One of its more even batting performances of the year carried Bacchus Marsh to a defendable score at the end of the first day of the McIntyre Cup clash with Woodend on Saturday.
No player scored more than 41 yet only one player failed to reach double figures as Bacchus Marsh posted a solid 9-238 off its 80 overs.
Woodend won the toss, but little else on the day as Marsh started well with an opening stand of 45 between Tom McColl (13) and Peter Lalor (30) setting the pace.
They both fell within a few overs of each other, but new batsmen Scott Wakefield and Kieran Atkin made sure their good work wasn’t wasted as they consolidated with a 64-run stand.
Atkin (41) was particularly aggressive as he powered his way to the inning’s highest score, but when he, Wakefield (29) and Justin Macdonald (17) all fell, it left the home side precariously placed at 5/135.
The Bacchus Marsh lower order took to the task with aplomb, wicketkeeper Corey Golding (15) and Ian Spiteri (16) both getting starts before departing. Then Andrew Dickinson (23) and James Bailey (37 not out) put the icing on the cake late in the innings.
Even No.11 Mark Hooper chipped in with 11 not out, with Rhys Watson the unlucky batsman to miss out when he was dismissed without scoring.
Bacchus Marsh captain Wakefield was left frustrated that so many players got starts without posting a big score, but was confident they could defend the total this week.
“You expect at least one or maybe two guys to go on with it and get a big score, but no one seemed able to do that at the weekend,” Wakefield said.
“We probably ended up with a score that’s a bit below par, but having said that anything over 200 is a good score. We’ll be pretty confident we can defend that; we’ve bowled pretty well all year.”
A win for Bacchus Marsh on Saturday would virtually guarantee it a spot in this year’s finals series, but Wakefield isn’t getting ahead of himself.
“We can’t afford to drop too many games, because I think [Sunbury] United are coming for us and we want to keep that third spot,” he said.
“You just want to take winning form into the finals.”
