Burly left-arm quick Ed Morrish continued his purple patch on Saturday afternoon, snaring four wickets to put his Orange City side firmly in the box seat of its round nine Orange District Cricket Association clash against Centrals.
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Although, he can consider himself horribly unlucky he didn’t claim his second five-wicket haul of the season.
With his last ball, Morrish beat Centrals bat Nick Sharp all ends up and looked to have his fifth scalp when the ball clipped the outside of the off stump.
But, while both bails were knocked free of one of their grooves neither was fully dislodged from the stumps, they balanced precariously on top instead.
It wasn’t the only strange thing to happen in the game either, it also featured one of the rare dismissals cricket has to offer.
After working his way to a hard-fought 69, Centrals gun Nick Dunlop nailed a pull shot off Warriors spinner Josh Cheney but cleaned up his stumps in his follow-through – out, hit wicket.
“Both those instances certainly kept things interesting,” Orange City skipper Craig Rogan said.
Dunlop’s half-ton was the only real highlight for Centrals at Wade Park on Saturday. Morrish (4-27), Cheney (3-51) and Jackson Coote (3-17) cleaned up to roll the red and blacks for 138.
Although, Centrals skipper Daryl Kennewell did pick up Dave Boundy (0) in his first over to leave the Warriors 1-0 overnight. The game was halted because of the rain when Boundy fell, no more play was possible.
“The boys bowled excellently, they were nice and tight, well disciplined and bowled to their fields,” Rogan said.
“Ed was particularly good, he had his tail up right from the start and was unplayable at times.”
Morrish picked up Dean Turner (0) with the first ball of the game and then Jack Dodds (4) in the first over as well, to put Orange City on the front foot.
“Losing Dave wasn’t ideal, but you’ll never have everything go your way,” Rogan said.
“We’re still very confident of running that down, partnerships are key in the chase.”