ECA: Jack Taylor scores a century as Surrey Hills upsets Mulgrave

Jack Taylor hit the president’s car on his way to another century as Surrey Hills made it three straight wins as the club unveiled it’s teenage superstar.

Surrey Hills players celebrate their win over Mulgrave. Photo: Facebook.

Surrey Hills are officially on the way back.

The Hills have now won three straight games after going two years without a win.

Their latest was a shock 29-run victory over the previously undefeated Mulgrave in the Eastern Cricket Association’s Wright Shield on Saturday in a game that had it all.

Captain and English import Jack Taylor scored 120 runs off 108 balls, his second century of the season, to help guide his side to 162.

The Gloucestershire county cricketer finished with six boundaries and eight sixes — one of which hit a car belonging to Surrey Hills president Malcolm Campbell.

Campbell labelled his skipper as a “superstar”.

“Jack is a terrific cricketer and we’re thrilled to have him,” he said.

“As good as his innings was I had Angus Napier as the man of the match for playing such an important role. He came to the crease when we were 7-89 and allowed Jack to play his shots and put on more runs.

“If he played a silly shot or did something he didn’t need to we would have been all out for under 100.

“The partnership between Jack and Gus was probably the difference in the end.

“Saturday was a huge day for our club because a lot of other sides would have been expecting us to go to Mulgrave and get beat up.”

Taylor and Nathan Buck both finished with 3-21 to help their side have the home side all out for 133.

Napier finished with 2-30 from six overs including the prize wicket of the competition’s leading run scorer Sandaruwan Rodrigo for 11.

Varun Ganeshan also pitched in with 2-23.

“Our bowling unit was terrific and it was backed up by some terrific fielding by all of our boys,” Campbell said.

“One of our coaches actually sat through every minute of our last game against Mulgrave from earlier in the season to work out plans to stop their better players.

“They’re on top of the ladder for a reason because they’ve got some amazing players. The coaches and Jack developed ideas and the bowlers stuck to their guns.

“We were able to limit their players from getting the ball into their favourite areas which had a big impact on the result.”

The win was also marked by the debut of 15-year-old Tom Tsatas, the son of the club’s games record holder George.

Tsatas finished with 0-10 from his four overs after he was presented with his first XI cap by his brother Chris before the start of play.

Campbell said the young gun had bowled “magnificently”.

“He was superbly calm for a kid on that stage against a high quality opponent,” he said.

“I thought he showed he is more than ready to compete at the level and I think we will be seeing more of him.”

The Hills now sit nine points behind fourth place Ashburton Willows as they chase an unlikely finals dream.

They’ll face St Kevins OC in their next game.

[e-mail]