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SOUTHERN DISTRICTS DEFEND 100 ON A POOR TYPICALLY-ENGLISH DECK TO BEAT GEORGE'S RIVER C.C. AT GREENWAY PARK!!!
In a one dayer against George's River the pitch at Greenway Park was the biggest talking point before the start of play as the deck looked to be a bowling paradise, making the toss all important. S.D's captain T. Marlyn won the toss and as expected decided to bat first to get the best out of the wicket.
The batting conditions were made worse by the outfield being somewhat similar to Australian Bushland and fielders needing machetes on the boundary to fight their way to the ball. This, along with the poor wicket meant that anything above 80 would be a competitive total to defend.
R. Alexander lead the way with the bat as he has done all season top scoring with a solid 33 displaying some technically correct straight drives, and some glorious shots through midwicket off his legs.
Wickets at the other end fell regularly with the score being 3 for 19 as J. Rodrigo, S. Jamisson and T. Marlyn fell for a total of 10 runs between them. This prompted the early arrival of overseas player J. Rowe at the crease. Between him and R. Alexander a partnership of 39 grew through some good running between the wickets and some solid sweep shots and drives against the George's River bowlers. The partnership was ended by a debatable LBW decision given by Rupert Matthews who has a tendency to be trigger happy with LBW shouts.
N. Brown lost his wicket for 0 and the following three wickets fell quickly as two LBW shouts were given, making it four LBW decisions in the innings, along with a direct hit run out which ended young J. Goulding's innings in an unlucky manor.
S.D's tail enders managed to get the side's total to 100 with some crisp hitting from C. Oliver who scored 11no, and T. Taweed scoring 8.
The stage was set for a tight finish in the 42 degree heat as S.D.C.C went out to field defending 100 exactly.
Wickets fell regularly in the George's River innings as C. Oliver and T. Taweed opened the bowling and both took a wicket within their first few overs. T. Marlyn also took a wicket as the game looked to be Southern Districts' for the taking as the batting side were 4 for 39.
Regular small partnerships formed and with plenty of overs left to chase the score, the match was never a certain result for Southern Districts. However 2 excellent runouts, one by R. Alexander and the other by N. Brown, kept the pressure on the batting team. The runouts were completed by A. Smith at the bowlers end and S. Jamisson at the keepers end with two exceptional pickups from bouncing throws.
J. Rowe and T. Taweed began bowling in tandem and as runs were hard to come by the pressure became too much for G.R's batsmen as J. Rowe took 3 wickets for 15 runs from his 5 overs and T. Taweed took 3 wickets for 10 runs from his 7 overs.
The final 5 wickets fell for just 6 runs as the innings came to an end as D. Costin took a good catch at backward point from J. Rowe's bowling to end G.R's captain's innings on 12.
Southern Districts C.C were brilliant in the field with all players putting everything on the line and chasing supposedly lost causes to stop runs being scored showing other teams in Shires 1st grade that the team is on the up in the competition.
A well deserved victory for Southern Districts C.C 1st Grade was celebrated in the sheds with a couple of six packs of Toohey's and the club song being sang for the first time this season by the first grade side.
With this emphatic victory giving everyone in the side a fresh dose of confidence and commitment the team were looking forward to playing Auburn C.C. on the 12th of February in a 2 day match.
After day one Auburn are 100 for 5 from 41 overs with T. Taweed and T. Marlyn taking two wickets each and J. Rowe taking one on his birthday. Southern Districts bowling efforts were cut short as rain stopped play at tea however the side have a strong hold over Auburn C.C who currently sit in the top third of the table. Once again the fielding efforts by S.D.C.C. were exceptional with debutant Laurie Reeves taking a stunning high catch at first slip and Simon Zahra pulling off some dramatic stops on the boundary and in the inner ring.
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