Bulls triumph at Newcastle by 8 runs in a tense finish

27th Apr 2022

SNCC 248-8 (50o) Oli McGee 58, Rob Peyton 42, Sol Bell 29, Chris Hewison 28, Parth Mannikar 29, Sean Tindale 15, Gavin Paton 12, Ru Fletcher 7*: Isaac Unsworth 0-14, George Darwood 1-35, Jesse Tashkoff 1-48, Ben Quirk 2-60, Jacques duToit 1-37, Ben Robinson 2-15.

Newcastle 240-7 (50o) Ben Robinson 63, Tomas McIntosh 57, Jacques du Toit 44, Jesse Tashkoff 10, Kieran Trevaskis 16, Joe Anderson 14* George Darwood 16*: Jonny Wightman 0-41, Sean Tindale 1-52, Lee Crozier 1-62, Cal Fletcher 0-3, Ru Fletcher 1-39, Oli McGee 4-40.

SNCC won by 8 runs- 20 points: Newcastle 7 points.

So much to commend in this tense victory, decent partnerships for the first 5 wickets, Oli's 58 batting at 2, Rob's sensible 42, Parth's quickfire 29, Gavin's 6 into Osborne Avenue, Jonny's catch, Ru's spell, Oli's 4 wickets & more, but Cal's hamstring injury a blow.

Losing the toss, the Bulls were invited to bat & had put on 71 for the 1st wicket in the 16th when Sol (29) was lbw to the sla of Tashkoff. Oli had reached an outstanding 58 (78b, 8x4,2x6) when a sharp single call ended in a direct hit run out by McIntosh, 114-2 in the 26th. Hewi & Rob continued until, at 160 in the 35th, Hewi (28) went back to one that kept low & was bowled. At 186 in the 41st, Rob's attempted leg side steer ended  with him being bowled around the legs for a very worthwhile 42 (5x4, 1x6). He admits that, for the second week running, he should have gone on.

In 7 balls between the end of the 44 th & the 45 th, Parth struck 22, excellent use of the feet saw 2x6 hit the cemetery wall, & 2x4, 18 off Quirk. Sean (15) drove to cover off Darwood at 224 in the 46th. Parth (29) was stumped by Trevaskis of Du Toit at 228, Gavin hit Quirk into Osborne Avenue in the 48 th & Ru (7) was bowled by Quirk at 247 in the last over, Gavin (12) also bowled by him from the last ball of the innings.. 

A feeling that perhaps the total could have been 20 more but sense defendable.

Newcastle lost Stewart at 8, lbw to Tindale in the 6th but Robinson & McIntosh, the DCC 2 nd X1 w/k, batted nicely. The Bulls attack was disrupted when Cal Fletcher pulled up after 1.1 overs with a hamstring strain & had to be helped from  the field after one ball of the 13th. Brother Ru took over for his first spell of the season & bowled 5 tight, straight overs of medium pace for only 20.

The 2nd wicket partnership, which survived three dropped catches, had reached 104 when McIntosh (57) was bowled by McGee in the 24th. At 139 in the 30th Robinson, backing away,  was bowled by Crozier. At 166 in the 35th Tashkoff (10) was brilliantly held by Jonny at long on, timing his jump perfectly on the boundary, again off Oli.

At 194 in the 40th Trevaskis (16) was caught by Sean at long on off Oli & 6 runs later the  very dangerous, Jacques du Toit (44) was caught behind by Rob, again off Oli, 200-6 in the 42nd. Ru's economical spell was rewarded when he bowled Glendinning (3) in the 45th, at 211-7. 8.5-0-39-1, an excellent return, enabling Jonny & Sean to bowl the final 4 overs from which Anderson & Darwood, playing & missing, could score only 24 for the home team to end 8 runs short.

A very good win, a man of the match performance from Oli, strong contributions from many & although injuries to Birty, Adam & Cal are a concern, another big performance is needed from everyone on Sat 30th April at home to league leaders, undefeated, Felling, from 1130, 50/50. We must continue!!