By Randall Woodley
Quote of the Week “It doesn’t matter how pretty you look, what’s important is how many runs you make” Steve Waugh (Australian Test cricketer 1995 – 2007)
The season has started positively for the Tewantin-Noosa Thunder Cricket Club with the first grade team winning both their T20 matches on Saturday at Read Park. After two Saturdays of fixtures, the TNT boys are the only undefeated team in the eight-club T20 competition.
TNT v Coolum
Playing Coolum Sharks in the afternoon, the strong local team was up against a young Sharks team that showed plenty of enthusiasm but lacked experience. This is their third season in First Grade and they will continue to improve each season. Batting first, the TNT openers showed they were after a big score and the first wicket did not fall until the 10th over on 77. Chris Wright was at his devastating best hitting 59 off 31 balls including nine fours and three sixes. The score finished on 3 for 170 off the 20 overs with contributions of 43 not out from Lewis Waugh and 27 from Jarrod Officer.
After the break the Coolum boys did their best to ward off the fast bowling from the TNT’s opening trio but found the going tough. They were eventually bowled out for 76 in the final over. The wickets were shared around, with Scott Aufderheide, Ben Laughlin and Dom Taylor taking two each whilst Lewis Waugh took 3 for 7. As well as the solid batting and the very effective bowling, the other outstanding feature of the afternoon was the excellent fielding and catching of the TNT team. This will be an asset for the club as the weather becomes hotter and the competition moves to the two-day format later in October.
TNT v Maroochydore
The match was played under lights commencing at 5.30pm. TNT won the toss and, following on from their solid batting earlier in the day, set about building a strong platform against their arch-rivals, the Maroochydore Swans. The Swan’s bowlers, as always, were online but the local boys were still able to score at about seven runs an over. After 20 overs the scoreboard read Thunder 4 for 149. All the batsmen got starts with the top scorers- Blake Steel 36 off 37, Lewis Waugh 36, Chris Wright 25 and Andrew Kratzmann 23 not out.
The task now was to limit the Maroochydore batsmen to less than six runs an over. As usual the Thunder’s opening bowlers were up to the task and even though the Swans kept up a good run rate, they lost wickets along the way. Their opening batsman, Callum Stitt was the main thorn in the side for Thunder and scored 54 off 39 balls before being dismissed by TNT’s captain, Jake Dennien who finished with the figures of 3 for 21 off his four overs. The Swans finished the night on 6 for 134, 15 runs short of the target, giving Tewantin-Noosa four wins from their first four matches in the T20 competition.
Summary
The strength of this season’s Thunder team is showing already in the T20 competition’s statistics. TNT have the four of the top eight wicket takers in the matches played- Ben Laughlin, Scott Aufderheide, Jake Dennien and Dom Taylor. They also have four of the top eight run scorers so far in the season- Chris Wright, Jarrod Officer, Lewis Waugh and Andrew Kratzmann. These stats show that all is going well for the long season ahead with plans well under way to bring home the season premiership.
Next matches
The format for this Saturday 25 September 25 is unchanged with matches to be played at Read Park in the afternoon (1.30pm v Caboolture Snakes) and after a barbecue the night match will be played againt Glasshouse Rangers at 5.30 pm.
Junior cricketers are reminded that the club coaching clinic will be held during the school holidays. Check out nathanreardoncricket coaching on the internet.
