Eastern Cricket Association: North Balwyn breaks through for maiden Twenty20 crown

North Balwyn gave its Dunstan Shield premiership defence a massive shot in the arm when it grabbed the association’s Twenty20 title.

On a tough evening for batting North Balwyn skipper Nitesh Patel ground out a match-winning 47. Picture: Richard Serong

North Balwyn gave its Eastern Cricket Association Dunstan Shield premiership defence a massive shot in the arm when it grabbed the first major silverware of the season, the association’s Twenty20 title, with a win over Mont Albert last weekend.

“And it’s the first time we’ve won it too, which is great for the club,” skipper Nitesh Patel said during the week.

North Balwyn won the toss at Mont Albert Reserve and, after electing to bat first, was soon in trouble after losing Elliott Forbes and Ben Torney with just 19 on the board.

Patel and Max Tomkinson then righted the ship, the skipper hammering 47 with 4 fours and a six as the Bulls posted 8-119 from their allotment of 20 overs.

Travis Baker (2-20) and Andrew Padbury (2-18) led the Mont Albert attack.

While its total seemed a little light-on, North Balwyn’s attack has been in sterling form this summer and proceeded to smash through the Mont Albert top order to have it 5-26, a position from which the hosts were unable to recover.

Padbury (38) did his best to hold the Bulls at bay but James O’Connell (4-15) and James Binney (3-20) were outstanding.

“We always knew runs would be difficult to come by,” Patel said. “To get a result you needed to get a score on the board.”

And, as has been the case for much of the summer, North Balwyn’s bowling was able to defend that total.

James Binney was again outstanding with the ball for North Balwyn Picture: Andy Brownbill

“Since Christmas they’ve all been so consistent and then one of them would take a bag of wickets,” Patel said. “As a unit they’re in pretty formidable shape. No-one likes coming up against them at the moment.

“Even when you’re struggling out in the middle, you (as a batsman) want to stick around and make a few more runs and give our bowlers something to bowl at.”

As well as the breakthrough win in the game’s shortest format, Patel said last Sunday’s success would provide plenty of momentum with the pointy end of the season looming.

“It’s a great launching pad going in to the last month,” he said. “East Doncaster and Mont Albert have really upped the ante this year.”

ECA TWENTY20 FINAL

Mont Albert v North Balwyn

Mont Albert Reserve (Sunday, February 18)

North Balwyn

BD Torney c DE Munro b TJ Baker 8

E Forbes b TJ Baker 4

M Tomkinson b JT Brown 12

N Patel c JA Guley b AR Padbury 47

J Fuller st E Wilson b DE Munro 8

J Demos c RC McClure b JT Brown 8

J Binney c JA Guley b BK Watkins 4

H Cohen not out 11

JT O’Connell c LT Power b AR Padbury 5

A O’Neill not out 0

AP Smith

Extras (nb 0, w 2, b 0, lb 7) 9

TOTAL 8-119cc

Overs 20.0

Fall: 4 (E Forbes) 19 (BD Torney) 47 (M Tomkinson) 57 (J Fuller) 70 (J Demos) 86 (J Binney) 103 (N Patel) 115 (JT O’Connell)

Bowling: TJ Baker 4-0-2-20 AR Padbury 4-0-2-18 BK Watkins 4-0-1-20 LT Power 1-0-0-8 DE Munro 3-0-1-27 JT Brown 3-0-2-9 JA Guley 1-0-0-10

Mont Albert

E Wilson c A O’Neill b J Binney 7

TJ Baker run out (E Forbes) 1

JA Joslin c M Tomkinson b BD Torney 4

BK Watkins c H Cohen b JT O’Connell 9

RC McClure c N Patel b JT O’Connell 1

JA Guley b JT O’Connell 7

JK Blair-Holt c N Patel b JT O’Connell 7

AR Padbury c H Cohen b BD Torney 38

DE Munro c H Cohen b J Binney 16

JT Brown c N Patel b J Binney 1

LT Power not out 0

Extras (nb 0, w 5, b 0, lb 2) 7

TOTAL 98

Overs 19.1

Fall: 8 (TJ Baker) 8 (E Wilson) 23 (BK Watkins) 25 (JA Joslin) 26 (RC McClure) 40 (JK Blair-Holt) 43 (JA Guley) 91 (DE Munro) 95 (JT Brown) 98 (AR Padbury)

Bowling: J Binney 4-0-3-20 A O’Neill 4-0-0-30 BD Torney 3.1-0-2-12 JT O’Connell 4-0-4-15 AP Smith 4-0-0-19

Mont Albert’s Andrew Padbury had a great game with both bat and ball