Footscray has emerged from the weekend’s Premier Cricket double-header with its first win of the season – its victory on Sunday making up for a bad loss to Monash on Saturday.
In the first game of the week, the Dogs ran headlong into a Dan Christian masterclass as their total of 6-200 proved nowhere near enough.
While Dylan Kight (71) and Hamish Winter-Irving (42 not out) fought hard with the bat, the Tigers were in no mood to take the chase slowly.
Adam Amin made 67 off just 78 balls, but it was Christian who took the game away from the Dogs with a belligerent 83 off 71 balls as Monash chased down the runs with more than 10 overs to spare.
Footscray coach Stan Nell said former Australian player Christian was on another level.
“We came across a player that plays T20 cricket across the international scene and he performed really well against us,” Nell said.
“It looks like he won’t play anymore games for them this season and we were the unlucky ones to come up against him, so that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.
“I thought our guys fought it out really well with the bat in difficult conditions, but 200 was never going to be enough, particularly against a quality batting line-up.”
The Dogs did much better in Sunday’s
clash with Prahran, with Dean Russ renewing his love affair with the Prahran bowling attack.
Russ scored a hundred in round one last season against Prahran and he backed it up with a classy 105 in Sunday’s clash.
The Dogs racked up 6-246 from their 50 overs before a standout bowling performance saw the True Blues dismissed for just 134.
While Prahran’s openers put on a 76-run stand to start its innings, Lucas Dredge (3-25) and Winter-Irving (3-24) took their moments as the innings rolled on to deliver the Dogs win No.1 for the summer.
Nell said Russ’s innings was from the very top drawer, with the win giving the Dogs some momentum to take forward.
“He’s a terrific player, very experienced, and very proud to represent Footscray for so long and always give 100 per cent, which is wonderful,” he said.
“He’s putting up big numbers early in the season and looks ready for another big summer.
“We’ve got four new players in our side early in the year, so it’s a different dynamic from last year … it’s a case of the boys getting used to each other and their roles in the side.
“I think that’s starting to happen now and we’re ready to push on with that from here.”
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