This week, the results unfortunately didn’t seem to favour most sides. Despite good first week performances from the First XI and Second XI and some brilliant individual displays, both teams couldn’t come home with the win, losing by fine margins. The Third XI had another loss, the Fourth XI won by forfeit, the Fifth XI Sunday turf side lost convincingly again, and the Vets lost in a nail-bitter against Heathmont after a positive start to their batting innings.
First XI
The First XI were set a target of 186 runs to chase down from St Kevins OC last week. The innings didn’t start as planned for the Saints losing wickets early on to the swinging new ball. Madhur Ghai opened the batting and was the highlight from the innings making a patient 50 runs from 129 balls. Ghai’s partnership with Ronny Brandigampala helped the Saints get back into the game before Brandigampala was clean bowled making a handy 38 runs from 61 balls. The rest of the team struggled to get going as wickets continued to fall. The Saints finished the innings all out for 140 runs, losing by 46 runs in a game in which they’ll look to take positives out of and move onto next week.
Second XI
The Second XI score of 213 from last week was unfortunately chased down by Surrey Hills, with the Saints losing by four wickets. Despite only taking one wicket each respectively, John Collopy, Liam Walsh and Connor Burns all bowled their heart out on a flat turf deck that favoured the batters. Trent Sanguinetti took two late wickets in the innings to be the leading wicket taker for the team, but it wasn’t enough to stop Surrey Hills’ run chase. There were lots of positives to take out of the game for the Second XI. A lack of depth in the bowling attack didn’t help the Saints defend their target.
Third XI
The Third XI played away against St Stephens Greythorn on the small ground of Leigh Park. In a high scoring affair, St Stephens Greythorn posted a target of 278 runs in 40 overs. Jonathan Mendelovits took two late wickets in the innings to be the leading wicket taker for the team, but it was definitely a day for the batters. In the run chase, Hamish Pym carried his bat throughout the innings making an impressive score of 75-not-out (from 116 balls). Paul Topp played his first game of the season and also contributed with 34 runs from 41 balls in the middle order. While there were many other starts with the bat, the team fell short of the target by 66 runs. The Third XI aren’t far off claiming their first win of the season, with again many positives to take from the game, especially their batting innings.
Fourth XI
Richmond Union forfeited the game to give the Fourth XI their first win of the season.
Fifth XI
Another tough day for the Sunday turf team as they lost to Heathmont by six wickets. Winning the toss, the Saints elected to bat. Scores from Kanishka Senevirathne (31) and Ishtaka Rajapaksha (21) in the middle order helped the Saints to a score of 132 in what would be a hard score to defend. Heathmont started their batting innings very well with their top three batters all making solid scores. Kasun Rajapaksha finished with figures of 2/19 off 7.3 overs and was the pick of the bowlers for the Saints.
Vets
After a fantastic opening batting display from Damien Argenti and Hamish Pym both making 40 runs not out, the Vets just couldn’t get the job done and lost by the barest of margins in a game they’ll look back on and wonder how they didn’t win. With a target of 161 to chase, the Saints had a great start to the chase before wickets started to fall quickly and the batting order started to collapse. There were many starts with the bat in the middle order, but nobody after the openers went on to make a big score. With a team of only 10 players, the Saints just couldn’t chase down the runs losing by only six runs.
MATCH RESULTS
1XI vs St Kevins OC (Two-day game)
LOST BY 46 RUNS
· M. Ghai (3/23 & 50 runs)
· R. Brandigampala (3/54 & 38 runs)
2XI vs Surrey Hills (Two-day game)
LOST BY FOUR WICKETS
· G. Sanguinetti (61 runs)
· C. Zini (33 runs)
3XI vs Mulgrave
LOST BY 66 RUNS
· H. Pym (75* runs)
· P. Topp (34 runs)
4XI vs Richmond Union
WON BY FORFIET
5XI vs Heathmont
LOST BY SIX WICKETS
· K. Senevirathne (31 runs)
· K. Rajapaksha (2/19)
Vets vs Heathmont
LOST BY SIX RUNS
· D. Argenti (40* runs)
· H. Pym (40* runs)
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