By Tara Murray
Epping had a perfect start to the Diamond Valley Cricket Association Barclay Shield season.
Hoping to build on last year’s finals berth, Epping had little trouble against Plenty in the opening round.
Having made 9-222 on day one, Epping backed it up with the ball on Saturday.
It needed just over 45 overs to get the job done, bowling Plenty out for 81.
Epping coach Jeff Hughes said the key going into the match was getting the batting right.
While he thought they could have added another 30-40 runs, he was happy with how it went.
“Our main aim is to bat out the 80 overs and we managed to do that.
“You bat 80 overs, nine times out of 10, you score over 200 and we think we have the bowling attack to bowl sides out.
“We were off to a great start and then lost our way in the middle overs. The tail put on a few good partnerships.
“It’s a fairly big ground, so there wasn’t a lot of boundaries hit.”
With the runs on the board, Epping’s bowlers not only picked up wickets, but were economical.
Plenty went at less than two runs an over in their innings, just three players scored double figures.
Opening bowlers Robert Tinsley and Marcus Murphy picked up three wickets each for Epping.
Hughes was thrilled with the performance saying the side wanted to make a statement early on.
All three of Epping’s recruits played their role as well.
Hughes said they were looking strong across the board.
“It has trickled down into the seconds, thirds, fourths and fifths,” he said.
“It’s made us really strong. Four of the five senior teams won, with the fifths unlucky.
“It has been good and we’re getting excellent numbers at training.”
In other results, Bundoora wasn’t able to avoid an outright loss to Diamond Creek.
Having already conceded first innings points on day one, it was another tough day on Saturday for them.
Diamond Creek declared its first innings at 2-155 to lead by 79 runs.
Bundoora was bowled out for 101 in its second innings. Diamond Creek had no trouble making the runs to take the full points, finishing 0-23.
In the Money Shield, Lalor Stars was too good for Mernda.
Needing 216 for victory, the Stars made the runs with nine overs to spare.
The Stars finished 6-216, with Steven Kemp making 74 at the top of the order.
Bundoora United also had a big win, accounting for Banyule.
Chasing 172, the Bulls piled on the runs, finishing 4-178 with nearly 30 overs remaining.
All the Bulls batsmen reached double figures.
Mill Park and Old Paradians had losses to Montmorency and Eltham respectively.
