Greenvale Kangaroos produced a better performance on Saturday than last week, but it still wasn’t enough for a Victorian Premier Cricket win against St Kilda.
Things looked promising early on for the Kangaroos when they were 2-124 but it became a struggle from there and things fell apart.
The Kangaroos lost frequent wickets – halting the runs and their momentum. They finished their overs at 9-181.
Zaheer Hussain top scored with 60.
The top four batsmen all made double figures, but just one more player passed 10 runs, which prevented a much higher score.
Kangaroos’ captain-coach Jarrod Leggett said it
“We had a really poor 20 overs in round one. We let them get off the hook and then we were 4-20.
“We were out of the game in seven to eight overs.
“This week we made a conscious effort to get off to a better start with the bat. We slowed a bit in the middle, but we still thought 180 was a competitive score.”
St Kilda looked in control for most of its innings after an opening partnership of 62. The Kangaroos hopes of early wickets were dented with Trent Waring bowling just 2.1 overs with what looked to be a knee injury
The Kangaroos had small glimpses of hope when they got a couple of quick wickets, but the Saints had the depth to get the job done. They finished 6-184, making the runs with 15 balls in hand.
Leggett said his side were right in the game until the end, but couldn’t get the job done.
“We dropped a few catches and that cost us about 40 runs, which was the difference. We were competitive for most of the overs.
“It’s pretty obvious what we need to work on.”
Kyle Adams was the pick of the bowlers for the Kangaroos, taking 2-18 off nine overs.
The Kangaroos are one of four sides without a win in the first two rounds. They next face Dandenong.
Already a big challenge, it could be a new looking bowling attack for the game.
Adams is unavailable, while the side was waiting for the outcome of Waring’s injury. Jordan Buckingham and Nathan Johnson are in contention to fill those spots.
Leggett said the focus was on continuing to improve and play consistent cricket for the whole 100 overs.
He said there had been some positives from the opening two games.
Meanwhile, the Kangaroos were smashed in a rematch of last season’s Victorian Turf Cricket Association senior division grand final with Yarraville Club.
The Kangaroos were bowled out for just 84, with only three batsmen scoring double figures.
Number 11 Jacob Thompson top scored with 24.
The Clubbers made the runs five wickets down, before continuing on to make 8-158. Gishan Sapukotana took three wickets for the Kangaroos.
