YARRAVILLE had to wait a long and painful 98 days to register its first victory in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association last summer.
The wait wasn’t so bad this time as the Eagles got the first one out of the way on opening day.
They did it with a touch of class, too, cruising to a seven-wicket win over Moorabbin in a one-dayer at Yarraville Oval on Saturday.
“We’ve been training for three or four months so it was good to have a win in our first game,” Eagles player-coach Tim McRae said.
“Three of our four sides had a win. It was a good day for the club.”
Adam Yates proved a secret weapon for the Eagles.
The Tasmanian, who crossed from VTCA club Footscray United in the off-season, produced a match-winning 82 in his side’s chase of 172.
The No.4 featured in a 121-run partnership with first drop Daniel Saville (43) to steer the Eagles past the total with 58 balls to spare. “It was a great partnership. If you get a partnership like that in a one-day game, you usually win, and that’s what happened,” McRae said.
Yates continued the form he showed over pre-season.
“He made a lot of runs in our practice matches — 90 in one of them and 50 in the other — so he’s in good form,” McRae added.
Matthew Harrison, the Eagles’ big-name signing out of Victorian Premier Cricket, started positively with 16 before being run out.
Brad Shaw contributed 12 and Mathew O’Grady was on two not out when the Eagles passed the target.
Earlier in the day, the Eagles set it up with the ball, restricting Moorabbin to 171 off 43 overs.
Alex Hewet, in his first game as captain, led from the front with a stunning 4-7 off 8.1 overs.
Nick ‘the Church’ Parish hit the deck hard with 3-38 off eight.
“It was a slow wicket, but the boys bowled really smart and kept the ball full,” McRae said.
“We fielded well, took a couple of good catches and had a run out. Everybody contributed.”
The Eagles will meet Altona in a local derby on the road in a one-day clash at the Frank Kirk Oval on Saturday.
The teams will be fighting it out for the Jack Batty Shield.
