It was mixed feelings on Monday evening. The 2s and 3s, despite struggling at times with the bat, had gone on to record dominant victories to book themselves a spot in this weekends final. However, the 1s, after a promising performance on Sunday where they held North Balwyn to 202, were unable to record a win. See below for how the weekend unfolded.
First XI
We were all extremely excited by the opportunity to play finals again, after winning the flag in 2017/18. It was a Semi-Final vs Nth Balwyn (our arch rivals) at home. Unfortunately we were greeted on Saturday with a dilemma – the sprinklers mistakenly activated on Friday night and got under the covers. This left a substantial wet patch in the middle of the wicket. After many consultations, the decision was made to use the reserve day on Monday (Labour Day) and start the game on Sunday.
We lost the toss and Nth Balwyn elected to bat. We didn’t get off to the start we would have liked, dropping Patel on 6 and not bowling to our plans with precision. While keeping the scoring rate below 2 for the first session, we were only able to take 1 wicket. We knew if we stuck at it, things could turn quickly. Once we got Patel after tea, we were able to get some ascendancy and take some regular wickets until the end of play. The disappointing element was that we dropped the top 5 batsmen at some stage throughout their innings. Nth Balwyn finished Day 1 on 9/202 (could have been worse, but could also have been better, if we held our chances).
We were confident that if we batted well, we could chase down the target of 202 on the Monday. Partnerships and wickets in hand at tea were the key! We got off to a horrendous start losing 3/12, before Brown (48), who batted beautifully, and Taylor put on 62 for the 4th wicket. Unfortunately when Taylor was dismissed for 20 it continued the dismal day with the stick. Munro chipped in with a mature knock of 27, however we were dismissed for 119 in the 52nd over. Bitterly disappointing to put forward our worst performance with the stick on the biggest stage of the season. This one will hurt! Outperformed in all 3 disciplines after finishing the season on top of the ladder.
A big thank-you goes out to everyone who has supported and contributed in some way to the 2018/19 season.
Support now goes to the 2’s and 3’s in the Grand Final to hopefully bring home some success!
Go Monts!
Second XI
The 2 XI’s semi-final started in the best possible fashion, with the toss being won allowing the 2s to ask East Doncaster to field on what appeared to be a belter of a batting wicket. Any feelings of positivity quickly evaporated as a spate of early wickets fell – leaving us reeling at 4/20. A steady 43 -run partnership between Nat Cutts and Dan Bonnett appeared to be righting the ship before MACC lost another 3 wickets in quick succession and looked in a world of trouble at 7/73.
However, from this point on, it was all Mont Albert – Cutts and Greg Cull rescuing the innings putting on a mammoth 8th wicket partnership of 103. Cutts eventually fell for 97 – closing out one of the finest innings B-Turf has seen. Cull soon followed for 29, cutting short a trademark rearguard innings. Mont Albert finished their innings with 185 – a more than respectable total given the start to the innings.
The 2s had 15 overs to bowl at East Doncaster before the close of play – and full advantage of the new ball was taken with Thorn picking up 2 wickets, and Jackson finishing day one with figures of 1/0 (7 overs). Day two started in the same fashion that day one finished – with MACC taking 5 wickets for 33 runs. Dale Greedy started the rot with a magnificent run out – then Thorn, Cull and Baker chipped in with valuable wickets.
A frustrating 9th wicket partnership kept the 2s out there longer than they would’ve liked, but the last two wickets eventually fell – leaving East Doncaster on a total of 82 runs – completing a comfortable 103-run victory for Mont Albert. Given results in Dunstan and B-Turf, the 2nd XI will play their Grand Final at Mont Albert Reserve against 2nd placed North Balwyn – a match that has provided two close finishes this year with honours shared.
Get down to MACC this weekend to support – Go Monts!
Third XI
The threes hosted East Malvern-Tooronga in the semi final, (the only team to knock us off twice this season) and we made up for that with a resounding victory in the biggest game of the season thus far.
We won the toss and batted on a hard and grassy ‘Gar wicket and got off the a steady start. Daff (29) continued his solid form at the top, before cruelly being given out LBW in what might just be the worst decision I’ve ever witnessed from a paid umpire.
We were ticking along at an okay rate, with Jimothy Rawlings (44) holding us together through the middle. A couple of average shot selections and a couple more horrendous decisions saw us fall away pretty quickly, going from 6/126 to all out 144.
With 27 overs left in the day we knew we had to strike early with the ball to get them on the back foot, and that’s exactly what we did. Rocky Power striking in the first over, and a chance in the slips going down 2 balls later! They fought their way back to 2/42 and we desperately needed a wicket.
Bang, bang, bang! They lost 3/0 to get us right back in the hunt. 6/63 at stumps with us in the box seat heading into day two.
Rocky opened up and got us going the same way he did the night before, striking in the first over of the day on his way to a match winning 5/33 off 17.
They added 20 for the loss of 4 in 20 miserly overs from Rocky and Prateek (11 overs, 7 maidens, 0/7!!) Special mention to Joel Guley (2/27) who bowled well with the new ball and took the final pole to end their misery and hand us a Grand Final berth.
A great performance from all, particularly the bowling group to set up a solid win.
We take on Donvale in the Grand Final this Saturday and Sunday at Surrey Park in what’s sure to be a thriller. Get down and support!! Carn the Monts!!