Geelong’s Hayden Butterworth takes 5/17 As The Cats Beat Melbourne By Two Wickets
A pair of last-over dramas marred Geelong Cricket Club's season opener, with the Cats' women almost pulling off a win on their first-grade debut.
Rebuilt Geelong has made a good start to the first-grade season, beating the current champion Melbourne by two wickets with two balls to spare despite losing three wickets in the final over of the game.
Cats needed 240 to win, and youthful guns Oliver Peake (69), who has played in only a handful of first-grade games, and new captain Josh Larkin (50) rescued them from 3/69 at Geelong Cricket Ground with a 106-run stand.
When Glenn Hannah took out Peake and Larkin within 11 runs of each other, it threw Geelong off balance.
Rebuilt Geelong has made a good start to the first-grade season, beating the current champion Melbourne by two wickets with two balls to spare despite losing three wickets in the final over of the game.
Cats needed 240 to win, and youthful guns Oliver Peake (69), who has played in only a handful of first-grade games, and new captain Josh Larkin (50) rescued them from 3/69 at Geelong Cricket Ground with a 106-run stand.
When Glenn Hannah took out Peake and Larkin within 11 runs of each other, it threw Geelong off balance.
Certainly, he did not appear to be out of his depth, and he looked fantastic, as Butterworth put it.
Earlier, the visitors had a strong beginning, putting up 113 runs before losing their first wicket.
However, the Cats stopped Melbourne's advance by claiming 3/17 in the midst of their innings and a staggering 5/5 in the final over thanks to some brilliant cashing in by Butterworth.
When asked about being substituted at the end of an inning, he explained, "It's feast or famine."
Thankfully, I aimed the ball where it needed to go, and they were mishitting it.
"Some days they come off, and other days they get smacked to the boundary."
Butterworth said Geelong was ecstatic to get off to a winning start against the two-day premiers from last summer.
"We took two pace bowlers into the day, and we probably got the better end of the bowling conditions," he said.
"Round 1 is also a little hit or miss; you have no idea where you stand.
They got out to an early lead, but we didn't play poorly and they were clearly the better team.
That was the biggest shock to Melbourne, which is known for its cheerful demeanor and infectious enthusiasm.
Historically, they have been able to add another 20 or 30 runs to their total of nine, ten, or eleven.
We got lucky and capitalized on our opportunities, or at least put the ball in the appropriate area, to score.
Butterworth estimated that with 10 overs remaining, Melbourne would have passed 200, giving the Cats a goal of roughly 270 to reach.
A "really good team fielding effort and bowling effort" allowed them to "actually pull it back there," he said.
In terms of fielding and bowling, "I think it's one of the better performances I've seen personally over the past 12 to 24 months."
Geelong’s women fall short in first-grade debut
The Geelong Cricket Club nearly got off to a winning start in their inaugural season of Women's Premier first grade, losing by only three runs to Essendon Maribyrnong Park in the opening round of the T20 tournament.
Cats opener Alyssa Humphries was removed leg before by newcomer Aanliya Cheeran in the fourth over on Sunday at Geelong Cricket Ground, despite Essendon winning the toss and deciding to bat.
However, Essendon's Makinley Blows and Tia Davidge put an end to the game before being broken up by teenage leg spinner Grace Jones, who dismissed Davidge for 24 and was caught by Geelong's stand-in captain, Stephanie Townsend.
The Geelong Cricket Club nearly got off to a winning start in their inaugural season of Women's Premier first grade, losing by only three runs to Essendon Maribyrnong Park in the opening round of the T20 tournament.
Cats opener Alyssa Humphries was removed leg before by newcomer Aanliya Cheeran in the fourth over on Sunday at Geelong Cricket Ground, despite Essendon winning the toss and deciding to bat.
However, Essendon's Makinley Blows and Tia Davidge put an end to the game before being broken up by teenage leg spinner Grace Jones, who dismissed Davidge for 24 and was caught by Geelong's stand-in captain, Stephanie Townsend.
When Kira Grace was out for 11 from 11 balls and wicketkeeper Bianca Deckker was out for 1, Geelong's momentum took a hit.
Despite a good 18 off 14 balls from Cheeran, Geelong needed 17 off the last over, and despite four runs in sundries, plus handy contributions from Cheeran (18 off 14 balls) and Renee Moffitt (18 off 21), the Cats fell three runs short.
Townsend praised her team's "exceptional" performance after their first varsity game.
Positives: "We will take positives from it; we bowled really well, and even our fielding was exceptional," Townsend remarked.
"We continuously want to become better, as we are learning as a group as we are very young. Obviously, this is not the result we wanted but we will focus on our next game."
Cheeran, a rookie this year, noted that her squad "really fought hard" in the preseason and was beginning to look good.
We could have done better with our batting, but it's only the first game," Cheeran added, expressing satisfaction with the team's overall performance.
Tiegan Kavanagh, who was injured but still serves as captain, said she hoped to make a comeback to the field within two weeks.
Senior coach Stephen Field praised Geelong's "brilliant" bowling attack, singling out Cheeran's "outstanding" all-around showing.
As he put it, "scoring runs on every ball is very important," the team will work to enhance its batting.
On October 15, Geelong will play Ringwood in round three.