Under-17s win with dominant bowling performance

 

After losing the toss and being sent in to bat on day one, Victoria batted for 95.4 overs to compile a patient total of 174.

An early 50-run partnership from opener Nicholas King (32) and skipper Will Pucovski (27) set the platform for the innings, before another equally valuable stand between Damon Egan (33) and Ryan Hartley (34) steadied the ship in the latter stages.

Victoria came out firing on day two, quickly ripping through Queensland’s top order and finding themselves in familiar territory with the batting side stuck at 3-15.

In round two, Victoria had ACT/NSW Country 3-9 before letting them off the hook and allowing them to post a good total.

This was not the case against a fragile Queensland batting line-up that simply could not recover. Victoria refused to take the foot off the pedal and in quick time had them reeling at 5-24.

Jonah Koch and Josh Hudson did most of the early damage taking two wickets each before the lunch break.

After the interval it was much of the same – consistent wickets fell as the Vics simply didn’t allow the batsmen to settle before they were ultimately all out for just 72.

All six Victorian bowlers finished with impressive figures for the innings, led by Koch (3-14 off 10), Hudson (3-11 off 8.1) and Sam Grimwade (2-12 off 10) who came into the attack to dismiss Queensland’s two highest scorers.

Xavier Crone picked up an early wicket to finish with super-economical figures of 1-13 from 11 overs, Blake Thomson took 1-0 from his two overs and Blake Parsons went for just four runs from his four overs.

In the hope of a potential outright win, Victoria sent Queensland in to bat again but

failed to have the same impact. After 33 overs and only a first-innings result on the cards, the game was called off with Queensland out of trouble at 3-77.

Grimwade, Parsons and Hudson all added one wicket each to their tournament tallies.

With this impressive first-innings win, Victoria gain six championship points and now find themselves fourth on the table and in the hunt again.

A big win over seventh-placed South Australia in a two-day game on Sunday and Monday will be pivotal in keeping Victoria’s tournament hopes alive.