By Tara Murray
Westmeadows has a run chase on its hands against St Francis de Sales in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association Division 1 north Tony Issacs Shield competition.
Looking for their second win of the season, the Warriors will have to step up with the bat on day two.
The Warriors started well with a couple of early wickets and were in a good position with St Francis de Sales at 6-137.
However, St Francis de Sales’ lower order wagged, and pushed the total to 9-266 from 80 overs.
Warriors captain-coach Tarek Moughanie said it was a wicket that favoured the batsmen.
“The wicket was very flat and it was tough to bowl people out,” he said. “The outfield was also reasonably quick.
“We had them 6-137 and it would have been nice to bowl them out for under 200. They scored at least 20 or 30 runs than we would have liked.
“They would feel in front in the game.”
Moughanie said that they didn’t think they bowled too badly, but just weren’t able to get the luck needed.
The Warriors threw everything at St Francis de Sales, with nine players getting a bowl. Opening bowler Jackson Smith was the best, taking 4-67 off 19 overs.
“When it’s flat you want to mix it up and through something else at them. We’ve got seven or eight regular bowlers.
“In the end it was a longish day and we’re looking forward to this week. It’s up to the batsmen this week and hopefully we’ll get back on track.
Moughanie said Smith and Dean Pitts who both joined the club this year had been brilliant leading the attack.
“They have hardly bowled a bad ball.”
He said they were looking forward to the challenge this week with the bat and were enjoying finally getting to play some red ball cricket.
The Warriors currently sit 1-1, with rain ruining their other games.
PHOTO GALLERY: Westmeadows vs St Francis de Sales
Moughanie said the washouts had been frustrating after a really good pre-season.
“By round one we thought we would be hitting the ground running. We felt like we had West Coburg in round two and we thought we could have played and been 2-0.
“Now we have five results between now and Christmas, hopefully we can get a few wins on the board.”
Craigieburn will test itself against early leaders Glenroy.
Glenroy elected to bat on its home pitch and got off to a good start with 57 for the first wicket partnership.
It lost a couple of quick wickets, but steadied to put on the runs, including more than 50 for the seventh-wicket partnership.
Glenroy went on to make 6-209 from it overs.
Brodie Warren and Shupinder Taggar took two wickets each for Craigieburn.
Greenvale Kangaroos are right in the match against Royal Park-Brunswick. Looking for their first win of the season, the Kangaroos started well with the ball.
They were restricted Royal Park-Brunswick to 165, bowling them out with six overs remaining.
The Kangaroos then had to face three overs before stumps.
It was a less than ideal start for the Kangaroos, who will resume at 2-9.
In division 1 west, Tullamarine will have to bat well against Deer Park if it’s to get its third win of the season.
Deer Park elected to bat on its home ground and looked in trouble at 5-69. A sixth-wicket partnership of nearly 100 got their innings back on track.
While they lost frequent wickets throughout the rest of the innings, Deer Park still passed 200, bowled out for 212.
The Demons shared the wickets around, Shehan De Silva leading the way with three wickets.
Three other players took two wickets each. In division 5, Jacana is in an interesting battle with Sunbury, as both teams look to push up the ladder.
Jacana did a good job restricting Sunbury early on and had them in trouble at 3-15. Sunbury, through Jason McGann, fought back before being bowled out for 186.
Anuk Alwis continued his good form, taking five wickets, to take his season tally to 12.
Jacana got through 12 overs unscathed and will resume at 0-25.
