2020/2021 3rd XI Mid Season Report

The Bendigo Bank 3rd XI started the 2020/21 season with plenty of experimentation, having six new players down to the club, but reached the half way point in the season in 4th spot on the ladder, and just starting to hit their stride in the last few games before the break.

This season looked very promising with the bat after round one with back to back 80 run partnerships highlighted by Sam Mackie’s return to the club with a gritty 38 opening the batting, and a maiden century at the club (105*) for Keyur Mehta who was smashing them everywhere, which led to a healthy score of 4/224. Unfortunately too many wides, and poor fielding meant that North Balwyn were able to chase down our total in the last over of the day.
From rounds 2-4 after a few changes to the team, this completely flipped, and the bowling and fielding improved unbelievably, however runs became very hard to come by.

In round 2 we scraped together a score of 8/147 thanks to some late fireworks from Mick Lowry with 42* (off not many balls) and after some good tight bowling and excellent work in the field, we had out first win for the season holding on for a fantastic 10 run win.

Round 3 was another disappointing loss to AYC Harlequins, but it also saw the return of the exceptional all round performances we’re used to seeing from Dev Patel who hit a terrific 73 (And formed a solid partnership with Boyd Justice who hit 26) and took 4/31 off his 8 overs.

Round 4 was our most disappointing loss, but the main positive to take away from the loss against Balwyn Saints was the fearsome bowling from Andrew Sewell who was bruising bodies with his quick pace and then following up with wickets, as he ended up with 4/38 off his 6 overs giving us a fighting chance to win.

In Round 5 Keyur Mehta suggested mixing it up by bowling first (Since our batting wasn’t clicking). This turned out to be a a strike of genius as we rolled Burwood for 92, led by Kunal Janjrukia who took his first (proper) chance at a bowl this season taking 4/20 off 8 overs after training hard and very well for weeks, and this helped us win over the top team at the time.

Round 6 was the same but better! We bowled first and rolled (Again high on the ladder) Mount Waverley Catholics for 61 with a terrific 3/8 off 6 by Dev Patel and one of the tidiest bowling spells you will ever see by Chamin Marasinghe who took 2/1 off 8 overs, including 7 maidens! This led to our 3rd win of the season.

The Bendigo Bank 3rd XI have improved unbelievably over the last few rounds, with a positive sign being that we have had our 3 wins against the 3 top teams, with some minor adjustments those close losses to the bottom teams will quickly change, and I look forward to playing some finals cricket with this group.

2020/2021 2nd XI Mid Season Report

The Planning Partners second XI following our premiership in C grade last year we were promoted to B grade to start the 20/21 season. We opened up with a home game against North Balwyn @ Schramms reserve. (Due to COVID we couldn’t access the school and the committee did a great job securing a temporary home at Schramms). We lost the toss and NB batted first. We bowled well for 35overs but NB hit 60 off theist 5 to reach 200. In reply we lost early wickets and were never really in the hunt. Best performer was J Black with a solid 40 odd.

Round 2
Still under COVID restrictions we played a home game against Balwyn Saints @ Myrtle park (Balwyn home ground). We lost the toss again and were sent in to bat. With heavy cloud around potentially delaying the game we started as scheduled and batted pretty well putting on 6-166 off the 40 overs with Kaz, Rammers and Blacky all chipping with 39, 42 and 35 respectively. In reply Balwyn Saints reached 6-136 off 28.4. Balwyn started hot but we reigning them in before rain and lightning ended play. Pick of the bowlers were Hyder Khan (2-43 off 7) and C Joshi (3-13 off 6). Overall we went home with 3 points and were on the board for season 20/21.

