Firsts’ finals hopes in tatters
THE Maccabi AJAX First XI’s dreams of reaching the finals took a near-fatal hit on the weekend, as they failed to chase down Sacred Heart’s total of 114, losing on first innings points at Gary Smorgon Oval.
THE Maccabi AJAX First XI’s dreams of reaching the finals took a near-fatal hit on the weekend, as they failed to chase down Sacred Heart’s total of 114, losing on first innings points at Gary Smorgon Oval.
In other action, the Seconds recorded a solid win, while the Fourths continued their stellar run of form.
The Firsts began the second day of their match against Sacred Heart nine wickets down, still needing 20 runs for the win. And when the fielding side dropped a simple chance early, it looked like it might have been Maccabi’s day.
But it wasn’t to be, as the visitors’ strike bowler took the final wicket – his seventh – with the Firsts bundled out for 97.
The hosts then needed nine wickets to dismiss their opposition, who had one player from the first week missing. It was the spinners who did the damage early on, with Dean Wiener and David Majtlis scoring important breakthroughs.
Majtlis (4-33) and Simon Morawetz (2-15) then combined to have Sacred Heart at 8-84, but the final wicket proved the hardest to take, with a handy partnership lifting the target to 121.
The Firsts were left with just 16 overs to chase the runs, which proved a task too large.
The Second XI needed only 10 runs to secure first innings points against Monash Uni Gryphons, which Leon Jacobs (25) and Paul Litinsky went on to pass on their way to 113.
Batting again, Monash Uni cruised to 0-69, before Simeon Goldenberg turned the match on its head, claiming six wickets as the home side lost 7-18.
Litinsky grabbed two wickets of his own as the Seconds made a strong push for outright victory, but in the end there was not enough time as their opposition fell for 122.
The Thirds slumped to a heavy outright defeat against the Reds. Facing the impossible mission of chasing 304 for victory, the Thirds offered no resistance with the bat and were bundled out quickly for 48 and again for 56.
The Silver Arc Fourth XI continued its charge to finals with a crushing win over Canterbury. A scintillating unbeaten 72 from Osher Klein was the highlight of a strong team performance.
Electing to bat, the Fourths were in trouble at 3-33, before Klein joined Dovi Paltiel (47) at the crease to combine for a glorious 102-run partnership that set the team on the path for victory.
Josh Jones pitched in with a handy 13 late in the innings, as the Fourths cruised to 5-175.
It was then the Jones show with the ball, as Ian (4-4), along with sons Benjamin (3-9) and Josh (2-3) tore through the visiting batsmen to have the opposition dismissed for 93.
The Firsts play Melbourne Cobras in a one-dayer at 12.30pm on Sunday at Fawkner Park, Oval 5 (Melway: 2L C7).
AJN Staff
Photo: Peter Haskin
comments