Premier Cricket 2021-22: Undermanned Camberwell Magpies upset Melbourne Uni

They had to battle on without key men, but it didn’t stop the Camberwell Magpies romping to their best victory this Premier season on Saturday.

They had to do it without key personnel, but the Camberwell Magpies pulled off perhaps their most rousing victory this season.

The 16th-placed ‘Pies dealt a huge blow to Melbourne University’s finals hopes on Saturday, with their 159 runs enough to hold off the visitors, knocked over for 106.

Star veteran Andrew Fekete withdrew on the Friday due to a medical emergency, while First XI coach Ben Ryan was forced into COVID-19 isolation and couldn’t attend the match.

Ryan said the fast-bowler had been struck down with appendicitis and would miss the final rounds.

“He didn’t train all week, he was in doubt, and we didn’t know what it was until Friday, they picked it up in a scan and he went in for surgery,” Ryan said.

“I’m sure it buoyed him a bit when he saw the results.”

Andrew Fekete will miss the rest of the season. Picture: Georg Sal

Openers Chris Thewlis (29 runs off 21 balls) and skipper Ben Rowles (14 off 26) combined for 45 runs before Spencer Wood (30 off 47) and Liam Fitzpatrick (40 off 80) took control with a 47-run stand, on a wicket the coach described as “difficult”.

“Those two partnerships were very important in the context of the game. On that wicket, 159 was above par,” Ryan said.

All-rounder Jeremy Peacock stood out for University with 4-23 off 10 overs, while Andrej Yaksender top-scored with 52 not-out off 102 balls in his side’s chase.

But Will Walker and Dhruv Redhu made light work of most of the University batting order, with 3-12 and 3-21 off seven and 7.4 overs respectively.

Shubham Bhargave of the Camberwell Magpies celebrates a wicket with Ben Rowles. Picture: Georg Sal

Meanwhile, Magpies’ keeper Ben Shields took four catches – with three coming from University’s top-order.

Ryan couldn’t fault his side’s performance against a 10th-placed Melbourne University desperately needing to win to stay in touch with the top eight. University is now two matches outside the eight with two rounds to play.

“They (Melbourne University) were fighting for a position in the finals, so to knock them off and pretty much end their hopes, it’s tremendous for the boys’ confidence,” he said.

“It was a dominating performance, we didn’t just beat them, we beat them comfortably in all areas of the game I thought.”

Despite a 3-10-1 win-loss record this season, Ryan believes his charges have been “competitive in all bar one game” this season.

“Our depth and talent is extremely good – most of it’s young talent and with that you’ll get fluctuations with how consistent they play,” he said.

“For me it’s been all about understanding and getting to know the boys, understanding their strengths and helping them develop or use those strengths to be more consistent in their output. I think we’ve made some good gains there.”

The Camberwell Magpies meet Richmond away this Saturday.