VSDCA 2018-19: Mount Waverley books its finals berth after a three-wicket win over Kew
Kew slumped to its fifth consecutive defeat after a three-wicket loss at the hands of the finals-bound Mount Waverley, leaving its finals chances hanging by a thread.
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It was a tale of one team on the rise and the other on the slide.
Kew slumped to its fifth consecutive defeat on Saturday after a three-wicket loss at the hands of the finals-bound Mount Waverley at Victoria Park.
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Mt Waverley recovered from 4-72 to reel in Kew’s total of 202 for the loss of seven wickets, booking its place in the North/East group finals.
Now all that remains to be seen is how high a seeding the Roos can gain, while Kew is left scrambling for a top-six berth in the final month of the season.
Kew entered the VSDCA campaign as one of the sides to beat after last season’s grand final appearance, starting the summer in brilliant fashion with four wins in the first month to sit at the top of the ladder.
But Kew has since lost its past five games to sit two wins outside the finals equation with three games (two two-day and one one-day matches) remaining before finals.
Fixtures against top six sides Brunswick and Noble Park will make its task even more challenging.
Alex hits a 4 and the winning runs for the win at Kew #goroos
— Mt Waverley CC (@mtwaverleycc) January 26, 2019
Kew captain Chris Weeks said his side needed to win its remaining three games to be any chance of playing finals, sitting nine points behind Box Hill and Brunswick.
“Obviously we’re relying on results to go our way,” Weeks said.
“We’re in this position because we haven’t played good enough, we’ve been beaten by teams that have been better than us.
“Our best cricket is good enough but we just haven’t produced it on a consistent basis. We’ve only got ourselves to blame.”
Captain Andy Power (18) and Michael Millier (33) shared a 50-run opening stand before the Roos lost 4-22 to be teetering at 4-72.
At that stage the contest was in the balance, but teenager Angus Robbins held the middle-order together with a knock of 41.
Robbins was supported by Kurt Benjamin (21) and lower-order pair Jake Rigby (35 not out) and Ben Hocking (21) as Mt Waverley reached the target in 67 overs.
The result lifted Mt Waverley to a 7-3 record, equal on 42 points with Plenty Valley and Noble Park.
Weeks said his side was in the contest but could not capitalise on a strong position.
“We did enough to win that game and they probably had the better of the conditions, the ground was a lot quicker this week and I haven’t played in a game where there has been that many plays and misses,” he said.
“Cricket is a strange game, when things are going against you, it seems to happen more often than not. There’s other games where all those plays and misses are edges and we’re sitting here talking a different story.”
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