Harper Sercombe
While it may not have gone to plan for Sunbury in its Victorian Turf Cricket Association clash with Williamstown CYMS, the Roar is building in what has been a strong end to its first season in division 2.
On Saturday the Roar hosted the CYs and were sent in to bat on what was a definite “bowl first wicket” according to coach Kevin Barker.
The innings never really got moving for the Roar with wickets consistently falling through the innings. Including 6-19 in the middle overs.
Fill-in captain for Barker, Rasika Batepola was the only player that was able to make a significant contribution to the Roar’s innings as he finished on an unbeaten 40.
With the CY’s first change bowler Ben Johnson taking 6-33, the Roar were knocked over for just 97 in the 51st over.
“It wasn’t that bad of a wicket, they bowled really good lines and lengths and we probably cut ourselves into a bit of a hole,” Barker said.
“When we did lose wickets we lost them in clumps yet again so it was hard to put a big score on the board.
“Rasi (Batepola) is a class act, he’s short of runs and he knew that so it was really good for him to get a score. It’s just a shame that a few of the lower order guys couldn’t stick with him.
“We probably weren’t as positive as I would have liked to have been, we played a negative brand of cricket and it shows in the score that we put on the board in the end.”
While the Roar struggled to take wickets when the CYs went out to bat, they were tidy with the ball restricting them to just one and half runs an over.
The CYs will continue on 1-39 on Saturday.
“I think our bowlers did a great job, to bowl 26 overs for 39 runs,” Barker said.
“They could have easily been three or four down, a couple of decisions didn’t go our way, a couple of balls landed in spots that could have easily gone to fielders.
“Credit to their batters they did a great job in holding out some pretty good bowling and hopefully our batters can learn a lesson on how to dig deep when things are going against you.”
After not registering a win in the first seven rounds of the season, the Roar are now going for four in a row, and while finals are most likely off the cards, so is relegation.
“I’m really pleased that towards the end of the season they’ve got the reward they deserve, everyone’s put in a massive year,” he said.
“Our processes are fantastic, through all four grades the standards have been impeccable.
“We’ve come a long way in one season in my opinion. It’s really nice to get those wins on the board and this game isn’t over yet.
“Things can happen pretty quickly on our wicket so it would be nice to get a couple early next week.”
