Randall Woodley
FINALS LOOMING FOR THUNDER CRICKET TEAMS
Quote of the week- “When trying to save a match, it’s important not to think about the possible results but set small targets every over.” Sachin Tendulker Indian Cricketer.
FIRST GRADE: The team resumed their two-day match last Saturday against the Nambour Cutters who were 1 for 44 chasing Thunders 302 first innings score. The pitch was in good shape and the weather hot and clear.
The Thunder bowlers worked hard for the first hour until Talon Reichert got the breakthrough. Unfortunately the teams catching was not up to their usually high standard and Nambour’s gun batter, Steve Ledger made them pay bringing up his 100 after lunch with the team score on 135. Sam Baker came on to bowl the last over before lunch and importantly held onto the catch to see the back of Ledger for 105 with Nambour going to lunch 3-150 from 48 overs.
Chris Hopper took one straight after lunch before Nambour settled in for the next 25 overs with the run rate literally crawling.
Ben Laughlin managed a breakthrough and from there on Thunder were able to take regular wickets with Ben, Michael Eckard and Chopper rattling through 3 minute overs at the same time. Nambour were eventually all out for 224 in the 88th over. Ben Laughlin with 6-23 was the absolute pick but the skipper, Eckard and Chopper played the holding role all day. A good team effort for the first innings win.
On Sunday the team played the semi-final in the One-Day competition against Coolum Sharks at Read Park. Keen to avenge the loss to the same team last month the Thunder players turned it on and wrapped up the match well before stumps. Thunder scored 9 for 297 off their 50 overs with top scorers- Ben Laughlin 89, Jarrod Officer 74, Andy Batten 35 and Andrew Kratzmann 30. Batting second the Sharks were all out for 101 in the 31st over. Dom Taylor took 4 wickets whilst the rest were shared around.
Next weekend will be another full on two days for the team with Day One of the match against Gympie Gold at their ground on Saturday and then on Sunday the boys will play in the One Day 50 Over Final against Caboolture Snakes.
SECOND GRADE: On Day One the USC had scored 9 for 234 declared with Jarrod Davis being the best Thunder bowler with 5-68.
The second Saturday of the match opened with Joe Murray and Jason Toohey continuing their partnership until Jason fell for 16 off 139. Not long after that Murray was out for 22 off 95. This brought teenager Jack Caspers and captain Tristan Griffin to the crease and they soon realised how difficult it was batting in the conditions with the ball literally turning right angles. After posting 26 off 50, Caspers was out and then Griffin showed his determination to remain steadfast at the wicket. With a handy 15 produced by Luke Smalley the pair guided the team in the right direction until Smalley was out. After that the lower order started to crumble, with Tristan Griffin still battling out in the middle for hours in sweltering heat to see him finish for a high class 37 off 147 trying to save the match. The day finished with Thunder on 8 for 144.
FOURTH GRADE: Day two. After bowling Yandina out last week for 263 the players knew that it wasn’t going to be an easy chase.
Both Thunder openers fell quickly and within a few overs the team were reeling at 4-21 with a huge target still looming. Then Matt Mayo joined Jeremy Holland at the wicket and the two dad’s put on a partnership of 92 and it looked like it was never going to be broken. However Matt fell in the 32nd over caught behind and although his score was not gigantic he had stayed with Holland whilst he scored most of the runs. With score at 5-113, David Baker joined Jeremy Holland who kept batting and reached his 100 in the 34th over followed up by a subtle celebration with 16 X 4’s and a six. Eventually Jeremy Holland fell on 139. Wickets then fell cheaply before Alek Dillewaard and Dave Baker’s very handy partnership. Another handy partnership followed with Max Joyce and David Baker. Thunder needed 12 off 3 overs before Joyce was run out. With 1 wicket in hand the team fell short by 8 runs with 9 balls to go in the day. Overall it was a very good performance from the team.
Standouts for the day;- Jeremy Holland 139, Dave Baker 47 Alek Dillewaard 23, and Matt Mayo 9 off 66
FIFTH GRADE: The team went down to the Nambour Cutters in a close match. Thunder had scored 180 on day-one and last Saturday the opposition managed to pass their score in the 78th over. Standout bowler for Thunder was again Justin Latimer with 4-54 off 21 overs.
UNDER 15s V Maroochydore Day Two. On day-one the Thunder team had compiled a very competitive score of 168 and day-two commenced with Thunder bowling with high energy and hopes of getting some early wickets. Except for one of their openers scoring 47, the opposition lost wickets regularly and were eventually bowled out for 118.
Best bowlers for Thunder were Ben Blackwell 3-13, Jackson Holland 3-28 and Emile Lewis 2-12. A great game that saw the Swans fall well short of their target and Tewantin-Noosa jumping into 3rd place heading into finals time.
UNDER 13sA: The team was pipped at home by a strong and undefeated Coolum. The Sharks batted first and posted 5 for 131 off their 30 overs. In response the Thunder team scored 7 for 115. It was a great effort with some lessons learnt and the team is looking forward to the final two rounds sitting third on the ladder.
UNDER 13sB: Noosa-Tewantin v Palmwoods at Briggs Park
After being sent in to bat and losing wickets regularly, the Thunder team had scored 4-52 at the break and then with everyone contributing they batted out their innings to a respectable 115.
Fielding second the bowling was too inconsistent with some very good balls mixed in with lots of wides and some strong batting from Palmwoods, they reached the target with some overs to spare.
Plenty of good skills on show but all players need to show more consistency.
Two more games to go .
