Delatite 4/127 def by Wangaratta Magpies 5/126
It was a family affair on a sun drenched afternoon in South Wangaratta.
With three father/son combinations and a pair of brothers, B Grade commenced their season with a tough day at the office, going down to the Wangaratta Magpies by five wickets.
Losing the toss, Delatite were sent in to bat, losing their first wicket in the second over.
Cricket tragic Nick Ferguson and young gun Koby Middleton set about fortifying the inning, Middleton eventually falling after a defiant stand.
That brought Kane Hoskin to the crease who, together with Ferguson, got the scoreboard ticking over nicely until the 17th over when a mistimed lofted drive found a fielder and Ferguson’s inning was cut short on 33.
Some punishing cover drives from Felix O’Mera, some smart batting by Asim Khan and some late hitting from Joel Middleton went some way to posting a slightly defendable score of 5/126.
Hoskin held the inning together gallantly, finishing on a heartbreaking, but inspiring 48 not out.
This score was always going to take some extremely tight bowling and fielding, and Cooper Martin was up for the fight - his first 3 overs going for only 4 runs, with most balls beating the outside edge.
Through his 4 overs, Martin bowled an impressive 19 dot balls, unlucky not to pick up several wickets.
Despite regular wickets falling, anything slightly short was being punished by the aggressive Magpies batters.
Ultimately, Delatite ran out of runs to defend.
Wickets were shared one apiece to Asim Khan, Kane Hoskin, Nixen Martin, and Koby Middleton, who took a sharp one handed return catch.
Next week, Delatite B Grade look to redeem themselves in their first home match for the season at Lords against Greta, who had an impressive win against City Colts.