Dolphins go down to St George despite scintillating start from Rowe

EASTS Dolphins slumped to another defeat under a star-studded St George bowling assault at Waverley Oval on Sunday.

EASTS Dolphins slumped to another defeat under a star-studded St George bowling assault at Waverley Oval on Sunday.

Under overcast skies, the Dolphins won the toss and elected to field in the one-day encounter and the move paid dividends.

Opening paceman Nathan Rowe took four wickets in his first two spells to leave the Saints at 6-69 in the 29th over.

An 86-run partnership for the 7th wicket halted the momentum but Rowe returned for two more scalps to finish with an impressive 6-42 from 9.3 overs.

St George were all out for 179 in the final over.

Although only chasing a modest total, Easts still faced a difficult challenge with St George's pace attack, including international experience in the form of Trent Copeland and Josh Hazlewood.

The pace duo revelled in the seamer-friendly conditions, knocking over four Easts batsmen in the first 10 overs, including Blues wicketkeeper Peter Nevill (10) and Middlesex opener Sam Robson (7).

Hazlewood tore through the order and finished with 5-18 from 8.4 overs.

Easts were bundled out for 113, which included a 55-run partnership for the last wicket from Daniel Rootes (37 not out) and Nathan Rowe (20).

On Saturday, day one of Easts' two-day match against Hawkesbury was washed out. This Saturday's 120 overs will make up for some of the lost time.