Shakey Lions must ‘dig deep’

By Todd Whelan

Darley Cricket Club

The Lions face an uphill battle after they were bundled out for 169 by second placed Wendouree on Darley Park at the weekend.

Coach Brian Wheelahan offered no excuses at the halfway mark as the travelling Reds assumed the box seat position despite losing the toss and sent into the field.

“It was disappointing for our group considering the importance of the game and the oppostion,” Wheelahan said.

“(The) stakes were high and we were dismissed with 20 overs left out there.”

This highly anticipated match-up had been earmarked a potential Semi-Final preview by many BCA pundits and would have attracted the eager (live) eye following from the wider competition. But unfortunately for the talent laden Lions batting line-up, it wasn’t their day.

Season leading Lions run scorers Dilon Chandima (19), Danza Hyatt (4) and Harry Killoran (21) were unable to cash-in on a wicket that looked (from the outside) comfortable for batting after a token period of consolidation. In fairness to Killoran, he looked settled but was tragically run out and became the fourth man to be dismissed with the score on 61.

Former Lions Captain Brad Barnes (23) and all-rounder Hasi Wickramasinghe (31) both made starts sharing a much needed 45 run partnership for the fifth wicket before Barnes departed and ‘Hasi’ a short time after.

Middle order batsman Drew Locke (39) aimed to restore the momentum of the Lions innings and batted beautifully before a costly rush of blood denied the gritty left hander back-to-back half centuries.

According to Wheelahan the Lions need to be better with their mental and skill execution with finals cricket just around the corner. However, with a day’s play still remaining (Saturday), the dual Premiership coach refused to concede, hinting an unlikely win is not beyond the realms of possibility.

“We know the game of cricket can turn in a split second,” an ambitous Wheelahan said.

“You can expect a fired up group this Saturday fighting it out to the finish,”

“We still have time up our sleeve to turn this game around,” he said.

The Reds look to be cruising in their response with the bat, 0/37 at stumps, needing a further 133 for victory and a return to the summit of the BCA’s mantle with one game remaining before finals.

Day 2 commences this Saturday at Darley Park from 1pm.

BCA 1st GRADE
Darley 169, Overs 60.5, Dr Locke 39, H. Wickramasinghe 31.
Wendouree 0/37, Overs 16.
Wendouree need 133 runs to win.

BCA 2nd GRADE
Buninyong 105, Overs 53.5. R. O’Brien 2/3, DJ Hynes 2/9.
Darley 1/89, Overs 23. J. Murphy 51, A. Morton 20*.
Darley need 17 runs to win.

BCA 3rd GRADE
Darley 6/95, Overs 40. R. Barnes 24, J. Higgins 24*.
Lucas 5/135, Overs 40. J. Martindale 3/37, G. Martindale 2/6.
Darley trail by 40 runs

BCA 4th GRADE
Darley 88, Overs 36.3. S. Ward 57, B. Densley 11.
Brown Hill 7/143, Overs 40. P. Jarvinen 2/31, J. Hynes 2/32.

BCA 5th GRADE
Darley 160, Overs 34.3. J. Hunt 38, K. Beck 28.
Naps-Sebas 0/164, Overs 17.5.
Darley lost by 10 wickets.

Women’s League
Aintree 6/131, Overs 29.5. Kilmartin 4/24.
Darley 1/132, Overs 30. K. Bessell 75*, M. Scott 26*.
Darley WON by 9 wickets.