Greenvale Kangaroos are on the board in Premier Cricket 2019-20
Nerveless bowling at the death and three half-centuries with the bat have helped Greenvale Kangaroos post their first Premier Cricket victory of the season and coach Kaushal Silva believes more are to come.
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Greenvale Kangaroos coach Kaushal Silva believes their nail-biting four-run victory over Northcote can spark the club’s season.
The Kangaroos prevailed in a thrilling Premier Cricket one-dayer at Greenvale Reserve as the Dragons’ run chase fell agonisingly short.
“Winning gives you confidence, so it’s important,” Silva said.
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“I thought from the start of the season to now we’ve been improving every game and it’s recognition for the hard work the boys are doing.
Northcote needed 11 runs from the final over to snatch the win, but young paceman Liam Fitzsimmons was the hero, holding his nerve under immense pressure.
Fitzsimmons finished with 2-29 from eight overs, including the critical wicket of Lachlan Fitzpatrick (31 off 22) in the final over after he had threatened to steal the win.
Half-centuries from Zaheer Hussain, Connor Hayes and Silva had put Greenvale in a strong position after being sent in.
Skipper Michael Stretton added 34 as the Kangaroos posted a competitive 6-230 from their 50 overs.
“Zaheer and Connor batted really well at the top of the innings,” Silva said.
“The track was a bit tacky … in the first 10 overs but Z battled through.
“Connor came in about the 25th over and batted through, which was a really key point, he played the anchor role.”
A brilliant bit of fielding by Silva put Greenvale in the box seat early in Northcote’s innings, running out Dragons’ star batsman Josh Sundberg for a duck.
Hussain (2-34) and Humza Ali (2-31) then combined to remove Mark Phelan (69) and Elliot Brandon-Jones (41) as Northcote collapsed from 2-98 to 6-147.
Dragons skipper Blayde Baker finished unbeaten on 40 as the visitors finished 8-226.
“We won the game at the start, we bowled the first 15 overs for not even 40 runs, which was crucial,” Silva said.
“(Northcote) fought hard until the end and the last overs were quite tense but Fitz and Sean bowled really well that the death.”
The Kangaroos return to Greenvale Reserve this weekend for the start of a two-day clash against Ringwood.