This weekend was the first one back after the Christmas break and the sun was out for the occasion. The Firsts and Seconds returned while the other grades will have to wait until the following week. The Second XI took on Surrey Hills and brought home a strong win thanks to some Torresi brilliance with the bat and a strong team outing with the ball. The First XI fell short against St Kevins on Saturday in an interesting game which had plenty of ups and downs and the side will look to bounce back next week. While the Saints set themselves up for an emphatic win, they couldn’t finish their work as the visitors worked their way back into the contest. The First XI had a scheduled game on Sunday against Heathmont but it was washed out due to inclement weather.
First XI
The First XI lost the toss and were required to bowl first, a decision that the St Kevins' top order would’ve instantly regretted as Balwyn Saints began to tear through the top order, starting with the opening batsmen. Jonah Dillon and Max Murphy took the new ball and delivered in spades claiming a couple of big wickets early, both taking one in their first over. When James Alleva produced the highlight of the day with a direct hit runout, all of the momentum was with the mighty Balwyn Saints and the visitors were left reeling at 3-5. It wasn’t long before Dillon claimed his second victim, sending the next batsmen back to the sheds with a duck. It was 4-9 and it looked like as though it could be an early day for the First XI. Skevs’ skipper, John McKinnon came to the crease and offered a little bit of resistance scoring nine before Will Spratt stamped his authority on the game knocking over McKinnon in the 12th over, the scoreboard reading 5-21. The Saints’ incredibly deep bowling stocks allowed Madhur Ghai to come in and claim his first wicket. Before Spratty went bang, taking consecutive wickets in the following over and giving the batsmen nightmares. At 8-22, it was video-game numbers. But the lower order batsmen weren’t giving up without a fight. A half century to Nick Trapani and some low-order firepower pushed the score to a competitive 150 - the final partnership adding 108 to the score. Spratty was the pick of the bowlers with 3-24 from his eight overs while Dillon was impressive claiming two wickets. Murphy, Ghai and Joel Watts took one wicket apiece. There were a few heads down at the change of innings, and it carried into the batting performance for Balwyn as wickets fell regularly and it was the same story, just the opposite way around. Owen Watts (10), Aaron Ivak (nine) and Spratty (11) were the best of the batsmen and managed to spend a little bit of time in the middle, but it was to no avail. St Kevins bowled tight lines and lengths troubling the batting order to get them all out for 53. It was a 97-run loss for the Saints at the end of the day, a hard pill to swallow on the back of the strong position the side was in.
Second XI
Surrey Hills won the toss and sent Balwyn Saints’ Second XI in to bat first in hot conditions at Wattle Park. Damien Argenti wasted no time getting started and smashed the opening bowler for two fours in the first over of the match. Christian Zini has been a consistent performer for the side and placed good value on his wicket while rotating the strike to allow an in-form Argenti to take the bowlers downtown. He got the side off to a great start blasting 27 off 20 balls which included five boundaries – one of those a six. Zini went onto make 14 before he went aerial and was caught at mid-off. The score began to dry up as the home team's bowlers started to get on top and take a couple wickets. Trent Sanguinetti was stumped for one in an odd fashion while John Auchterlonie (four) was soon to follow. A strong partnership was required and some brotherly connection was what the doctor ordered as Tom and Oscar Torresi went about stabilising the innings and making some runs. The pair dug in and put on a crucial partnership with Tom (44) and Oscar (30) adding some much-needed runs to the total. A quick 22-run cameo from Glenn Sanguinetti late pushed the Saints’ score to 162 – a defendable total on a sizeable ground and slow wicket. From early in Balwyn Saints’ bowling innings, it was clear that they had Surrey Hills on the ropes. John Collopy and Michael Haralambopoulos took the new ball and did well with the kooka in hand removing one opening batsman each. Connor Burns soon came on at first change and knocked over the home side’s number three batsman for a duck. Hemal Sharma was good landing his leggies well and took the crucial wicket of Matthew McBride. Argenti also got in on the action with his spinners claiming two wickets. As the outstanding bowling continued, the Second XI bowled Surrey Hills out for just 85 in the 33rd over. Burns, Haralambopoulos, Collopy, Sharma and Argenti were all economical taking two wickets each, while Tom Torresi also rattled the pegs. It was a big win for the Second XI and the side will look to ride the wave of momentum into the next game.
MATCH RESULTS
1XI vs St Kevins
LOST BY 97 RUNS
• W. Spratt – 3/24
• J. Dillon – 2/15
2XI vs Surrey Hills
WON BY 77 RUNS
• T. Torresi – 44 and 1/4
• D. Argenti – 27 and 2/7
3XI, 4XI, 5XI, VETS– WEEK OFF
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