Gunnedah second grade let early advantage slip at Kitchener Park

CRICKET:

Old Boys had the better of day one of the two-day cricket clash with Gunnedah at Kitchener Park, following a strong start from the hosts last Saturday.

The visitors recovered from a top-order collapse as they declared their first innings closed at 7-221 from 68 overs, before the hosts crawled to 1-18 in 13 overs.

Gunnedah had Old Boys in huge trouble at 5-44 in the 18th over, only for the hosts to wilt in the heat and lose two players to injury.

The first three Old Boys batters departed for single-figure scores, with Keaton Walters dismissing the openers before the third wicket fell to a run-out.

The next two victims were bowled, with Dinesh Goyal swishing wildly at Trent Winsor before Bradley Duprez pulled at a slow half-tracker from Jayden Winsor.

Things began to go awry for the hosts as a couple of catches were dropped behind the stumps, while Jayden Winsor injured himself at the bowling crease and was subsequently helped off the field.

Mat De Groot scored 30 before retiring due to being unwell, and then two quick wickets left Old Boys tottering at 7-103.

For the second time in as many matches at Kitchener Park, the home side failed to mop up the tail as the visiting team’s lower order again made plenty of runs.

Gunnedah had another setback in the meantime as Walters exited after he too sustained an injury while bowling.

Prasanth Yadav reached 50 with his sixth four, and went on to hit another four in his 63 not out at number nine.

Not to be outdone, Hafi Khan clubbed seven fours and two sixes as he raced to 53 not out in the undefeated 118-run partnership.

Khan’s second six took his score to 52, with the lower order pair hitting 14 runs in the 67th over and 11 in the next over before the declaration occurred.

Braith Winsor conceded just 15 runs in 11 miserly overs before being hit around in the 68th over.

Gunnedah lost Ricky Dawson in the 10th over of the run chase, before Josh Green and Josh Langdon survived the final 3.2 overs of day one.

Old Boys 7-221 declared (Prasanth Yadav 63 not out, Hafi Khan 53 not out; Keaton Walters 2-36) leads Gunnedah 1-18 (Brendan Bridges 1-1) by 203 runs on the first innings.

RIGHT: Prasanth Yadav raises his bat after posting a half-century for Old Boys against Gunnedah. He top-scored at number nine, and was involved in an unbroken century partnership.