Altona continued its unbeaten start to the sub-district cricket season on Saturday, a solid all-round performance proving too much for Williamstown.
While Altona lost the toss and had to field, the overcast skies produced helpful conditions for the bowlers, who were able to make regular breakthroughs to limit the damage inflicted by the home batsmen.
Dale McDonald was the pick of the batsmen with a well-crafted 66, while Brent McMinn (20) and Craig Sheedy (28) both made good starts before being dismissed as the home side ended its 45 overs on 7-160.
Altona captain Adam Yates said he was pleased with the way his players applied themselves in the field.
“I think, at drinks, they [Williamstown] were 2-100 so we did really well to pull it back to 160,” Yates said. “Our spinners, through the middle stages, were able to contain them and build some pressure with some tight overs and lots of dot balls.
“Sheedy and McMinn have been in really good nick, so it was good to get them relatively cheaply … we thought somewhere around 180 was par so we were happy with what he had to chase.”
In reply, Altona found it hard to score freely, with Greg Sheehan (three runs off 37 balls) and David Kinsella (26 off 70) having to grind for every run. While the openers put in the hard work against the new ball, the middle order was able to flourish and score quickly, turning the game in Altona’s favour.
First drop Aaron Maynard made 37 off 39 balls, while Yates (39no) and Sean Hollins (31no) came together for a 70-run partnership to guide their side to victory with 14 balls to spare.
“I think setting that foundation early on with the openers was really important,” Yates said.
“It made it easier for the rest of us coming in to just push it around and tick the scoreboard along to get the win. We’re playing some pretty good cricket at the moment – the boys have gelled together well. The test now is to continue that in the two-dayers.”
Elsewhere, Yarraville played out a thrilling tie with Bayswater despite a Matthew Love century and a hat-trick from off-spinner Akshat Buch.
Bayswater won the toss and composed a mammoth 7-248 from its 45 overs, with Buch the best for Yarraville with 4-37 off nine overs.
In reply, Love was huge at the top of the order as he hit 16 boundaries in his 127 to keep the chances of Yarraville’s first win of the season alive, with Joshua Hahnel (52) and Matthew Harrison (47) also doing their bit.
Yarraville needed two runs off the final two balls to claim victory, but captain Nathan Allen was run out attempting a second run and the two sides had to be content sharing the points.
