Tara Murray
Epping held its nerve as it made it two from two in the Diamond Valley Cricket Association Barclay Shield.
Facing Heidelberg, it was a different test for the Pingers as the competition returned to two-day cricket for the first since the 2019-20 season.
Pingers coach Daniel Bramich said it was different playing the two-day format again.
“It was a hard fight in the end,” he said.
“It’s been a while since we’ve played more than 40 overs [an innings]. It was good to get the win.
“It was challenging psychically and mentally. That’s as physical as it gets for local cricketers and hopefully we get to see more of it.”
Having played a number of close matches against Heidelberg in recent years, Bramich said they were expecting the game to go down to the death.
The Pingers made 9-177 on day one of the match.
“Last week we were in trouble with the bat,” he said. “We had to make sure that we batted for 80 overs and gave them a target to chase.
“We didn’t know how it was going to go, as it’s been a while since batting for that long. We didn’t want to give them any extra time at the crease.
“We didn’t know how they were going to react and whether we would draw a false shot or they would play at balls they shouldn’t.”
The Pingers got a couple of early wickets to set the tone. Outside of one partnership, Heidelberg didn’t get going as things fell the Pingers way.
Sticking to the plan, the Pingers bowled Heidelberg out for 125 in the 61st over.
The Pingers shared the wickets around, with Bramich leading the way with three.
The win means the Pingers are one of three teams to be undefeated after two rounds of play.
Bramich said it was exactly the start they were after.
“A side like Heidelberg are in the top four consistently, so we’ll take a win over a top four challenger,” he said.
“Early wins are good and the higher we finish the better chance we have of succeeding.”
The Pingers are back in action this week, with the Northern Region T20 competition getting underway on Tuesday night.
Bramich said it was another opportunity to get a game of cricket under their belts.
In the Money Shield on Saturday, Laurimar was defeated by Plenty, the Lalor Stars avoided an outright defeat against Bundoora United, Bundoora had a big win against Mernda and Bundoora Park best Lower Eltham.
