Wendouree delivered an emphatic bowling display on day one of its Ballarat Cricket Association first grade clash with Mt Clear, knocking over the undefeated Mounties for 53.
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Mt Clear were left shocked following the relentless Red Caps performance, opening bowlers Jonty Wall and Sam Jackson set the standard from the outset and the Mounties were left wanting at 5-38.
Wendouree captain Cole Roscholler pinpointed Mt Clear star Nathan Yates as the key scalp to its chances of winning and Yates (21 runs) looked to be holding the Mounties ship afloat as his teammates crumbled around him.
But a sharp piece of fielding from Matt Smith produced the run out of Yates, which was quickly followed by another run out from Smith to dismiss Nick Baird and have Mt Clear reeling at 7-43.
The tail provided little resistance and the Mounties were all-out for 53. Wendouree then passed the total with six wickets to spare and ended the day at 5-82.
Roscholler said the performance exceeded all expectations.
“It went a bit better than expected. To bowl them out for 53, I think we bowled really well and bowled to one side of the wicket, bowled to some plans and we were probably lucky with a couple of run outs and we took our chances. But it's not everyday you're going to bowl a side like that out for 53,” Roscholler said.
"It was a really fantastic result, reward for effort, we put in the effort and we didn’t bowl that many loose deliveries and built a lot pressure and took our chances when they came.”
Roscholler said the pitch was playing a little bit “low and slow”, but felt it was still a decent wicket for batting.
He said it was great to produce such an even team display and allow the Mounties little to work with. The side will discuss its options for next weekend during the week, but it is in a commanding position.
"We'll sit down and discuss this as a group, but at this stage we'll just bat and see how the game pans out from there.
"Get yourself in and then if you get a loose delivery, put it away and run really well between the wickets.
"If you run well between the wickets you release that pressure because you're always ticking over the scoreboard, that's a really big focus for us.
"We were very even across the board, there was no player that took more than three wickets or made more than 30, at this stage, so as a team performance I couldn't be more pleased.”