Bacchus Marsh has tuned up for the GDCA McIntyre Cup finals series with a resounding victory over fourth-placed Sunbury United.
After toiling away last week to register 184, Bacchus Marsh made short work of the Sunbury United batting line-up, taking just 43 overs to dismiss it for 84.
It was clinical right from the start, with James Bailey getting the early wicket of Adam Smith (1) when he hit one to Marsh skipper Scott Wakefield.
The visitors set good fields and bowled in disciplined areas to make run-scoring difficult for United. They were soon rewarded when Mark Hooper joined the attack to prise out Greg Smith Hayes for nine. Hooper dismissed Steven Fogarty soon after.
The only batsman to look remotely comfortable was Sunbury United skipper Mark McPherson.
It was no surprise that his dismissal triggered a collapse for the home side, with Ian Spiteri joining the attack to wipe out the middle order.
Spiteri sent McPherson (37), Leif Louwen-Skovdam (0) and Lance Watts (2) back to the shed as United found itself further in trouble.
Andrew Dickinson joined the attack late but ended up with the pick of the figures, wiping out the tail to finish with 4-6 off five overs. Spiteri’s 3-15 was clinical, while Hooper’s 2-14 at the top of the order showed good signs ahead of the finals.
Wakefield says his players are feeling good about their form on the eve of finals but know they can improve.
“The boys did their job on the weekend and it was a good win, but we’ve just got to keep winning and maintaining our form,” he said.
“I still don’t think we’ve put together that full game yet.
“We’ve bowled well or batted well but haven’t brought it all together.
“It looks like we’ll play Sunbury in the semi-final. Though we’ve struggled against the top two teams, I think if we can bring our batting and bowling together we’ll be hard to beat.”
