The second-last round of the Gisborne and District Cricket Association, GDCA, season got off to a strong start for Broadford as it eyed a Johnstone Shield finals berth.
Hosting last-placed Riddell for the season’s final two-day match, Broadford elected to bat and posted a respectable 10/242 despite some uncertain moments – including three ducks halfway through its innings.
The home side was able to recover by the end of the day and put itself in a strong position for this weekend.
Coach and co-captain Gareth Sharp said his side’s resilience and 200-plus total were encouraging.
“Any game you can score 200-plus puts you right in the driver’s seat at the end of the day,” he said.
“But as cricket goes, the momentum can change quite quickly, and we lost [multiple] in the middle which was far from ideal.
“We sort of dug ourselves into a hole again, which is pretty stock standard for us at times, but we were able to get ourselves back on track.”
Broadford’s innings opened strong with Ash Wood scoring 42, Mitch Collier 68, and James Ingham 39 before multiple quick wickets fell thanks to Riddell’s Brenton Stancombe – a thorn in Broadford’s side as he took six wickets on Saturday.
It was Taylor Shell who led the way late in the innings to stabilise the Broadford batting, scoring 40 alongside Kyle Hopkins and James Jones on 13 and 12 respectively.
While Broadford currently tops the Johnstone Shield ladder, Sharp said it was important to not get complacent against lower-ranked teams.
“Over the last two games we’ve been drilling in to not get complacent against sides that aren’t going to play finals, it’s very easy to get stuck into the mindset that we’re just a better team and we’ll win,” he said.
“We’ve got to instil that if we lose this game, we could end up fourth with some other results … you’ve still got to take it one step at a time and go through your own steps to do what you need to do.”
Broadford will be bowling this weekend, an aspect of the game that has been a strength for the side this season.
“We know what we can do with the ball, we’ve shown it pretty much every game,” Sharp said.
“We back ourselves in defending most targets and we’ve done pretty well all year doing that, so 240 on the board gives a lot of room to be aggressive and chase wickets.”
In other matches, both Wallan and Kilmore have put themselves in a strong position in their respective games.
At home against Aintree, Wallan was able to dismiss all visiting batsmen for 199 thanks to strong combined bowling from coach Steve Bell, captain Bryan Vance, Todd Keenan and Campbell Fowler, alongside three catches by Kieran Atkin.
Kilmore also showed a return to form against Eynesbury in its final match of the season before finals.
Playing away, Kilmore was able to dismiss the Eagles for 177 and begin its innings early – posting 1/23 at the end of the day.
Brent Buttler led the way for the Blues as he took five wickets, while Josh Squire took two and made three catches to match coach and captain Jacob Walton on the field.
Leon Zelvys and Ben Dawson will pick up the bat when play resumes this weekend, the former currently sitting at 16 not out.
In the seconds competition, Kilmore young gun Darcy McNicholas had an impressive day at home – batting the entire innings to make 160 not out and help his side to a whopping 7/340 off 75 overs.
McIntyre Cup
Romsey has so far benefitted from the home ground advantage in its match against Sunbury United, eliminating the visitors for 10/191 off 72 overs.
Electing to bat first, Sunbury United put in a solid effort with multiple batsmen posting respectable totals, notably Fabian Fernando on 56 and Damien Edwards on 32.
Despite the visitor’s efforts, Romsey’s bowlers had the upper hand as Taylor Stevenson took three wickets, supported by two from Jamie Taylor and a spate of singles for the rest of its ranks.
The rapid bowling meant Romsey was able to swap over and bat for eight overs, in which openers Matthew Milne and Jed Richardson scored two runs apiece.
The pair will open again when play resumes this weekend.
