The always challenging Yarrawonga Mulwala A grade cricket squad was rocked by some incredible bowling from Rovers United Bruck, with the Lakers rolled for just 76 runs in their round three WDCA showdown on Saturday.
After winning the toss and batting, the Lakers were put on the back foot in the first over as Fraser Smart skied one to Ryan Parsons at mid on from the fourth ball delivered by Jacob Schonafinger.
Another top edge, pouched by keeper Ryan Collier, would see the back of Matt Knight, before Jeremy Wilson held onto a chance at second slip to remove Brock McCabe.
At 3/33, the Lakers wanted to avoid any silly errors, but a miscommunication between William Wheeler and Devlin Webb saw Wheeler trapped in the middle of the pitch, run out for a second-ball duck.
With some great bowling and clever fielding, the Hawks picked up wicket after wicket, ripping through the Lakers in 24.4 overs, less than half of their allotted innings.
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Every Rovers bowler picked up a wicket, with Jeremy Wilson (3/15 off six overs), Reid McNamara (1/10 off six) and Jacob Schonafinger (1/4 off five) recording some impressive figures.
Brady Bartlett was highly impactful, taking 2/7 in his 10 deliveries for the match.
Rovers United Bruck skipper Wilson said it was a brilliant effort to create and hold onto so many chances in the field.
“Given it’s all one-dayer and T20 cricket now, fielding’s more important than ever,” he said.
“Our fielding across the first three weeks has been outstanding, and we’ve got two run outs to show for it.
“Any time you can get a run out, it’s just less pressure on the bowlers to try and get 10 wickets, and once that ball goes a bit softer after the first seven, eight, or nine overs, you’re relying on a bit of spark here and there.
“I can’t fault the boys as far as bowling and fielding, it’s been fantastic.
“Reid only took the one wicket but he bowled really well - it’s a lot of pressure on a 16-year-old kid, given where he’s at with his cricket, but I thought his bowling was fantastic.”
With a smaller total to chase than usual, the Rovers went about it with only minor errors.
The big-hitting Charith Perera was gone cheaply, but the torch was picked up by his opening partner Ryan Collier, who anchored the innings with a handy knock of 36*.
Despite losing six wickets, the result was never in doubt, with the total reached after 26 overs.
“We’re doing what we need to do,” Wilson said.
“Obviously, the batting still needs to improve, we lost four late ones – nothing to be too concerned of, a couple of us threw our wickets away late which you wouldn’t do in a different circumstance.
“Ryan Collier was fantastic at the top of the order, just did what we wanted him to do.
“Losing ‘Chazzy’ [Perera] early is going to happen every now and then, and Ryan’s that really good mould for him, he can go about his business, hit the gaps and bat time, anchored the chase for us.”
The Hawks now take the bye with an unblemished 3-0 record from their opening stanza.
