Gunnedah had a promising start to the Tamworth District Cricket Association (TDCA) season last Saturday as the second, third and fourth grade teams recorded victories.
Meanwhile the first graders were competitive against the Bective East Bulls at Wolseley Park, only for the Bulls to win by 56 runs.
Bective East tallied 171 runs for the loss of six wickets in its 40 overs, before Gunnedah began the run chase strongly and then fell apart.
Gunnedah’s Sam Doubleday had great figures of 3-25 from eight overs, and then top-scored in the run chase with 29 as an opener.
A catch from Doubleday off Peter McCormack left Bective East 1-27 in the ninth over, before Ben Taylor and Jye Paterson lifted the tempo as 11 runs came in the 16th over and 15 in the following over.
Doubleday broke through twice in the 22nd over with the total on 97, with the bowler holding a catch before McCormack held the next one.
Paterson passed 50 with a boundary but was dismissed soon after when he too was caught-and-bowled by Doubleday, leaving the Bulls 4-110 in the 26th over.
Adam Jones hit two sixes in his 31 off 30 balls, before becoming the first of Izaak Merlehan’s two victims.
Merlehan’s second wicket came from the final ball of the 38th over, before 10 runs were scored in the final two overs of the innings.
Gunnedah had an electrifying start to the run chase as the first over yielded 18 runs, with Jake Everett bowling to Kyle Gallen.
Gallen hit the first ball for four and the last ball for six, while there were a pair of twos and four sundries in between.
Jake Everett’s second over meanwhile was a maiden, with Doubleday on strike.
Forty-one runs were on the board in the eighth over when Gallen was bowled for 26, and then Justin Carter’s exit left Gunnedah 2-56 after 12 overs.
Cooper Jones’s dismissals of Keaton Walters and Doubleday left Gunnedah wobbling at 4-70, before the next three wickets fell at 84, 98 and 104.
Taylor applied the brakes as his left-arm orthodox spinners gave up only 13 runs in eight overs, while he also captured one wicket.
Brad Gander stood helplessly at the non-striker’s end as the final three wickets fell in the space of five balls in the 33rd over, with Liam Griffiths rattling the stumps each time.
Gunnedah will take on Old Boys at Riverside this Saturday, after the latter team had a bye last weekend.
Bective East 6-171 (Jye Paterson 53; Sam Doubleday 3-25, Izaak Merlehan 2-41) defeated Gunnedah 115 (Sam Doubleday 29, Kyle Gallen 26; Liam Griffiths 4-17, Cooper Jones 2-9, Jye Paterson 2-22) by 56 runs.
