CRICKET - Delatite CC B-grade

DELATITE'S B-grade team welcomed Rovers United Bruck to Lords Oval on a Saturday afternoon that felt a lot warmer than the 27 degrees the mercury indicated.

Both sides were relatively evenly matched, with each team fielding a number of promising juniors.

Captain Nick Ferguson chose to bat after winning the toss, and celebrated his return to the Bs after a stint in the A Reserve team by knocking up an energetic 64, accompanied by Rick Mills until he fell on 14.

When Ferguson fell Patrick Smith took over, reaching an even 50 before losing his wicket, hitting out as the innings drew to a close.

Delatite reached their highest score of the season by far, finishing on 7/161.

Rovers United Bruck started energetically, but wickets to openers Sam Bell and Andrew Cook soon put the brakes on their run chase.

Left-handed number five Luke O’Brien held the innings together while his team-mates all made relatively short cameos around him, carving out a fine 50 mostly through singles and two before he was dismissed trying to hit out in Bell’s second spell.

While the result was never really in doubt, some solid defense from the visitors meant that they were not cleaned up before finishing their allotted overs.

Delatite snagged seven wickets in Rovers United Bruck’s innings of 120.

Best bowling figures were shared by Bell and Josh Cook with 2/21, although it was the Glenn McGrath-like consistency of Cooper Martin (1/6 off five) that stood out above the rest.

With their first win for the season on the board, Delatite look forward to building some momentum via a second home game in a row against visitors Rutherglen United next Saturday at Lords Oval.