Premier Cricket: Unsung duo Chris Moore and Jack Rudd lead Fitzroy Doncaster to win over Kingston Hawthorn
Two of Fitzroy Doncaster’s unsung heroes stood tall on Saturday as the Lions blew Kingston Hawthorn off Schramms Reserve.
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Two of Fitzroy Doncaster’s unsung heroes stood tall on Saturday as the Lions blew Kingston Hawthorn off Schramms Reserve.
The first v 18th clash delivered no surprises as Fitzroy Doncaster strolled to an eight-wicket win.
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Two of the Lions unsung heroes stood tall, with Chris Moore (3-24 off 10) and Jack Rudd (3-25 off eight) helping bowl Kingston Hawthorn out for just 125 in the 47th over.
Eight of Kingston Hawthorn’s batsmen were removed for four or less, with Ramneet Dhindsa (34), Akshay Kodoth (33) and Ryan Ninan (32 not out) the only bats to make any scores of note.
Rudd then posted his fourth consecutive half-century as the Lions reached the target in the 34th over for the loss of just two wickets.
A triple-figure score couldn’t be far away for Rudd — he is Fitzroy Doncaster’s leading runscorer with 309 runs for the season at an average of 51.5.
The opener shared an 84-run opening-wicket stand with Zak Elliott (34) and finished unbeaten on 67, hitting 4 fours and 2 sixes off 81 deliveries.
“He’s looking really comfortable at the crease and four 50s in a row, hopefully he can turn that into a big hundred in the two-day games in the next couple of weeks,” Fitzroy Doncaster captain Ejaaz Alavi said.
“He’s got a lot of consistency now, he knows where he’s batting every week so he can really set his mind to it and he is in a good headspace.”
In search of wickets, Kingston Hawthorn used nine bowlers in just 33.3 overs.
Peter Dickson returned from a calf injury, but the Lions were still missing Andrew Perrin (side strain) and Sam Elliott, who was on Victoria under-19s duties.
Despite missing some starpower in the opening seven games, the Lions sit atop the Premier Cricket table with a 6-1-1 record.
“It’s just the way we like to play at Fitzroy. We just like doing the basics as well as possible and trying not to have standout players,” Alavi said. “If everyone contributing when they need to when the ball is in their hand or when they’ve got the bat in their hand, that’s what we like to see.
“It’s not about someone taking five-for or making a hundred, it’s all about contributions.”
Fitzroy Doncaster is at Camberwell next weekend.
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