CRICKET

B-grade

Delatite vs Wangaratta City Colts

WITH the end of the season now in sight, Delatite’s B-grade team were excited to continue welcoming new players to the senior teams and witnessing some milestones for the summer.

The result may have not gone their way, but with finals out of sight the focus moves to development and just enjoying the great game of cricket.

Delatite made their longest trip to a home game in recent memory, forced to drive just over an hour to ‘host’ Wangaratta City Colts on their home ground at Barr Reserve. With Lords occupied by the A reserve team, the lack of a suitable second oval in Mansfield was keenly felt – especially galling when the Recreation Reserve sits idle for yet another summer Saturday afternoon, bereft of the pitch that the B-grade team called home for several years.

With both sides fielding an even mix of veterans and junior players, both teams surely felt quiet confidence in their chances.

Delatite won the toss and chose to bowl, but it was City Colts who made the strong start, racing to 16 from the first two overs.

Some tighter bowling soon brought the first wicket, but Delatite could not find the way to tighten the screws on the City Colts, as each of the next five batters made healthy double-figure scores.

The highlight of the fielding effort came when Mitch Clarke, having just commented to the square-leg umpire that ‘poor balls take wickets’, proceeded to take a one-handed screamer from a rank full-toss from bowler Frank Cupples, surely a contender for Delatite’s best catch of the season.

A late flurry of wickets from Andrew Cook, Joel Middleton and Cooper Martin did put the brakes on City Colt’s total, but when 36 overs were bowled City Colts still stood atop a daunting tally of 209, with the loss of eight wickets.

Best of the bowlers were Cook with 3/31, followed by Martin and Middleton with two apiece.

Openers Clarke and Rick Mills got Delatite off to a slow but steady start, an important steadier for the team considering a number of early collapses seen in recent games. Behind the openers sat three pairs of father-son batters, all hoping to spend time together in the middle.

While the Middletons missed out when Koby Middleton was caught in the thirteenth over before his dad could join him, the families Cook (Andrew and Josh) and O’Meara (Ross and Felix) both managed to bat together for the first time in their senior careers.

Unfortunately neither partnership proved fruitful, and only opener Mills and senior Middleton Joel made double-figures up until the fall of the ninth wicket.

Senior debutant Nick Taylor made his way to the middle and proved to be an excellent find as he built partnerships with first Ross O’Meara then Cooper Martin, pushing Delatite’s score to 84 before he fell for thirteen.

Martin was the last to go after a cautious but productive innings, leaving Delatite 124 in arrears.

Delatite next face mid-table Merton at Lords on Saturday, in what is the closest thing to a local derby that either team play for the season.