By Liam Twomey
SYDENHAM/Hillside cruised to an eight-wicket victory over Roxburgh Park in the North West Metropolitan Cricket Association on Saturday.
The Magpies won the toss and had no hesitation batting in the good conditions. It didn’t take long for the Sydenham bowlers to stamp their authority on the match as John Thrush made the initial break through with the score on just 14.
Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals as the Roxburgh Park batsmen struggled to build partnerships.
Bradley Lynch looked the most likely to kick on to a big score until he was caught out with the score on 63 and with that wicket, a collapse followed.
Thrush and Dean Allan ripped through the Magpies middle and lower order batsmen as Roxburgh Park lost 5/6 to be all out for 116.
Allan was the pick of the bowlers and finished with figures of 3/18 from his six overs.
The Storm run chase got off to a disastrous start with Peter Berry dismissed with the score on just four. But any hope of a miraculous fight back was quickly snuffed out when Allan backed up his outstanding bowling performance to share in a 100-run partnership with Anil Beniwal.
When Allan was eventually dismissed with the score on 110, the match was all but over as the Storm cruised to a comprehensive victory.
Beniwal was the stand-out with the bat and finished on 61 not out.
The win sees Sydenham/Hillside sit in second place on the NWMCA ladder just ahead of rival Kealba Green Gully, which also enjoyed an easy win against Pascoe Vale Central.
The Cougar’s took first use of the good conditions with the bat and they wasted no time going on the attack.
