Full scorecard – Match Details | NSW Youth Championships (nswyc.com.au)
Manly arrived at Waterfront Drive to face off against Inner West Harbour, raring to go. Although it had been raining a bit overnight and in the morning all the parents, coaches and umpires gave it everything they could to get us a game and it all paid off in the end!
After Lachlan Coy won the toss he chose for us to bat first. After some hesitation with the rain the game finally kicked off. After a decent start Patrick White got bowled by a beautiful delivery and Manly lost their first wicket. Stewart Hurt and Aidan Boulton then built a very strong partnership. Although they started slowly they built the runs and started to take control of the game. They batted all the way till drinks with the score standing at 1-52.
At the drinks break we were told to accelerate and look to take on certain bowlers and that is exactly what we did. Aidan and Stew hit a couple of fours and hit one over for 15 runs! With the batters taking more and more risks, a wicket was soon to come. Unfortunately after a ball popped up off the bat and the fielder took a simple catch, manly were 2-97 with Aidan dismissed for 52. Miles Milliner then came in and did what Miles does best – on just his 4th ball he smashed one down the ground for a massive six, he looked to continue but after a great high catch by one of their outfielders he was denied any more runs. Lachie was unfortunate to receive a good ball delivery first ball and fell without scoring. With the score now at 4-125 Thomas Walker set to finish what Miles started, with Tom smashing every ball to the boundary. Stew tried the same but one too many risks and Stew was clean bowled for 55. With just a couple of overs remaining and Tom still smashing it, Will Toohey and Rohan Chang both played a handy innings getting quick runs and finding the gaps. At the end of Manly’s 40 overs they had posted a very competitive total of 178.
After some food, speeches and a warm-up we were ready to go and win our second game of the season. Oscar and Aidan opened the bowling but Inner West were up to the task hitting a few boundaries. Unfortunately for them, they were not able to get ahead, thanks to some great accuracy from the bowlers and good field placements from Lachie Coy. Looking for some wickets, Stew and Lachie came on to bowl and in just three overs Aidan Boulton did one of the best throws you will ever see – a direct hit from backward point to get Manly their first wicket. This was all Manly needed because the very next ball Stew deceived the new batter in flight and bowled him very first ball. The next couple of overs were very accurate and tight with Lachie beating the edge numerous times putting the batters under so much pressure and restricting the runs. Another wicket came from Stew with a close LBW call and the umpire raised his finger. Just before drinks Miles came on and with his ferocious pace and lethal bouncer in just three balls the ball popped straight up to square leg and Stew took a simple catch. Then it was drinks and the score stood at 4-64 with Manly looking to finish the game off.
Manly went back onto the field and in just 2 balls Tom Walker got a simple catch off Stew’s bowling to make Inner West 5 down. Inner West started to mount a comeback but Charlie Stevenson wasn’t having any of it and almost immediately bowled a beautiful delivery to get Manly a crucial wicket in the scheme of the game. Harry Campbell also bowled a great spell which again restricted the flow of runs and built even more pressure on their batters. Throughout the game Will Toohey made some incredible takes down the leg side which saved at least 20 runs (well done Will!). We then brought on Lucas Gleeson who bowled incredibly tight and didn’t let them get away while at the other end Tom wanted wickets and that’s exactly what he got. On just his 2nd ball he bowled a beautiful yorker. Now that wasn’t enough for Tom so the next ball he bowled an even quicker ball and knocked the stumps out of existence… Tom was on a hat trick ball. With everyone on their toes Tom steamed in and sent down a thunderbolt and struck the pads and the Umpire’s finger was up again. Everyone ran to congratulate Tom on his hat trick. But still it wasn’t enough. He wanted one more. So he bowled him again and Tom had figures of 4-4 off just 1.3 overs (a game to remember I’d say).
With that, Manly finished the game off and Manly picked up another convincing win. This gave us more confidence into next week against Northern Districts. Good Job Boys!
