Saints, Hallam in tight tussle

IT was a tight start in the battle between two of the fiercest archrivals in the Dandenong and District Cricket Association, Hallam and St Mary’s, on the weekend.
On a mild and overcast Saturday afternoon, Hallam captain Steve Chapman won the toss and elected to bat after a thorough inspection of the pitch.
The Saints opened the bowling with South Africanborn English import Jonathan Nolan and Emanuel Coomaraswamy.
The two bowled a consistent line and length, but while they kept the runs to a minimum could not get the vital breakthrough St Mary’s needed.
It was not until after tea interval that the first wicket finally came after the Hallam openers batted slowly but effectively to pile on 125.
Turf One rookie Brett Peters looked especially promising showing an elegant touch in his batting.
The 18yearold’s technique showed he was already adept at this level and hinted if the outfield was not as lush he could have made his maiden Turf One century.
Chapman is always the key to Hallam and his wicket was fiercely sought by the St Mary’s attack.
He batted superbly, however, and remained unbeaten, steering Hallam to a total of 232 after the last wicket fell in the final over of the day.
For the Saints, veteran Cam McDonnell was the best of the bowlers taking a welldeserved 4/63 off 23.2 overs.
New recruit Ash Henry also bowled well for the Saints, snaring 3/64 from 22 overs, and provided added value with his sharp fielding.
St Mary’s will go into next week confident after scoring 7/221 against the strongest bowling attack in the league in Springvale South last match, but is aware of the dangerous Andrew Lee who at his unpredictable best can rip through a side.
Chapman is another bowler the Saints will be wary of and will look to negate his influence as much as possible.
With the evergreen Saint Troy Cashman in a rich vein of form anything is possible, but he will need support from a middle order hungry for runs.