Cricketers across Sale-Maffra will see whether or not the toss had much bearing on results when Round 4 concludes tomorrow.
Most captains elected to bowl first on Day 1, and for the three that did, they are all currently experiencing different situations.
Yarram’s decision to inject Maffra appears justified, as they are in a strong position against the Eagles.
Longford might not be in as strong a position against Stratford, but are far from done with just yet.
The same might not be the case however for Boisdale-Briagolong, who are facing an uphill battle against Collegians.
Still, with a full day’s play ahead, any number of possibilities are on the cards.
Whether or not one side ends up having the better of conditions adds to the intrigue of the first two day match.
Maffra needs to get Anthony Scott out.
The Eagles scored 161 after being sent in by Yarram on the Pelicans home ground last Saturday, and are currently staring down the barrel of a first innings defeat.
Having done their work with the ball, Yarram went against usual club cricket protocol of heavy defence before stumps, smashing 67 in the last 12 overs of the day.
The number of attacking shots meant Maffra was able to take two wickets, but unfortunately for them, one of them wasn’t the prized one of Scott.
The big hitter will resume his innings on 50 from just 43 balls, and will surely be looking to get the 94 needed as quickly as possible.
While it remains to be seen, if Yarram approach the start of Day 2 in the same manner as they did in the 12-over spurt last week, it could keep Maffra alive by sheer fact of the number of chances that will inevitably be created.
The onus will therefore be on the Eagles to take any half-chances that come their way, and players such as Nathan Hibbins, Lee Hopkins or Josh Davis might just be the one to pull off a miraculous catch or direct hit run out that provides a window of opportunity.
Collegians might feel they are only two wickets away.
Collegians has Boisdale-Briagolong on 5/47 chasing 173 at College Oval.
While it would appear the home side is in an unlosable position, the Saints still have Adrian Burgiel at the crease, and Dylan and Lewis Bolton to come.
Burgiel is currently 22 not out, with 18 of those runs, unbelievably, coming in sixes.
The veteran might just be warming up, and would surely love nothing more than to guide his home club over the line against the team he played for last season.
Collegians will be wary of the Burgiel factor, as well as the threat the Bolton brothers possess.
Not to mention the other not out batsman Liam Hurst.
As he showed against Maffra in February last year, Hurst has the ability to play the saviour’s innings.
On that occasion, he torched 78 off 71 balls batting at number seven after Boisdale-Briagolong was 5/30.
Such a score line isn’t all that different in this game, and Collegians captain Zac Hurley will hope to see the back of him early.
Hurley will call on strike bowlers Nathan Whitford and Charlie Morrison to go after Hurst, and might even back himself to get rid of Burgiel.
With Burgiel generally taking a liking to pace on, Hurley’s handy little off breaks might just lead to a catching opportunity in the deep.
Collegians won’t mind how they get rid of Burgiel, just so long as he doesn’t take Boisdale-Briagolong to the cusp of victory.
Stratford is probably ahead of Longford, but only just.
The Redbacks need to take seven more wickets without giving up 123 runs.
The Lizards will travel to Stratford and resume on 3/36, with vice captains Watley Sutton and Brett McMaster the not out batsman.
Both will be charged with negotiating the first hour, where runs won’t be of the utmost importance.
If Longford can be four down before digging into the party pies, it should (in theory) make batting easier after the break.
Skipper Lachlan Floyd took a Michelle Pfeiffer (five-fa) last week, and could get a good look at knocking off the runs if those beforehand have done the job required.
Stratford however knows how to plan to win games of cricket, and with the experience of Jack Rietschel and Jack Tatterson working alongside non-playing coach Peter Morrison, nothing Longford throws at them will likely come as a surprise.
The accuracy of Rietschel and Tatterson will mean they can bowl to set fields and build constant pressure, provided they are backed up by those in the ring stopping singles.
Rosedale-Kilmany will need to bat like they’ve never batted before.
Put simply, the Warriors pretty much need to make 300 to beat Bundalaguah.
The Bulls, led by another mesmerising knock from Steve Spoljaric last weekend, would need plenty to go wrong to lose from here.
Bundalaguah will be hoping Spoljaric’s unbeaten 169 demoralised the home side, to the point where they will just be looking to save face tomorrow.
Rosedale-Kilmany’s best bet looks to be to forget about the total and just bat.
If Rohan Diamond, Brad Scott or Isaac Love can get together for a partnership, there will still be wickets the Bulls will need to work for.
Any one of those three are capable of getting a big score – the challenge will just be to get a really, really, really big score.
Bundalaguah might be a bowler short after Gayashan Munasinghe asked to get a hit in the seconds last week (promptly scoring a century), making the task a tad easier for Rosedale-Kilmany.
Even an international cricket captain isn’t too proud to play grade cricket twos.
Sale has the bye.
SMCA Women’s Mid Week T20 – Round 3 results: Bundalaguah 4/86 (M Winter 25 ret, M Wrigglesworth 25 ret) def by Longford 3/125 (D Ahern 27 ret, S Guthrie 25 ret), Stratford 2/107 (A Hancock 30 ret, K Albrecht 25, S Dixon 21*) def by Sale 1/108 (M Fry 25 ret, L Lyndon 25 ret, R Leeson 21 ret), Maffra 8/86 (J Anstee 3/2, M Grattan 2/7) def by Collegians 4/58 (D Pfeil 24, M Pendrick 3/12), Rosedale-Kilmany – BYE.
