Premier Cricket: Footscray spinner Siddhesh Dixit grabs 5-30 in win over Kingston Hawthorn
Emerging Footscray spinner Siddhesh Dixit bamboozled Kingston Hawthorn to claim his maiden five-wicket haul in just his ninth First XI appearance.
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Emerging Footscray spinner Siddhesh Dixit bamboozled Kingston Hawthorn on Saturday to claim his maiden five-wicket haul in just his ninth First XI appearance.
The 19-year-old collected 5-30 from 10 probing overs in the Premier Cricket one-day fixture to lead the Dogs to a thumping 128-run victory at Merv Hughes Oval.
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Dixit, who is in his second summer with Footscray, entered the match with five wickets to his name this season before doubling his tally.
Dogs coach Stan Nell was elated for the left-arm orthodox spinner, who justified the club’s faith in him as their No. 1 slow bowler.
“He’s terrific with the white ball,” Nell said.
“He’s basically at the moment the best spinner we’ve got.
“He’s still in the development phase of his bowling and he’s going to keep developing I think for the next five or six years.
“By no stretch of the imagination is he the finished product yet.
“But for him to come up with a performance like that is just terrific for the club.
“(Footscray captain) Dylan Kight’s faith in him has been repaid. Dylan’s got a pretty good eye for a cricketer.”
Dixit previously spent two seasons at Greenvale Kangaroos and has nailed down a spot in Footscray’s First XI in 2018-19.
Nell, a former coach at Greenvale, said the young gun was “fairly aggressive on the field”.
“He’s got that fire in his belly. He might be of Indian origin but he plays like a genuine Australian,” he said.
Footscray posted a formidable 4-266 on the back of Dean Russ’s 107, his third century of the campaign, and Travis Dean’s 68.
Matthew Underwood also made 46 in a 121-run opening stand with Russ.
Kingston Hawthorn crumbled to be all out for 138 in 41 overs, with Hamish Winter-Irving (3-25), Jack Sheppard (1-18) and Lucas Dredge (1-21) also grabbing wickets.
The Dogs remain a faint chance of contesting finals, sitting in 15th spot with three wins.
Their run home includes fixtures against Essendon (third), Camberwell Magpies (10th), Frankston Peninsula (16th), Dandenong (ninth) and Greenvale Kangaroos (17th).
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