By Randall Woodley
The four senior grade TNT teams all played Day 1 of their two day matches last Saturday and each of the contests are in the balance. With solid performances from the teams next weekend the club could end up with four wins.
FIRST GRADE. The match against Gympie Gold at Read Park was important to both teams; Gympie needing a win to finish in the top 4 and the RSL TNT team playing to gain some momentum going into the finals, already being guaranteed 2nd.place.
TNT won the toss and decided to bowl first. The Gympie openers came out swinging and playing risky shots but remained wicketless with 70 runs coming off the first 6 overs. From there they were pegged back to be 2-106 after 14 overs. TNT then began to take the ascendancy to have them 7-155 at lunch and then all out for 177 off 40 overs.
Best bowling figures were from Scott Aufderheide, 4 for 64 off 15, Jarrod Officer 3 for 17 off 5 and Tom Freshwater 2 for 55 off 12. TNT had 50 overs left to bat in the day and were hoping to set up a platform to bat for most of the remainder of the game. However, after a very steady start the team lost 3 wickets to be 3-59 at stumps. Reid Campbell, playing his initial first grade match this season scored a solid 17. Next Saturday with a changed batting line up and with four top batsmen still to bat, TNT are confident they can pass Gympie’s score.
SECOND GRADE. The boys travelled to Palmwoods in a must win game to give the team a chance at scraping into the finals. TNT won the toss and bowled first. The opening bowlers did their job well and stifled the scoring on a flat pitch but patience paid off and Palmwoods were soon in trouble at 5-28 off the first 25 overs. Unfortunately, with a few small partnerships and a vastly deteriorated piece of red leather, somewhat resembling a cricket ball, they managed to scrape to a score of 136.
Top bowling figures from TNT were- Nick Bennett 2-14, Adam Curry 2-28, Tom Stewart 2-30, Mike Thomson 1-13, Blake Steel 1-16 and Robbie Payton 1-27.
With 14 overs left in the day, losing wickets was the last thing the team needed but at stumps TNT were 4 -27. However, the team captain is confident that with the remaining batsmen, they will score the 100 plus runs to win the match.
THIRD GRADE. Playing last placed team, Burpengary at Dale Officer Oval the TNT team had another frustrating day in the field. Burpengary batted for 70 overs crawling to 9 for 107. A storm ended the day early. Each of the TNT bowlers toiled hard all afternoon but the opposition refused to play any attacking shots.
Bowling figures for the home team- Bob McGhee was the standout 5-25 off 21 overs with 9 maidens, Ben Giddy 8 overs 0-15. Steve Sinclair 9 overs 1-17, Jason Toohey 11 overs 1-15, Tom Green 2-7 off 6, Todd McNamee 0-10 off 6 and Kent Officer 8 overs 0-6.
Next Saturday the team will pass the score target and get some batting practice in before the finals.
FOURTH GRADE The team travelled south to Burpengary and bowled the home team out for 43 in the 35th over. Best of the bowlers were Cody Wright 2-6 off 7 overs, Wayne Moore 3-4 off 7, Graham Chaplin 2-2 off 5, Matt Mayo 1-3 off 5, and Joe Jurisevic 1-0 off one ball. Catches to Craig Moore 2, Wayne Moore 1, Cody Wright 1, Brendan Chaplin 1 and Jurisevic 1.
After a short storm, TNT batted and were 2 for 104 at Stumps. Top scorers were Brian Lee 52 no. and Craig Moore 32. The TNT boys will be playing for the outright win next Saturday, setting them up for the semi-finals.
WOMENS CRICKET
The two TNT women’s cricket team finished their seasons at the weekend on a high. The Thunder defeated Palmwoods and the Lightning were well placed for a win but the weather intervened. The Thunder bowled Palmwoods out for 74 and then passed their score for the loss of only four wickets. Playing Wamuran, the Lightning girls scored 206 with openers Kat Anderson and Arishma Vernon playing superbly to both notch up 51 not outs. However, a storm finished the day before the TNT bowlers could take the field.
All the players have enjoyed the season and offer their thanks to Jason Toohey, Amanda Tie, coach Josh Matthews and mentor Patsy Fayne .
