SEASON 2021-22 ROUND EIGHT
JANUARY 16, 2021
DIVISION ONE
OLD SCOTCH CC 163 (33.5)
def. MELBOURNE UNI 152 (39.3)
S Shearer 57 and 5/39, Goad 2/13
The Old Scotch First XI travelled back to Princes Park on Sunday, for a fixture with a much stronger looking Melbourne Uni CC. With a number of Premier additions for the Students, it looked like a tantalizing contest leading in and predictably ended up going right to the wire.
OSCC won the toss and batted first, on a surface that was far from as batsmen friendly as it appeared. After the early losses of Sennitt, Dawborn, Hemp and Sutherland, captain Sam Shearer (57) was able to steady the ship, with young cousin E Shearer supporting him in a 40 run stand for the fifth wicket. S Shearer appeared set for a big one, but fell not long after drinks and posting his half-century. With the help of MUCC extras and some handy tailend contributions from Clark, Goad and Hays, OSCC ended on a slightly disappointing, but also very defendable 163.
The Scotch boys made a great start with the ball, with Clark (1-27) dismissing one of Uni’s main hopes Hahnel with the score on zero. This brought Young to the crease, however, who quickly took to the Scotch opening pair of Clark and Hays(1-35) and motored the score to 50 off the first 10 overs. At 1/77 and Young and Durrant looking well in control, Goad (2-13) made the vital breakthrough of Durrant and brought OSCC back into the contest. From there, the boys were able to control Young’s scoring and starve him of some strike, with S Shearer (5-39) making regular breakthroughs and ably supported by Bonwick, who snagged the essential Young scalp. In the end MUCC ended up 11 runs shy of the Scotch score, with the final overs being extremely well controlled by the boys and the result never really threatened.
It was a satisfying win, with the squad challenged by a very solid MUCC lineup. Next up for the boys is a big trip to Xavier this Sunday.
DIVISION TWO
OLD SCOTCH CC 6/178 (38.2)
def. OLD HAILEYBURY 9/177 (40)
Polkinghorne 63, Parsons 2/16
The twos resumed for 2022 at home with a strong bowling side against Old Haileybury. Bowling first, it was clear Haileybury had come to play, quickly racing away to 1/59 after the first 10 overs. Despite the early dominance, the bowlers realigned and pushed things back in our favour to have Haileybury 4/90 at drinks. This strong performance continued in the back half of the innings, with Joel Bennett (2/23 off 7), Harry Parsons (2/16 off 6) and Tom Polkinghorne (2/16 off 5) doing the damage to restrict Haileybury to 9/178 at the end of the 40 overs.
At the break we knew that it appeared to be a great batting wicket and partnerships would guide us home to a smooth victory. Cam Melville (27) looked classy in return as we lost Oliver McLeish early. Batting award leader Tom Polkinghorne (63) strolled to the crease and continued his unbelievable form, holding partnerships with many that came after. Hayden Tilbrook (23) and James Halse (23) kept the scoreboard ticking in our direction to have us 6/157 with 5 overs to play. From there, a Nic Bennett (12*) and Fraser Sutherland (10*) held their nerve to guide us home with 11 balls remaining.
The win sees us firmly placed in the top 4 with 6 games remaining. Next week sees us face a strong Old Wesley lineup, a challenge we have been eagerly awaiting.
DIVISION THREE
OLD SCOTCH CC 126 (38)
def by. OLD CAMBERWELL 6/186 (40)
Polmear 58 and 4/22, Lund 2/19
We were away to Old Camberwell (played in Doncaster) on a sunny, and at times, hot Sunday. Having not seen the opposition before, we relied on the score book which indicated they were a high scoring team.
The toss was lost and we were asked to bowl. So, their likely high scoring on a hot day became the immediate focus and we were told by Skip that an aggressive mindset was the key. The bowlers toiled well early with not a lot of luck and OC2 got to the break at 82 for 2. After the break we did our best to stem the tide but the more damage was done when they posted another 100 runs. James Polmear (son of David) was a shining light in the bowling group capturing all 4 wickets after drinks.
Aggressive batting was then the focus, but we struggled early to make the necessary inroads and were only 50 odd at the drinks break, and now needing 6.5 per over to win. We decided this was hard but certainly not impossible seeing we had 8 wickets in the bank and set out to be super aggressive in the last 20. Unfortunately with that approach came wickets and we were bowled out for 120 odd in the 38th over. One of our openers, Dave Polmear (father of James) was our top score with 58 hard fought runs.
Next week we travel to Point Cook and play a team who has also been struggling and we are keen to make amends for the last few weeks with a big win.