In last week’s cricket fixture the Club Hotel Colts took on the Elks. The seasons previous encounter between these two had seen a scorebook controversy, with Brendan smith misinforming the players on the field how many runs where needed for a victory. This resulted in Colts getting the win, which funnily enough is the team Smithy plays for. Coincidence or something more nefarious? No one but Smithy will ever know but at any rate there was a bit of spice leading in to the game.
Colts won their first toss of the year and chose to bat and for the first time this season enjoyed the clear skies of the first innings. The Elks bowlers where not at their best but wickets fell regularly none the less. You know the saying about what gets wickets, well that was on full display as Nick Grob picked up 2-8 along with one each for Toby Shannon, Johnny Core and Lachie Miller, leaving Colts at 5-51 after 8 overs.
Dean Swaffer (60) and Braden Campion (13) then came together to get things back on track for the Colts, taking advantage of some even looser bowling than the first 8 overs, putting on a rapid 50 runs. Brendan Smith (16) and Basil Chummar (19) finished the impressive hitting from the Colts, leaving them with a total of 146 from their 20 overs.
Best of the bowlers were Harry Miller with 2-25 from his 4 overs and Lachie Miller 1-16 from 4. Tristan Costantini made his bowling debut for the Elks and bowled absolute pump, taking 0-36 from 2.
In reply the Elks tried to come out firing but could only manage to lose a bunch of wickets instead, seeing them in serious trouble at 4-27 in the fifth over. Toby Shannon (42) and Tom Benton (15) then tried to right the ship but when another 3 wickets feel in the 10th and 11th overs the game was all but done. Nick Grob managed an inconsequential 12 and remained not out at the end but the Elks where bowled out in the 17th over for 94 runs, giving the Colts the win by a whopping 52 runs. Ben Mooy took 3-8 from 2 and Dean Swaffer 3-11 from 2 for the Colts.
Player of the match was clearly Swaffer with 60 in the first innings backed up by 3-11 bowling, including the key wicket of Toby Shannon.
This week’s game will see RSL take on the Elks Friday evening at King George. Anyone looking for a game, get in touch.
