Mitchell Cricket Council came close to taking out all three of their Western Zone Inter-Council contests against Lachlan Valley on Sunday, winning two of the season-openers convincingly and fighting for a gallant defeat in the other.
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Mitchell’s under 12s and under 14s proved far too good for their Lachlan counterparts while the the short-staffed under-16 Black Caps, missing the likes of Orange’s Blake Weymouth and Hugh Middleton, went down by four wickets.
It was a great display of maturity by the youngest of the Black Caps sides, who find themselves in dire trouble early with the bat having slumped to 3-4 after Tom Blowes, Thomas Hitchenson and Ruben Newton were all dismissed without scoring.
A crucial, fourth-wicket partnership between Orange’s Hugh Taylor (69) and Bathurst’s Cooper Stephen (48) proved Mitchell’s saving grace though, they added more than 100 to lead their side to a respectable 8-182.
Then, led by Stephen’s haul of 3-7, Mitchell skittled the hosts for just 99 in reply.
“We didn’t start off too well,” Mitchell coach Garth Dean said.
“A lot of the discussion with the kids was about batting the overs out, and I said if we lose early wickets then you’ve got to find a way to build a partnership and get us into the second half of the innings.
“Within five minutes of having that talk we were 3-4, but then it panned out that way with a partnership of 104 between Hugh and Cooper. That got us back on track.
“It could easily have gone sour and we could have been all out for 60 with a start like that. They climbed out of it and posted a very good score for under 12s, because the pitch was holding up a bit.”
Dean said the score wasn’t an accurate reflection of Lachlan’s quality.
“Lachlan were very good. Their opening bats were strong and got off to a quick start,” Dean said.
“Murray Staines (1-13) got our first wicket then after that the bowling was very steady. They were always behind the mark from that point and the pressure starting to build on them chasing five an over.”
Mitchell’s under 14s scored an easy, eight-wicket win, with Bathurst’s Blake Kreuzberger (53) leading their successful chase of 117.
After being rolled for just 82 the under-16 Black Caps were in danger of a massive defeat with Lachlan sitting pretty at 0-48 in reply. Mitchell fought back to take six of the hosts’ wickets, but Lachlan steadied themselves to win with four in the bank.
Bathurst hosts the next Inter-Council round on Sunday, when Mitchell faces Macquarie in all three age groups.
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