VTCA: Maribyrnong Park St Mary’s stun Aberfeldie in T20 clash

Maribyrnong Park St Mary’s recorded one of the great VTCA upsets on Tuesday night, beating a side who play four divisions higher. Here’s why it was no surprise to the Lions.

On paper, it looked set to be a one-sided contest.

Except no one told Maribyrnong Park St Mary’s.

The Victorian Turf Cricket Association Division 4 club produced one of the upsets of the season, beating Senior Division powerhouse Aberfeldie by five wickets in the opening round of the Twenty20 competition on Tuesday night.

But according to Lions skipper Daniel Stavris his side never believed their backs were up against the wall.

The Lions themselves had four wins from four to start their own season.

“We always thought we were a chance (despite the difference in divisions),” Stavris said.

“We’ve been going pretty well ourselves so it was a matter of just putting it together. It’s good to know we’re able to stack it up with some of the Senior Division sides.

“The boys will take a confidence away from that game for the rest of the season.”

Aberfeldie’s much changed line-up still featured several First XI stars including Tallan Wright who top scored with 52 runs to guide his side to 6-122 from their 20 overs.

Stavris was the main threat with the ball taking 4-14.

Lions’ openers Jonathon Grant (41 runs off 39 balls) and Hareen Silva (29 off 31), who is the club’s marquee signing for this competition, took the game away from the hosts with a 74-run partnership.

Despite losing 4-14 in the middle part of the innings, Stavris always felt his side were in control of the contest.

Maribyrnong Park St Mary's celebrate an early wicket. Photo: Aberfeldie CC/YouTube.

“I thought our variation with the ball was excellent, we stuck to a plan and it worked,” he said.

“I was fortunate to grab a few wickets and that came from the pressure at the other end, I was lucky. Johnny was fantastic during the run chase, he was about 2 off 15 and just exploded.

“Hareen did a perfect job of just rotating the strike. When we were 0-70 I thought we were always in control and were only going to lose if we lost 10 wickets.

“Stephen Maulden deserves credit for his effort in the field as well. He took a couple of catches and really got us going.”

The Lions will return to one-day action this weekend with games against Williamstown Colts (Saturday) and Gellibrand (Sunday).

In another T20 clash, Footscray United caused an upset of their own with a 44-run win over Sunshine United.

The Division 2 ladder leader posted 7-134 from its 20 overs with Munas Mohamed leading the way with 34 runs before he was run out.

United was then all out for 90 as Shafraz Mohamed led the way with 3-12.