Round Two: 2nds and 3rds shear Rams

MUCC Match Reports – Round 2

First XI: MUCC 153 all out (McNeil 31) defeated by Ringwood 8-176(cc) (Rolfs 3/39)

After a strong performance last week against Camberwell, the First XI were looking to continue in a similar vein against the Rams, as Andrej Yaksender made his premier cricket debut, whilst all-rounder James Bett set out for his 100th First XI match.

Winning the toss and electing to bowl again, it wasn’t long before Steve Reid found the opening wicket, with both he and Mark Stafford bowling well and finishing with one wicket apiece. Liam Scammell was excellent again, restricting runs through the middle and towards the end of the innings, but the highlight came in the form of young leg-spinner, Ben Rolfs, who bounced back from a difficult start to finish with his best figures at the level of 3/39. A strong bowling performance, backed up by some good fielding saw Ringwood post 176 from their 50 overs.

Unfortunately a clinical bowling performance from the Rams and a consistent flow of wickets made it difficult for the Uni batsmen to form significant partnerships, and make inroads into the total. James McNeil (31), Liam Scammell (27) and Ben Rolfs (27) were the top scorers for MUCC, but ultimately Ringwood were too strong and prevailed by 24 runs, with MUCC bowled out in the 49th over.

Not the result we were after, but the team will be looking to make amends next week against Essendon back at the Main.

Full match scorecard here.

Second XI: MUCC 234 all out (Clements 56 Karageorgiou 46 Van Der Merwe 35no) defeated Ringwood 123 all out (Richards 3/23)

Coming off a win with a bonus point last week, Mark Simpson’s men were out to repeat the dose at Jubilee Park #2 (aka The Rock), with inclusions Michael Clements and Harrison Emms bolstering an already potent looking batting line up.

A steady opening partnership between Emms and Simpson was followed by a strong partnership between housemates Elias Karageorgiou (46) and Michael Clements (56). Their efforts were backed up by some big hitting from Daniel Van Der Merwe, whose 35no at better than a run a ball helped MUCC rally and wrestled the momentum heading into the second innings, with a strong score of 234 to defend.

Jack Wrigglesworth and Lachie Richards were the standout bowlers for Uni, taking 2 and 3 wickets respectively, with John McLaughlin turning the ball square on his way to the sublime figures of 1/16 from 10 overs. Umair Butt and Van Der Merwe both picked up a wicket each, and two run outs saw the Rams bowled out for 123, with the 2nd XI making it two from two, each with a bonus point.

Full match scorecard here.

Third XI: MUCC 163 all out (Morrison 40 Durrant 37) defeated Ringwood 115 all out (Stevenson 4/16)

After winning the toss and batting first on a low bouncing wicket, the Melbourne Uni boys got off to a solid start with McKenna and Roughsedge at the top of the order opening the innings. An early wicket fell which saw young gun Elliot Durrant enter the crease for the first time in the 3rd XI. Durrant played well for his 37 and, joined by top scorer Will Morrison (40), led the side to their eventual total of 163 all out. Cameo knocks from skipper Tom Polkinghorne (22) and Rob Strong (10) also were extremely valuable.

The change of innings saw left-arm quick James Browning and experienced campaigner Aaron Boyle take the new ball and set the tone for the bowling innings. Boyle struck early and was joined by two quick wickets from Jacob Stevenson to see the Rams slump to 3/30 early in the run chase. Wickets fell at regular intervals throughout the 45 overs, with Stevenson adding to his tally to finish with 4 wickets for the match, Boyle 3 and Roughsedge 2. Tidy bowling from Mckenna and Durrant also played a vital role, as the boys backed up all bowlers with a fantastic fielding performance. Ringwood’s final total was all out for 113 in the 43rd over.

An all round, somewhat scrappy win by the 3s, but valuable contributions from all players shows great signs for things to come!

Full match scorecard here.

Full match scorecard here.

MUCC Women’s XI: MUCC 2/205(cc) (Grant 109) defeated Melton Centrals 9/118(cc) (Grant 3/13, Collard 3/23, Mitchell 3/24)

MUCC Women once again found themselves in a precarious position of having the bare minimum of 7 players taking the field. After losing the toss, MUCC were sent in to bat in perfect conditions.

Cath Grant and Maddie Mitchell opened up and put on 99 for the first wicket. Maddie fell caught and bowled for 18 but kept rotating the strike for Cath to capitalise on some loose deliveries. Emma Collard was keen to put last week behind her and held up an end while Cath worked her way to a hard-fought 109 before being dismissed hit wicket. Emma went on to make a classy 27, with some quality cover drives. MUCC posted 2/205.

In reply, Centrals were sporting in lending MUCC some fielders. Cath built on her century innings by taking the first of her three wickets caught and bowled. Cath finished with 3/13 from her 10 overs, while Emma proved to be a handy all-rounder taking three wickets of her own, including two in one over and two catches to finish with 3/23. Maddie was keen to build on the wicket-taking with another 3, plus two catches finishing with 3/24. Special mention goes to our international Sterre Noorthoek who played her very first game of cricket ever and pitched in with the bowling, keeping it tidy with 0/10 from four overs.

There was resistance from Centrals captain, Candace Hulett who carried the bat, ending with 64no but it was a bridge too far for the Cs, closing out their 40 overs with 9/118(cc).

Next week MUCC travels to Aberfeldie Park to take on Essendon Maribyrnong Park. Hopefully we can get more than seven players and build on the efforts from today.

Full match scorecard here.

MUCC’s Fifth XI and MUCC Scholars commence their season on October 22^nd.