By David Nagel
Country Week preparations are off to an exciting start for the Casey Cardinia Cricket Association (CCCA) after the Warriors (5/165) scored a comfortable five-wicket win over Mornington Peninsula (161) on Sunday.
Originally scheduled for Jubilee Park in Frankston, the game was moved to Langwarrin’s home ground at Lloyd Park after persistent Saturday rains made preparing the turf wicket difficult.
The Warriors were hoping to use the hit-out as a ‘turf-wicket’ trial, but still gained plenty of positives from the match.
The Warriors struggled to break through early, with the MPCA in a magnificent position at 1/112 before the visitors hit back hard.
The MPCA would lose its last nine wickets for just 49 runs, with several in the Warriors attack standing up to be counted.
The best of those was Cardinia all-rounder Travis Wheller (10-2-4-35), who combined with Merinda Park offie Rumesh Ranasinghe (10-2-1-39) to put the slows on the MPCA top-to-middle order.
Wheller claimed two quick wickets, followed by another to Ranasinghe, before ripping through the MPCA middle order as well.
Wheller took four of five wickets to fall, reducing the home side to 6/156, before Morteza Ali (2.3-0-2-2) and Mitch Davey (2-0-1-3) removed any chance of a revival.
The MPCA lost its last six wickets for six runs.
Ali (58) and Devon Meadows skipper Lucas Ligt (62 not out) then opened the batting for the Warriors, and curbed their natural attacking instincts early.
Ali then caught fire in the eighth and ninth overs, taking 20 runs off nine balls to set the path for victory.
The Warriors, who were 0/16 off 7…were now 0/37 off nine, and had regained vital momentum.
Ligt played a stabilising knock for the Warriors, batting until the 34th over and hitting a boundary to chalk up the victory.
COUNTRY WEEK TRIAL MATCH
MORNINGTON PENINSULA CA V CASEY CARDINIA CA
Date: Sunday 10 December, 2023
Venue: Lloyd Park, Langwarrin
MORNINGTON PENINSULA CA
A McKenna c B Butler, b T Tyrrell 23
L Opatha c B Butler, b T Wheller 72
J Edwards c L Ligt, b T Wheller 19
L Collet c M Ali, b T Wheller 21
K Donald c L McMaster, b R Ranasinghe 6
A Nagel b T Wheller 7
T Finn c B Parrott, b M Ali 2
J Peet run out (Ranasinghe-Parrott) 0
S Holland-Burch lbw M Davey 1
B Williams st B Parrott, b M Ali 2
L Hose not out 0
Extras W2, NB1, LB3, B0 6
Total (39.3 overs) 161
Fall of wickets: 43, 112, 123, 142, 155, 156, 156, 157, 160, 161.
CCCA Bowling: B Butler 4-0-0-31, L McMaster 4-0-0-11, T Tyrrell 4-1-1-18, D Sutton 3-0-0-19, T Wheller 10-2-4-35, R Ranasinghe 10-2-1-39, M Ali 2.3-0-2-2, M Davey 2-0-1-3.
CASEY CARDINIA CA
L Ligt not out 62
M Ali lbw J Peet 58
D Tormey c L Opatha, b L Hose 10
L McMaster st A McKenna, b L Hose 2
D Sutton c, b L Hose 11
R Ranasinghe st A McKenna, b L Opatha 9
M Davey not out 1
Extras W7, NB0, LB1, B4 12
Total (33.5 overs) 5/165
Fall of wickets: 93, 104, 119, 139, 159.
MPCA Bowling: B Williams 5-0-0-16, T Finn 6.5-0-0-32, S Holland-Burch 3-0-0-8, A Nagel 3-0-0-19, J Peet 6-0-1-38, L Hose 7-0-3-37, L Opatha 3-0-1-10.
Casey Cardinia won by five wickets.
