STEAMING IN: Kinross bowler Sam Nicholls sends one down as Orange City batsman Adam Cowden looks on. Photo: STEVE GOSCH 1020sgcrick7
ORANGE City remain undefeated on top of the Orange District Cricket Association first grade ladder following a five-wicket win over Kinross on Saturday.
Played at Kinross’ main oval, the students batted first and between opener Charles Litchfield (49) and Tom Bristow (22), Kinross looked to be assembling a decent total on a bowler-friendly pitch.
But when both fell it sparked a late-order collapse.
The last five wickets to fall for Kinross came with just 13 runs as Orange City bowlers Shaun Grenfell (4-13), Jono Warren (2-15) and Andrew Rutledge (1-13) each bowled out their eight overs cheaply and effectively.
As a result of City’s work with the ball late in the innings - Kinross managed just 23 runs from the final 11 overs - the students’ 8-113 was simply never enough.
They made Orange City sweat, however, with openers Stu Naden and Adam Cowden falling for a duck and nine respectively before Grenfell steadied the ship to guide his side to 5-115 with a knock of 48.
Although not a dominant win, Orange City knew their work with the ball was enough to get them home.
“We ended up doing it a little easier than we expected,” Rutledge said.
“We bowled really well at the start and at the end of the innings.”
Kinross player-coach Andrew Litchfield was proud of his side’s efforts in their first ODCA game of 2012-13.
“The guys were good in the field. Nick Duffy pulled off a great run out, direct hit from out near the boundary... it’s those types of things that’ll keep us in games,” Litchfield enthused.
“We bowled well, but we probably just bowled that one four-ball an over where City didn’t.
“Full credit to them, they played very well.”
Orange City will welcome back opener Matt Findlay and skipper Dave Boundy for next weekend’s game against Cavaliers.
They’re both handy additions.
But if Grenfell keeps performing the way he did on Saturday, Findlay and Boundy will have to be content in playing second fiddle to the gifted all rounder.
“He somehow always seems to have a good game against Kinross,” Rutledge said of Grenfell.
“He bowled awesome, most of us did, but batting-wise, he hasn’t had a lot of time in the middle and he looked a little scratchy there at first but the longer he was out there the better he looked.
“We’ve got Cavs then CYMS so hopefully we can get a couple of wins there leading into our bye.”