Taylors Lakes players looked right at home in their sub-district cricket debut, knocking over Hoppers Crossing in the opening round of the summer.
With rain early in the month leading to the opening round being played as a one-day fixture, Taylors Lakes put its powerful batting order and suffocating spinners on show at the Hoppers Crossing main ground to come away with a seven run win in the east-west competition.
Taylors Lakes coach Kris McMullen said the buzz around the club after Saturday was fantastic.
“It was a bit of the unknown for us … our main aim was to be competitive first-up,” McMullen said.
“To walk away with a win in the first and second XI was great – you couldn’t ask for a better start and the feeling around the club Saturday night was just buzzing.”
The Lions won the toss and chose to bat first on a bare, slow pitch.
They were rewarded early when openers Michael Brne (21) and Dilan Chandima (37) laid the foundations with a 44-run stand.
Only two other batsmen reached double figures – a sign of some early season rust.
One of those batsmen, Yoshan Kumara, hit the first Lions’ 50 in subbies and helped push his side 9-148 after their 45 overs.
In reply, the hosts got off to a poor start when Luke Harrison trapped William Partington-Gardner in front in the second over without scoring.
Harrison (2-20) and fellow opening bowler Kumara (2-17) bowled stifling early spells to put scoreboard pressure on the home side.
By the time the spinners did their work on the slow surface, the Lions looked to have control of the game.
Regular wickets fell, but some good hitting from Hendro Dias (38) and James Grixti (23) gave Hoppers a glimmer of hope.
It needed 14 off the final two overs, but the Lions’ bowlers were able to hold their nerve to clinch a maiden subbies win and vital early season points.
McMullen said that while he was happy to get the win, there was still plenty to improve on and learn.
“The win gives the boys a bit of confidence, knowing they can compete at that level now,” he said.
“Our performance wasn’t perfect – we bowled too many wides, we dropped a couple of catches and had a couple of missed run-outs.
“My message to them was to be happy and enjoy the win but know that we’ve got a lot of hard work ahead.”
