Sport
26 January, 2023
Clunes and Maryborough in tight battle
MARYBOROUGH 1/2 trail CLUNES 193 How the first 10 overs of the second day’s play go could very well dictate the result of Maryborough’s clash with Clunes. With Maryborough in an interesting spot at 1/2 at the end of the first day’s play, they...
MARYBOROUGH 1/2 trail CLUNES 193
How the first 10 overs of the second day’s play go could very well dictate the result of Maryborough’s clash with Clunes.
With Maryborough in an interesting spot at 1/2 at the end of the first day’s play, they will doubtless look to be aggressive in order to pursue what looks to be a reasonable target of 193, but on the other hand, if they lose early wickets, they will be on the back foot from the get-go.
It will be Mitch McClure and Harry Lumsden who will be tasked with opening day two’s proceedings for the Owls — McClure looking to lead the way as he has often, and Lumsden looking to use his ability to score quickly.
McClure looked solid in their last outing against Laanecoorie Dunolly when he made 24 and was a touch unlucky to go out in the fashion that he did, so a score of around 40 or more will help set the Owls well on their way to victory.
They will also have solid middle order support in the sheds — with Sam Bartlett waiting in the wings, the potential is there for a big partnership, as is Lachlan Morganti, who is coming off an excellent 58.
Having scored 187 against a powerful Laane team last Saturday, the Owls will be confident that they can catch the Magpies’ target of 193, but will also be looking to avoid losing clumps of wickets that has plagued them at times this season.
On the other side of the equation, Clunes will be looking to take control of day two very quickly, having successfully taken one wicket in the two overs before the close of play on the opening day.
Ashley Gunn and Sam Williams were able to negotiate those two overs, and they will likely open up together on Saturday.
Gunn’s fifth wicket of the season, one that bowled Rohan MacKay, took him to the equal lead in the Magpies bowling charts, alongside Riley Coppick, who looms as another option that will look to take wickets, as will Jaxon Smyth.
To take first innings points, however, Clunes will likely have to do something that they have not achieved in the 2022/23 season to date — bowl their opposition out.
The closest they came was when they reduced Beaufort to 9/134 in their one-day game, with Gunn and Coppick among the wickets with three and two respectively, while Shehzad Muhammed, who is not in the team at the moment, was also successful in taking two wickets.
Doing so, however, will reward Clunes’ good batting performance, which saw them rewarded with 193 runs, with Mitchell Coppick making 57 and Mark Allen making 45.
It’s clear that Clunes are a better two-day unit, being able to control the pace of the game and ensuring that they can build partnerships. They would have been impressed with their ability to have two partnerships yield 50 runs or more, and will now be looking for their bowling to match their improved batting from last Saturday.
