Randall Woodley
For the second weekend in a row, rain disrupted all of the Tewantin-Noosa Thunder senior team’s Saturday matches and still no teams had been able to take to the field in 2024. However, three of the teams were able to play their Sunday fixtures and two teams, Seconds and Fourths came away with exciting wins and the Thirds were unlucky to just go down.
SECONDS: The team were at Coolum and batted first. The openers, Adam Curry (23) and Blake Steel (14) started the innings strongly. The following batsmen all managed scores in the teens, but no one went on to post the bigger scores that were needed. Then the experienced newcomer to the club, Chris Hopper came to the crease and showed everyone how the game should be played. He scored 64 of 63 balls including five sixes. At the end of their forty overs the Thunder had posted a competitive score of 9-171.
Coolum lost a wicket in the first over of their innings but then dug in and made the job of restricting their scoring difficult for the Thunder bowlers. At one stage the Coolum Sharks were 6 for 136 and had a chance to win the match scoring at 4 runs an over. However, the Thunder bowlers with a real mix of experience and youth managed to take wickets and the last fell with an over to spare. Coolum all out for 156. Top bowlers for Thunder were Ollie Wilson 3-26, Mike Thomson 3-16 and Tyron de Kauwe 2-38.
This win moves the team into third place on the table. Next Saturday they play the last placed Nambour Cutters at Read Park in a day/night match.
THIRDS: The Sunday match was played at Read Park which showed off the cricket fields ability to dry out quickly. The home team, Thunder bowled first and did their very best to take wickets of the strong Caboolture Snakes batting line up and at the same time restrict their runs. After 40 overs the Snakes had posted 6 for 176 which the Thunder boys thought was achievable. The best bowler for Thunder was Steve Hill 2-30 while the other wickets were shared.
Batting second and needing to score at 4.4 runs an over, the boys started well but wickets kept tumbling throughout the afternoon; some to intelligent bowling and some to poor shots.
In the second last over, Thunder lost their last wicket with the score 18 runs short of the target. There were good knocks from Steve Hill 26, Daniel Cooke 20 and Ben Wilson who remained not out on 24.
Next Saturday the team travel to Glasshouse to take on the Rangers.
FOURTHS: The match on Sunday at Coolum started with a hope that that the rain would hold off and the teams would be able to play.
With more rain on the way and limited overs to be bowled, Thunder decided that batting first would be the play. They lost the toss but were sent into bat anyway. A positive start from Queensland Over 60s batsman, Tony Watson (55) opening with Ben Blackwell. After a couple of wickets fell, next in line was the veteran Kent Officer who scored a quick fire 54 off 39, hitting 3 sixes! Some runs were still needed when Aedan Mayo (17) and Anthony Blackwell (6) stepped in. With 3 overs to go the plan was to get some quick runs and eventually the team finished on 162.
Opening the bowling for Thunder, Jackson Holland took a wicket in the first over. From the other captain Matt Mayo was keeping it tight with consecutive dot balls. Then Jackson took another in the 5th over. More good bowling from Matt saw him take one in the 8th. With two new bowlers on (Kent Officer and Aedan Mayo), Thunder were looking good and then Aedan took his first in the 18th over. Coolum’s Dad and son partnership had the fielding team worried but then the reliable Jackson broke the partnership. With the Coolum’s captain in and him seeing them like beach balls some exceptional bowling was required to knock him over. Luckily Anthony Blackwell had ball in hand and took the big wicket. He then took another and was on a hat trick. With one over to go and 12 runs to win, the skipper (Matt Mayo) put himself back on when tight bowling was called for. Fortunately the team can always rely on their captain to get the job done and Coolum finished 7 short of the total.
A good win and an amazing day of cricket that came down to a last over thriller. Always a good game against Coolum and a much-needed win coming close to finals time.
Next Saturday the team host the Maroochydore Swans at Dale Officer Oval.
OTHER MATCHES NEXT WEEKEND:
The ladder leaders Firsts will play Coolum Sharks at their ground starting at 1pm.
Fifth Grade will travel to Palmwoods to take on the Hawks.
All the players and club supporters are hoping for a few good weekends of weather as the season heads towards the finals in March.
