John Thrush steams in to bowl at Pascoe Vale on Saturday. 72399 Picture: EMILY LANE
By Liam Twomey
SYDENHAM/HILLSIDE has produced a disappointing performance in the North West Metropolitan Cricket Association, losing by six wickets to Pascoe Vale Central on the weekend.
The Storm went into the match full of confidence following a great victory in round one and things looked to be going their way again as they won the toss and batted in fantastic conditions on day one.
Led by openers Anil Beniwal and James Devereux, Sydenham put on 38 runs for the first wicket, until their momentum was halted.
Pascoe Vale removed Beniwal for 37 and from there, wickets fell at regular intervals as the Storm struggled to put partnerships in place.
Damien Cordwell batted well in the middle order for 39 but when he was caught with the score on 110, the chances of a big scored walked back to the pavilion with him.
The innings came to a close at 159, in the 54th over with the Storm bowlers now set a tough task to try and save the match.
Glenn Sinnett was the pick of the Pascoe Vale bowlers and finished with the economical figures of 4/30 from 16 overs while Shariq Khan took 3/21.
After the innings break Pascoe Vale went about chasing down the modest total and despite no-one going on to make a big score they had almost everyone in their batting line-up contribute the target.
Mark Campbell was the rock throughout the innings, batting for the majority of the overs to guide his side to 160 in the 67th over for the loss of four wickets. His 48 was the top score of the match.
The early wicket of Mitchell Healy for six was the only joy the Storm got with their lack of runs making it impossible to place their opponents under pressure.
Andrew Lochhead was the pick of the bowlers, taking 2/25 from his 17 overs. Mario Buttigieg also looked dangerous, taking 1/30.
The loss leaves Sydenham/ Hillside in fifth place on the NWMCA ladder after two rounds of action.
They will look to get on the right side of the ledger this week when they host Kealba Green Gully as both sides look to cement as early place in the top four.
