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Ballan Women 2-185 def by Ballarat Redan 6-244

SUMMER DEHNERT

OUR final home game of the season saw Ballan take on Ballarat Redan on day two, heading out to bat in chilly conditions with a strong breeze sweeping across the ground.

The wind provided plenty of assistance for the bowlers, creating some challenging swing early on.

Young guns Sarah and Kori opened the innings, applying early pressure with some sharp running between the wickets. Kori was unlucky to be caught behind down the leg side early, departing for 6.

Erin joined Sarah at the crease and showed plenty of grit, wearing a nasty blow to the side of the knee (another bruise for the collection). Shortly after, she was bowled by a sharp in-swinging yorker.

Summer made her way to the middle in just the fourth over, a little earlier than she might have liked. She and Sarah dug in, working hard to build their innings.

 

They respected the good deliveries, rotated the strike when possible, and absorbed the pressure during a hard-fought battle in the middle.

Runs ebbed and flowed, but both batters kept their composure when the going got tough.

Sarah brought up a well-earned half-century with a crisp boundary, and Summer followed a few overs later. The pair continued to grind it out, ultimately seeing out the entire innings in a superb 169-run partnership.

Sarah finished unbeaten on 74, while Summer remained not out on 79 – her highest score to date, highlighted by her very first six.

Despite the tremendous effort, we fell 59 runs short of Redan’s 6-244. A tough loss at home, but plenty of positives to take forward as we head into our final regular season match, a two-day clash against Mount Clear Cricket Club.

Plenty to build on as we look to finish the season strongly.

Ballan 1st XI Day One 1-31 v Creswick Imperials 9-282

 

CHRIS THOM

CRESWICK won the toss and elected to bat first with a Ballan side that was lacking a little with their bowling attack.

To their credit, Ballan showed some grit and bowled steadily after a few early overs that got away from them with Creswick scoring quickly.

James Burton (3-43) opened the bowling with skipper Hayden Micallef (3-64) coming from the other end.

Burton was unlucky not to pick up an early wicket while Micallef picked up the first three bowling 20 overs straight.

Ben Loughnane (1-90) came on after Burton, bowling his spinners with a marathon two spells of 23 overs until he could bowl no more

Next to bowl was Eamon Grigg (1-26) who got the breakthrough dismissing Creswick’s opener, Matthew Antonio, on 94. Neil Burton chipped in with 1-42.

Creswick declared their innings and Ballan had to face 11 overs before stumps. Jack McGregor and Marty Philips opened the batting with McGregor hitting as crisply and cleanly as he ever has, scoring 25 runs off 16 balls with two fours and two sixes. Next in was Neil Burton (2 not out) who continued to stay in with Marty (4 not out) until stumps were drawn for the day.

The game continues this week with Ballan one wicket down and 80 overs to chase the score.