AN OUTSTANDING bowling performance from Footscray Edgewater lifted the Bulldogs to an impressive win over Richmond in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition on Saturday. Having set the Tigers 343 for victory, it didn’t take the Footscray bowlers long to find their first wicket when play resumed.
Speedster Hamish Winter Irving removed Richmond opening batsman Andrew Chalkley to see the score crumble to 1/7.
It looked as though the Tigers had weathered the early storm though with Victorian representative Ryan Carters steering the score to 1/39.
However, Lucas Dredge and Tallan Wright were able to wrestle the momentum back for Footscray, taking two wickets for no runs to see Carters and remaining opener Jack Harper back in the pavilion.
Another fighting partnership followed from the Richmond middle order but with a huge total still needed to pull off the win, the pressure started to show.
Dredge continued his brilliant work with the ball, taking another two crucial wickets while Wes Robinson also came to the party, with three late wickets.
There was no coming back for the Tigers, as the final wicket fell with the score on 226, leaving Richmond 116 runs short of the target.
All six of the Footscray bowlers used took at least one wicket while captain Dean Russ was lively in the field, taking two catches.
Daniel Sartori top scored for Richmond with a well-made 84 not out but ran out of partners.
The win sees Footscray move to 14th on the Premier Cricket ladder with the Bulldogs win/loss ledger improving to 6/10.
In the final round of the home and away season this week, Footscray will take on Casey-South Melbourne at Mervyn Hughes Oval.
Melbourne sits on top of the Premier Cricket ladder after just two losses for the season while Prahran leads the chasing pack just three points behind.
