Broadford has rebounded after the previous Johnstone Shield round’s disappointing defeat with a convincing victory over Eynesbury.
Playing at Harley Hammond Reserve, the home side wasted no time in the Gisborne and District Cricket Association, GDCA, round 11 two-day match, as it overcame Eynesbury on the first day of play.
Bowling the visitors out for 81 runs off 50 overs thanks to five wickets from Taylor Shell, Broadford hustled to score 86 runs before the end of the day while losing five wickets.
Coach Gareth Sharp said the side enjoyed a solid first day that set it up for a dominant win.
“Week one was really good for us, able to bowl them out … which you don’t really do too often,” he said.
“Luckily we were able to scrape through by the end of the day and get to the total and win the match on the first innings on the first day, which is a very rare thing in two-day cricket so we’re very happy with that.”
Broadford picked up the bat once again on day two and boosted its total to 206 runs without losing a single batsman until young gun Joshua Nolan was caught out in the 44th over, after which the home side declared its innings closed.
Nolan was Broadford’s leading scorer for the game, chalking up 79 runs through a partnership with Mitch Collier who ended on 50 not out.
Eynesbury then returned to bat and performed well defensively to limit its damage to one dismissal, ending the day 1/92.
“[Nolan] put the pedal to the metal and scored some quick runs for us and give us a chance to go for an outright, same with Mitch Collier on a really well-made 50,” Sharp said.
“We declared but just couldn’t find ways to force the issue and get with it so it ended up being a bit of a stalemate in the end.
“Credit to Eynesbury, they batted really well and didn’t really give us a chance to take those extra wickets.”
Broadford now sits second on the ladder behind Wallan and will face Kilmore this weekend.
Sharp said he was looking forward to the clash between ‘cross-town rivals’.
“We got done with two balls to go in the one-dayer against them [earlier this year], and we were really disappointed with that result,” he said.
“I don’t think we played anywhere near our best cricket and two days really suit us, so we’re keen to play them this week and make amends for earlier in the season.”
Kilmore itself enjoyed a strong showing against Aintree at the weekend, taking home the win 10/253 to 10/200.
Headliners were Ben Dawson and Kyle McNicholas on 63 and 58 respectively, while Dawson, Brent Proctor and Josh Buttler combined for nine wickets to have Aintree all out off 64 overs.
For this weekend’s home match against Broadford, Kilmore will host the 10-year reunion of its 2013-14 Seymour District Cricket Association A Grade premiership with a past players function.
Kicking off at 2pm, premiership players from that season have been invited to watch the match against Broadford, with all past players welcome to attend.
Elsewhere, Wallan will return from a bye to host East Sunbury.
McIntyre Cup
Romsey’s stellar season continued with a victory over Woodend at the weekend, finishing the two-day match 9/280 to 10/157.
Set up by 141 from coach and captain Ben Way on day one, Woodend’s innings at the weekend was a tale of strong counterplay from the hosts at Romsey Park.
Andrew Cullen was Woodend’s top-scorer on 46, however Romsey’s Aaron Paterson led the way with the ball to take 5/40.
Louis Moor and Jamie Taylor took the remainder of the wickets to dismiss all of Woodend’s batsmen in 70 overs.
Romsey’s seconds also had a convincing win, declaring its innings closed after 35 overs on 2/201, with Woodend posting 9/92 and 9/83.
Sean Day was the star of the day for Romsey, scoring 126 not out alongside 48 from Jack Rees and 20 from Nathan Hoy.
Darin Jewell took also eight wickets across Woodend’s two innings.
Romsey will this weekend play seventh-placed Rupertswood.
