A Chris Spinella century and Kyle Adams five-for inspire St Bernard’s’ big win

Kyle Adams made the dream debut as St Bernard’s VSDCA captain-coach and Chris Spinella smashed an unbeaten century to thump Preston.

Chris Spinella in action for St Bernard's v Plenty Valley. Picture: Andy Brownbill

New St Bernard’s captain-coach Kyle Adams made a five-wicket debut and Chris Spinella smashed an unbeaten century as the Snowdogs made the “perfect” start to the VSDCA season.

Spinella’s 136 not out and Adams’ 5-29 were the catalysts for the 169-run win over Preston at Murphy Oval.

Boom recruit Rory Collins added 51 in his first appearance and took a sharp catch behind the stumps and spinner Ameya Gharat took a stunning 3-6 as the Snowdogs ran rampant.

Adams labelled it the “perfect” performance but wouldn’t allow his team to get cocky.

“We’re certainly not getting ahead of ourselves, everything just clicked for us, and hopefully it gets the momentum going for the season,” he said.

Death, taxes and a @spazie27 ton on opening day! Huge wins for the 1s, 3s and 4s to kick off the season! @SubbiesCricketpic.twitter.com/p2VZK7QL1p

— St. Bernards OCCC (@sboccc) November 20, 2021

Kyle Adams crossed from Greenvale Kangaroos. Picture: Arj Giese

Rory Collins switched from Plenty Valley. Picture: Hamish Blair

“For Rory to get 50, he set the tone, then Chris whacked it with some really clean hitting, he picked his shots really well.

“Having someone like Rory come across, it takes a lot of pressure off Chris.

“It allows him to play his natural game and not think he needs to get all the runs, the batting depth frees him up to take a few more chances when he needs to.

“To lose the toss and get sent in and get 260 was an amazing effort, it makes it much easier to bowl when you’ve got runs on the board.”

The ton was Spinella’s first since 2018-19, when he hit 101 against Box Hill, and second highest score of his Subbies career.

He put on 107 runs for the third wicket with Collins who was making his Snowdogs debut after crossing from North group rival Plenty Valley.

Collins continuing his fine form from last season when he scored 552 runs an at average of 42.46, ranking fifth in the competition.

Setting Preston 4-263, St Bernard’s were always in the box seat and Adams struck early having Alex Maratos caught by Spinella for one.

Aaron Smillie in action for St Bernard's. Picture: Julian Smith

Playing his first game for a club other than Greenvale Kangaroos since 2013-14, Adams picked up the Bullants’ top three batsman.

Gharat then ran through the middle order and he returned to clean up the tail.

Reforming a successful partnership with old Greenvale new ball partner Aaron Smillie, Adams considered himself lucky.

“Bowling wise, it’s the best I’ve felt in a couple of years after I dislocated my shoulder,” he said.

“When I played with Aaron at Greenvale we had a really good partnership and I managed to get a lot of wickets but I think he set a lot of it up for me by keeping it tight at the other end.

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“Teams tried to target me a little more and maybe got some cheap ones.

“He doesn’t get the rewards he deserves because he’s definitely our best bowler, he sets the standards and is vital to everyone taking wickets.

“We knew (Michael) Stretton and Upul (Bandara) were the big wickets, they were always in the game if those two got on a roll, so to get them and run through the middle order and tail was really pleasing.”

St Bernard’s will look to back up the season-opening win when its travels to Balwyn this Saturday, the Tigers coming off a big win over Coburg.