By LIAM TWOMEY
FOOTSCRAY Edgewater continued its strong start to the Premier Cricket season, smashing Essendon by nine wickets.
After winning the toss, the Bulldogs sent the Bombers in to bat with immediate success.
The bowling combination of Jake Haberfield, Hamish Winter-Irving, Michael Kelly and Sunam Gautam ripped through the batting line up in a dominating performance which saw Essendon dismissed for 96 runs in the 37th over.
In reply, Footscray made light work of the total, losing just the one wicket before notching up the win in the 27th over.
Opening the batting, Dylan Kight made 52 not out while Travis Dean was also not out on 23.
Footscray captain Dean Russ was rapt with his side’s performance, particularly spin bowler Kelly who finished with 2/12 from 10 overs.
“The deck was a little bit tacky and it gave a bit to the fast bowlers,” Russ said.
“I thought Michael (Kelly) was outstanding. We thought we would get him in the game early and see how it goes and he responded fantastically. He hit really good areas and bowled with great control.
“He picked up a couple of wickets later in his spell which he really deserved.”
Saturday’s win sees Footscray secure a bonus point and move to a 4-1 win/loss record for the season.
“It was great to be able to round off the one-day fixture with a bonus point and a comprehensive win so it has been a very pleasing start to the season,” Russ said.
“We just wanted to play good cricket (through the one-day games) and we are doing that. The frustrating thing is that Richmond (round four) was very much the one that got away and there is a realistic chance that we could have been 5-0.
“That happens but to be 4-1 is outstanding and we are going into the two-day format with a lot of confidence.”
Footscray now has three two-day fixtures in a row, starting with a clash with Prahran this week.
Russ said he didn’t expect the make-up of the team to change too much in the longer format of the game.
“It is quite a good team that we have at the moment and it is a solid team,” Russ said.
“I think it is about doing what we have been doing for an extended period of time. The batsmen need to try and bat as many balls as possible and the bowlers need to focus on hitting the right areas.
“We have good options with the ball and we bat quite deep so I can’t see it changing too drastically at all.”
