Gordon stung by the Bumblebees

A very disappointing first round back after Christmas, with only two wins out of five against UNSW. Seconds had a convincing bonus point win and Fifths chased well, but the other grades all let good opportunities slip away. The Colts played Easts on Sunday.

Gordon bowled first in the top five grades but, in most cases, the batsmen struggled to capitalize on winning situations.

1st Grade

The early Gordon bowling was mixed and UNSW were able to get a couple of good partnerships together. However, 5-230 should have been a fairly straightforward chase.

Unfortunately, the early batting was not up to it with Gordon losing 5-62 before a good partnership between Lachlan Barnsley and Nathan Doyle got them back into the game. Alas, wickets fell at crucial times and despite a handy knock by Max Newman, they could not reach their target.

Gordon 203 (Nathan Doyle 57, Lachlan Barnsley 54, Max Newman 32) lost to UNSW 5-230 (Charlie Stobo 2-37).

2nd Grade

After UNSW got off to a fair start, the Gordon spinners pegged them back most effectively. Matt Wright and Ryan Meppem both bowled great spells, well supported by Matt Keevers.

In reply, the Gordon early batsmen were dominant, chasing down the total in 28 overs for the bonus point win.

A top performance.

Gordon 2-156 (Ryan Tullia 55*, Jamie Bekis 40) defeated UNSW 9-152 (Matt Wright 3-15, Ryan Meppem 3-31, Matt Keevers 2-24) with a bonus point.

3rd Grade

Bowling first at Beauchamp, Gordon failed to capitalize on a very slow start by UNSW. Inconsistent bowling saw the innings reach 4-212, quite a reasonable tally with the slow outfield.

In reply, the Gordon early batting was disappointing until, at 6-65, Tom Chapman and Vikrant Nehru shared an excellent, hard-hitting partnership of 99 to get the Stags right back into the game. Then, three wickets fell together and it was game over. Both Tom and Vikrant played exceptionally well, but the rest of Gordon’s cricket for the day was lacking.

Gordon 191 (Tom Chapman 52, Vikrant Nehru 42) lost to UNSW 4-212.

4th Grade

UNSW started solidly before upping the tempo on the small ground. The final score of 5-246 was respectable but certainly achievable. Gordon lost a couple of early wickets but a terrific innings from Jay Naganayagam got them right back in the game. He was cruelly out one short of his hundred and from there it was touch and go with runs scored but wickets falling.

Unfortunately, the final wicket fell with an over to go and five runs needed. A decent fight, but not quite good enough.

Gordon 241 (Jay Naganayagam 99, Shiv Rana 41) lost to UNSW 5-246 (Lachie Burrows 2-47).

5th Grade

Gordon were able to apply pressure from early on in the UNSW innings. Wickets fell consistently and only a bit of a rearguard action got the score up to 9-183 from their 50 overs.

Gordon started steadily with Felix Barbeler batting well but then lost some wickets to put the game in the balance. Then Steve Bristow and Felix Booth came together and shared an excellent partnership to give the win to Gordon.

Gordon 5-186 (Felix Barbeler 45, Steve Bristow 42*, Felix Booth 33*) defeated UNSW 9-183 (Prashan Seneviratne 3-45).

Colts

Gordon Colts 69 lost to Eastern Suburbs 138