Match Report Manly Warringah vs St George @ Mike Pawley 23rd October 2022
Manly Warringah 8/109 defeated St George 105.
{Boulton 55, Toohey 15, Gleeson 5/16, Hansen 2/13}
Round 3 – our first home game, the boys are looking forward to our first game on turf. First, we have a team breakfast which was good fun and had us in high spirits walking to Mike Pawley. Unfortunately, the rain came which delayed our start but eventually we got on with the help of all the parents putting on and off the covers. Unfortunately, Lachie lost the toss, so we were sent into bat. Aidan K and Paddy got off to a good start seeing off the new bowlers, that set a good platform for the team. Unfortunately, Aidan K got out to a good ball hitting top of off. Aidan B joined Paddy at the crease but soon after Paddy got out to a ball that stayed low. Lachie came to the crease to steady the ship but unfortunately got out caught at cover. Rohan then came in and got off to a good start. Both Aidan B and Rohan batted well to increase the score but it was slow due to the outfield and pitch. They survived to drinks and Matt and Digs told them to keep doing what they were doing. After drinks they looked for the singles and rotate the strike. Chang then got run out with a bit of a miscommunication between the pair. In came Will striding to the crease with enthusiasm and purpose. Aidan B and Will settled into a great partnership and got 34, this was a crucial partnership that enabled Manly to bat deep into the innings. They played some great and sensible shots that were followed up with some boundaries. Will then played a shot looking to hit it on the leg side but hit to the fielder. Wickets came quickly with Miles and Tom getting out, trying to up the run rate. Soon after Aidan B got out looking to hit through mid-wicket but got caught. Oscar and Harry then saw out the innings taking it to a competitive total of 109.
After lunch, Manly had a quick warm up before we started bowling. We were feeling confident with 109 to defend. A good start, Tom found the edge and Will got the first catch of the day. Both Oscar and Tom were bowling tight, limiting the St George runs. After their first spell, Lachie brought on himself and Freddie. Lachie was limiting the runs by bowling tight lines, Freddie then bowled a Jaffa to knock the bails off and dismiss the opener. A new partnership formed with them reaching a score of 2 for 66. Every bowler tried their very best to break this partnership, but they batted very well and it took 28 overs to get our next wicket. Oscar then bowled a great ball to dismiss their dangerous Number 4, his batting partner was soon after dismissed by a great catch from Rohan at mid-on.
At the drinks break, Matt spoke to Lachie and told him to bring on Lucas after the quicks. Tom and Oscar again bowled tight lines to restrict them to little runs. Gleeso then came on and his first ball got a wicket with Will getting a great stumping. First ball in the next over for Lucas, Lachie took a good catch, later, on the 5th ball Paddy took a great catch to put Lucas at 3 wickets! Pressure was mounting on St George as wickets were tumbling. Lucas bowled in the 49th over taking his 4th wicket with Will Toohey getting a simple catch. The very next ball the Gleeson/Toohey combo struck again to bring up Gleeson’s 5 wickets!!!! The last over St George needed 10 to win. Miles was chosen to bowl, the field was pushed back to prevent the boundaries, however this enabled St George to get a couple of 2s. With 2 balls to go, St George needed 5 to win – fair to say that at this point the game could have gone either way. Miles with his tail up steamed in and let rip a great ball on the offside to catch the outside edge and Will took one of the most spectacular game winning catches you’ll ever see. And again, we win another nail biter! Great bowling effort, congratulations to Gleeso for his 5fa and a special mention for Will for his 5 dismissals.
Thank you to Matt and Digs for their great support and coaching, and thank you to Lachie for captaining really well under pressure.
By Aidan Boulton
Next week’s match report – Lucas
