It was a big weekend of cricket , as the weather finally allowed some matches to be played. Up until Saturday, Upwey-Tecoma had played only one senior men’s game while the juniors were yet to take the field.
A stunning Jules Whetstone century powered Upwey-Tecoma’s 1st XI to a win over Ferntree Gully at Upwey Recreation Reserve.
Asked to bowl in overcast conditions, the Tigers started well with Steve Collard claiming 2 early scalps to have the Blues on the back foot at 2/11. A steady partnership threatened to take the game away from Upwey-Tecoma but a constant flow of wickets late in the innings stymied Ferntree Gully’s progress, seeing them finish their 40 overs at 9/168.
With the bat, the Tigers found the early going tough and the game was well and truly in the balance at 3/64.
Enter Whetstone, with a flurry of boundaries from the English import taking the game away from the Blues. Needing 5 runs for a win and 6 runs for his hundred, Whetstone pounced on a legside delivery, clipping a maximum over the legside to send the Tiger crowd into a frenzy as he brought up his century and delivered a memorable victory in one fell swoop.
The 2nd XI recorded a win against Ferntree Gully, with Liam Dunning and Chris Jewell half-centuries crucial to setting a winning score. The wickets were shared around, with young spinner Darcy Whitten the best of bowlers with 2/4 off his 8 overs.
The 3rd XI lost narrowly to Lysterfield despite the heroics of Steve Atherton, who finished with the incredible figures of 5/11.
The 4th XI had a solid win against Mountain Gate, with stand-in skipper Rhett Chapman leading from the front with a quickfire 33 to set up a comfortable run chase.
The 5th XI fought hard but were no match for Monbulk, with captain James Todd the only batter to reach double-figures with an excellent 58.
Our Under 16’s travelled to Monbulk and were defeated in a tight encounter. In his first game for the club, Kasey Richarsdson claimed 4/8 in a masterclass of swing bowling to help restrict the Hawks to 95. The batting never really got going, with the Tigers finishing on 8/93, just 2 runs shy of the target.
The undefeated Women’s XI had the bye and will be keen to continue their undefeated start to the season at South Belgrave next weekend.
NR Shield: Upwey-Tecoma 4/171 (Whetstone 100*) def FTG 9/169 (Collard 2/24, Wheeler 2/27)
Div 3: Upwey-Tecoma 5/230 (Dunning 72, Jewell 56) def FTG 113 (Whitten 2/8, Buck 2/17)
Div 5: Lysterfield 112 (Atherton 5/11) def Upwey-Tecoma 8-109 (Weston 34)
Div 7: Upwey-Tecoma 3-106 (Chapman 33, Reilly 32*) def Mt Gate 9-92 (Moore 2-7, Gilbert 2-8)
Div 8: Monbulk 1-94 def Upwey-Tecoma 89 (Todd 58)
U16’s: Monbulk 95 (Richardson 4/8) def Upwey-Tecoma 8-93 (Humphrey 22*)
