Old Melbourne High Home with 10 Balls to Spare Against the Chapel Xavers
The 1st XI arrived for their second leg of the Chapel Oval stint on Sunday with Melbourne High already completing run throughs and stretches. The covers were off and the sun was shining on a perfect day for cricket.
With a firm but very green deck on show, the Melbourne High captain opted to bowl first after winning the toss. Kane Pirera (4) couldn’t repeat his efforts from last week after copping an absolute seed, whilst Angus Sheedy (5) was caught at point early in his innings. With Jimmy Forrest (57) in good form, Old Xavs needed someone to hang around with the co-captain. Alex Eden-Lachowicz (9) was run out from a direct hit, whilst Nick Harries (11) suffered the same fate. Olly Hicks (36) offered Forrest some stability in the batting when he arrived, before Forrest was caught by a player who clearly has fielding training three times a week. Charlie Johnson (23) came in towards the back end of the innings and made a fist of it as the Old Xavs tried to boost their run rate. Pat Forrest (0) couldn’t offer the boys any runs after being a late inclusion. Bailey Whelan (4) and Matt Forrest (1*) came in late and got the Xavs to 171 after 40 overs.
After the break, the Xavs set out defending a relatively small total on one of the smaller grounds in the league. Bailey Whelan (2/33 off 8) had a pair of early breakthroughs, whilst Matt Forrest (0/15 off 3) was targeted when he dropped short. Callum Todaro (0/24 of 7) deserved 5 wickets but had none. The left armer bowled his best spell of his Old Xav career. Charlie Johnson (1/47 off 8) bowled well but was targeted late, while Nick Carabine (1/31 off 4.2) took an over to find his rythym. Kane Pirera (1/22 off 8) only had one wicket, but his economy helped keep the Xavs in the game. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t enough runs on the board for a Chapel Oval contest, with Melbourne High reaching the target score with 10 balls to spare.
Bad luck to both sides. Training will still be on Wednesday at Xavier, however there are extra sessions throughout the week for those who want and need a hit/bowl.
