Michael Allen’s 66 for Melton was a highlight of the VSDCA first round ofTwenty20 matches for the season. 89169_04 Picture: DAMIAN VISENTINI
By ADEM SARICAOGLU
MELTON was on a mission last Tuesday evening, and the club walked away from their VSDCA Twenty20 clash against Yarraville satisfied it was accomplished.
The Lions opened their Twenty20 campaign with a dominant display just three days after suffering a humiliating one-day loss to Werribee, smashing a powerful 2/224 before restricting Yarraville to 8/130.
Nathan Allen was the star for the Lions with both bat and ball, producing an unbeaten 41 from just 18 deliveries before claiming 3/16 to be the pick of their bowlers.
David Kirk was outstanding in his unbeaten innings of 86 from 42 balls while Michael Allen (66) and Pat McKenna (28) both proved handy as well.
Coach Duncan Harrison said he was pleased with his side’s response after their effort against Werribee.
“We wanted to have a strong performance to bounce back pretty quickly and obviously the batting was our focus after batting really poorly against Werribee,” Harrison said.
“We had a really good night and everything worked out.”
Harrison admitted his side focused on ensuring they restored some respectability ahead of Tuesday’s clash.
“Straight after the Werribee game we spoke about the two opportunities for the coming week on the Tuesday and Saturday,” he said.
“We had two opportunities to go out and bat well and fight back, and we thought it was important how we fought back because that’s how you get judged.
“It’s either you have a really bad day and a bad performance, or if it lingers you’ve got things to worry about, so it was good.”
The Lions were again successful over the weekend, easily taking care of the Kingston Saints by nine wickets in a one-day game at MacPherson Park Oval.
In other results from Tuesday night Sunshine was disappointing against Williamstown, failing to chase down 9/87 and managing just 44 before getting bowled out in a low-scoring affair.
