Kealba Green Gully got its George Luscombe Shield cricket season off to a winning start at the weekend but not without a few nervous moments along the way.
Taking on fellow title challenger Pascoe Vale Centrals, the Cougars toiled hard with the ball to give themselves a very achievable target, and despite a poor display from their top order they got home with a four-wicket win.
After losing the toss at their home ground, Kealba Green Gully took to the field and got to work with Divesh Kumar (six overs, 0-11) and Matthew Nadzielski (eight overs, 0-19) keeping the pressure on the openers without removing them.
It was a common theme for the afternoon, with Pascoe Vale struggling to penetrate the field and its long grass, while the home side equally struggled to advance the wickets column.
Only youngster Jack Miles (1-14) and Jarrod Catania (1-27) were able to break through, and some late hitting from the visitors carried them to 2-122 after their 40 overs.
In reply, the Cougars got off to a poor start, losing Brody Psaila (eight) early and slipping to 4-45 with their most reliable batsmen back in the shed.
Gully skipper Evan Long promoted bowler Catania up the order and he combined with Stephen DeFelice to get the hosts back on track with a well-paced 36-run stand before DeFelice was stumped on 22.
Catania continued to impress his captain with the willow, top-scoring with 36 and his dismissal coming with victory in sight. The home side collected the points with three overs to spare.
Long said it was “awesome to start with a win”.
“We haven’t won round one for a while. We negated them really well with the ball, and in one-dayers it’s not so much about wickets as keeping the runs down, which we were able to do.
“I was a bit nervous when we were four down, but I gave Jarrod a chance and while some people see him as just a bowler he can definitely bat, and this game proved that.
“It’s always good from a coach’s view when someone new steps up and it’s not the same guys we’re relying on.”
Long hoped a rare early-season win would give his side the momentum needed for a successful season.
“We know exactly what we need to do, we’ve been there and done it before,” he said.
“We know there’s no point in peaking too early, but any wins early in the season really help build momentum, especially against teams that you’re probably going to meet in the finals.”
