 229 in the 45th over.
Harrismith’s strength is in their batting and with one of the strongest batting line-ups in the association and a quick outfield they would have felt like the total was gettable. Kukerin-Dumbleyung on the other hand now had runs on the board, a well-performing bowling line-up and with only ten players less gaps in the field. Harrismith showed their attacking intent early but Scott Gray started just as well, picking up a wicket maiden for his first over and then picking up another wicket in his second. Harrismith does have good depth and these two quick wickets brought country-cricket start Aaron Quartermaine to the crease. Harrismith started to form solid partnerships while keeping the run rate around the required level. Each wicket that did fall brought another good batsmen to the crease. The bowlers bowled well, Conan Holder struck in his first over before bowling with excellent control. Kalan Joyce partnered well with Conan, making scoring difficult until he brought about a wicket. The resurgent bowler Lee Smith followed up by also bowling with good line and length. The game was balanced on a tightrope, Kukerin-Dumbleyung were bowling well but Harrismith were batting equally as well. With ten overs remaining Harrismith needed sixty runs, a very real possibility until Lee Smith struck a big blow, trapping Aaron Quartermaine in front. The odds may have subtly swung in Kukerin-Dumbleyung’s favour when Scott Gray was brought back into the attack and started to run through the middle and lower order. The game remained within reach of Harrismith but a win seemed increasingly unlikely before all their hopes were extinguished in the 44th over, bowled out for 215.
After a hard game the middle the two teams enjoyed the hospitality provided by Harrismith and recounted the battles that have been fought. This week is a harvest bye weekend before the battle continues with a home game against Cuballing on Saturday 3rd December. Spectators are encouraged and if you want to watch the game from the middle of the ground with pads on, new players are also welcome.
D Leo 72 S Gray 5/51 (10)
L Smith 40* L Smith 2/42 (7.4)
K Joyce 29 K Joyce 1/29 (9)
Article by Jiminey Cricket