NSW YC Foster Shield
20 October 2024, Kareela Oval
MWJCA (7/202) defeated SSJCA (3/136)
It was a warm yet cloudy morning, and the flat outfield at Kareela Park made it ideal batting conditions. Captain Hamish Pike won the toss and elected to bat first. The opening partnership of Sam Parkinson and Alex Claxton got us off to a great start with an opening stand of 54, with Alex scoring a brilliant 38. A couple of quick wickets had the Sutherland team on the ascendency, but Atticus McFadden and Jack Wiley, who came together with the score at 3-71, put on a stunning 83 run partnership to put Manly in a commanding position at the 30 over mark. Special mentions to Atticus who scored a quick-fire 41 off 56, and Jack who compiled a solid 38 to really anchor the innings. With the great start the rest of batting order were able to push the run-rate and we finished up with a score of 7-202, which was above the target the coaches set at the halfway point of the innings.
Despite the strong winds that picked up around the middle of the day our opening bowlers steamed in and bowled a great line a length to restrict the scoring. Hamish Pike set up the first wicket with some very clever bowling – a couple of full deliveries followed by a short one which had the Sutherland opener in all sorts of trouble and caused him to sky an attempted pull shot to Jack Wiley at mid-off. Sutherland then re-grouped and played very watchfully for the next ten overs before Leo Ellis had the other opener run out by some sharp fielding at point, before then taking a stunning diving catch at gully off the bowling of Hugo Swinney a couple of overs later.
The hot and windy conditions made bowling difficult for the rest of the innings, but the bowling unit kept the scoring in check and restricted Sutherland to 3-136.
The Sutherland captain and wicket keeper – Charlie McLeod – deserves a special mention for a fine unbeaten half century.
Overall a great team performance from Manly with loads of positives to build on for the rest of the season.
Report by Toby and Nick Cavill.