Round 3
Saw us take the long trip to Zerbes reserve to play East Doncaster. Again we lost the toss and were sent in to bat on a reasonable wicket. At 2-0 it was not a great start but scores of 40, 24 and 30 from Mo Sethia, Dan Coloe and Chetan pushed us to a defendable score of 9-153 off our 40 overs. In reply East Doncaster had a slow and steady start. Excellent bowling from Hyder Khan (2-22 off 7), Meet Fifandra (2-13 off 8), P French (1-19 off 6) and D Zachariah (1-28 off 8) applied great pressure to the East Donny batters. The game went right down to the wire with ED requiring 4 runs to win off the last over with one wicket in hand. Standing at the top of the bowlers mark was P French who delivered a ripping delivery first up which cleaned up off stump and the eagles were celebrating! Notable mention was to Hyder Khan who took a fantastic one handed catch at extra cover in the middle overs to keep the eagles in the game.

Round 4
We travelled to Canterbury sports ground the graveyard for massas shoulders in the past. With wild weather forecast we lost the toss and bowled. The pitch was interesting to say the least, some quality ‘tennis ball bounce’ and divots reflecting a decent pitching wedge on the 18th was the most positive description we could give this pitch. Canterbury got away early but we pegged them back with some solid bowling restricting then to 138 all out. Wickets were shared with Meet Fifandra and Chetan taking two wickets each. We started off hot batting with massa cracking a quick fire 41 however a steady loss of wickets brought our downfall as we failed to chase down the total being bowled out for 117 in the 29th over.

Round 5
Deepdene made the trip down Bulleen road to Marcellin. It was great to be back at Marcellin after home games at Schramms and a few road trips. We lost the toss again and bowled. Very solid bowling effort as the Eagles restricted to Deepdene to 109 all out. Wickets were shared with Chetan Joshi (3-20 off 7) and Peter French (2-22 off 8) were the pick of the bowlers. In reply to Deepdenes total we lost early wickets and were struggling at 3-20. Then Ankur Mathur and Sam Mackie came together and steered the ship home. Ankur top scoring with 55 was a match winning knock.

Round 6
Another home game, this time against Ashwood. We won our first toss of the year and chose to bat first on a traditional Lyons oval wicket. Our best start for a while saw us reach 1- 70 with Kaz and Mo adding 65 runs for the second wicket. we then lost a few quick wickets and slumped to 5-96. A few cameos form Ankur (16), Meet (10), Mackie (12) and Chetan (23) got us to a solid score of 8-148. In reply Ashwood never really got going and were bowled out for 127. Our bowlers were fantastic (again!) with Meet Fifandra (1-17 off 8), French (2-12 off 6), Sewelly (0-11 off 4) and Chetan (4-30 off 8) the pick of the bowlers. A great win to go into the Xmas break!

Round 7
First game after the Xmas break saw Marcellin host league leaders East-Malvern Tooronga. On a hot summers day, East malvern won the toss and batted. They started hot putting on 100 in 20 overs until we unleashed our three prong spin attack of Michael McColl, Chetan Josh and Mo Sethia. The high quality spin bowling reigned in the batsman keeping EM-T to 9-181. Mo Sethia was the pick of the bowlers finishing with 5-23 off 8! In reply Marcellin were a little behind the run rate at 3-62 after 20 overs. Some solid batting in the middle to late overs by Ankur Mathur (31), Michael McColl (40) and Meet Fifandra (14) saw us fall just short of the total, finishing with 7-163 off 40 overs.

At this halfway point in the season we sit in 4th spot with 3 wins, 3 losses and one draw. The squad is coming together nicely with good contributions across both batting and bowling. With some good quality cricket moving forward we can make a push for finals.

2020/2021 1st XI Mid Season Report

The Donnellan’s The Tyremen First XI has endured an up and down first half of the season, with finals remaining well and truly a part of the teams’ plans going forward.

The additions of Dan Kiely (212 runs) and Mitch Carey (109 runs, 14 wickets) has strengthened the team significantly, with both players having a major impact not only on the field, but also off the field with the duo fitting in seamlessly. Julian Black has also returned to the side after an injury riddled 2019/20 season, and has not missed a beat, strengthening both the team’s batting (122 runs) and bowling (3.8 economy rate) departments, and providing valuable experience.

Adam Massarotti’s dynamic batting at the top of the order (137 runs) provides the side with a strong foundation to start the innings, whilst Nick Watty’s growth as an opening bowler (7 wickets @ 24) has been great to watch.

The First XI are tied second on points through 7 games (4 wins 3 losses), and have had great team wins over East Doncaster, Mont Albert and North Balwyn. With 5 of the last 7 games being at Marcellin, the group strongly believes that finals is attainable, where anything can happen.

2020/2021 Round 1 Results

The first round of 2020/21 began with two Saturday and two Sunday games for the Marcellin Old Collegians Cricket Club. 

KEYUR MEHTA

3RD XI - 2020/21 ROUND 1 - 105 NOT OUT

With Donnellan’s - Tyre Men 1st XI being sent in to bat by last years premiers (North Balwyn) on a good wicket, Cal Stewart’s 59 of 50 (8 x 4’s and 1 x 6) and new recruit Dan Kiely’s 34 off 61 (4 x 4’s) got the team off to a great start being 3/100 at drinks. A few costly run outs slowed the run rate down but with Kris Krolokowski’s 30 off 32 (2 x 6’s)  and Joel Donnellan’s 26 off 24 ( 1 x 4) saw the team bring up a competitive 7/200 of 40 overs. 

Marcellin started the second innings really well having NBCC 6/82 and with new recruit Mitch Carey 3/25 off 8 and Nick Watty 3/31 of 7 (including dangerman Patel (23) who was well caught by Mitch Carey, the eagles were in a good position. NBCC middle order responded well and following a few dropped catches and some wayward bowling the game came down to the wire. In the second last over a great diving catch by Kris Krolikowski saw the Eagles take the chocolates by 5 runs. A great start to the 20/21 season. 

The Planning Partner 2nd XI playing North Balwyn on a Sunday at our adopted home ground (Schramms Reserve)  lost the toss and after 40 overs found themselves chasing 4/200 of 40 - NBCC captain batted well scoring 85. Julian Black (1/10 off 8) was the pick of the bowlers and was well supported by Chetan Joshi (0/13 off 5). In reply,  Marcellin were in trouble early at 3/34 before Julian Black 45 off 51 (4 x 4’s and 1 x 6) steadied and put up some resistance. Unfortunately Marcellin were dismissed inside 34 overs for 123. A real wake up call as to what B Turf might offer this season.

The Bendigo Bank 3rd XI also playing North Balwyn on a Sunday but at Macleay Park 2 were sent in to bat. Keyur Mehta 105*  (13 x 4’s and 1 x 6) scoring his maiden century for the club was the standout batsman whilst Sam Mackie 38 ( 6 x 4’s) was next best. Mira’s boys were happy with the total but unfortunately NBCC chased down the runs in the last over. Michael Mirabella (1/34 off 8) and Trev Keogh (0/12 off 4) were the pick of the bowlers. Some dropped catches and misfields proved costly in the end. 450 runs scored in a day’s play made for a good cricket game. 

The Balwyn Builder’s 4th XI playing away against Mount Waverley Uniting were set into bat. With 9 players for the day the “Giraffes” did well to bat out 40 overs and posted 10/156 on the board. Adam Clements 65 ( 11 x 4’s) was the stand out batsmen having been compulsorily retired at 50 and returning at the end to bat with skipper Meehan 15* (2 x 4’s)  to face the last few overs. In reply MVU chased down the total with 5 balls to spare. Bowling honours were shared with Lyons-Negus (2/30 0ff 8), Marchesi (2/27 off 8) and Meehan (2/27 off 8).  A great effort with 9 players - looking forward to having all 11 next week.

1 win and 3 losses this week. Let’s look to improve going into next week. 

Round 2 - 

1st XI v Old Carey Schramms Reserve No 2, Doncaster - Sunday 22nd November

2nd XI - v Balwyn Saints - Myrtle Park, North Balwyn - Sunday 22nd November

3rd XI - v Salesian Old Boys - Salesian College  Chadstone Saturday 21st November

4th XI - v Melbourne Deaf - Hay’s Paddock, Kew - Saturday 21st November