Tara Murray
Melton South Royals are hoping to find some consistency in the lead up to the break in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association Evans-Clark Shield.
The Royals have been in every match so far this season, but haven’t been able to put a full innings together with the bat or ball, winning just one match so far.
Royals coach Blake Ivory said a little bit more consistency would help the side take another step forward.
“We’re bowling well, but we’ve had lapses,” he said. “We haven’t been as consistent with the bat and ball as we would have liked.
“We felt like we should have had the win last week against Bellbridge and we let that slip. We were good for 80 per cent of the game, but that 20 per cent we dropped off.
“Yesterday [Saturday] we were good for 80 per cent again.”
Ivory said having played many of the teams in division 5 the past few seasons, they felt confident at this level.
He said the biggest difference in the higher division was the depth, with less of a gap between the top and bottom sides.
“There’s no easy games,” he said. “We’ve been competitive against the top sides.”
Ivory said play was pretty even after day one of their match with Gellibrand.
Gellibrand was bowled out for 157 in the 62nd over with the Royals finishing day one at 3-26.
“We were pretty happy with the bowling,” he said. “We were able to peg them back and we were happy with where we ended up.
“The only disappointing thing was a couple of late wickets. We’re confident we can chase them down.”
Sameera Vithana was the star with the ball, taking 7-57 off his 22 overs.
Ivory said they were confident that they could get the job done this Saturday. The side will also be in action on Sunday against Moonee Valley, in a rescheduled round one clash.
He said they were hoping some key moments would go their way and help set up their season as they look to add to their one win for the season.
“Gellibrand and Moonee Valley are the two sides to beat,” he said.
“It’s a good test for us and if we can get a couple of wins and then there’s one more game before Christmas, it will give us a good springboard.”
In the Russell Pollock Shield, Burnside Springs United is on top after day one against Jacana.
Burnside bowled Jacana out for just 77. It will resume at 0-4 after facing one over at the end of day one.
Melton Centrals have a chase on their hands against Barkly St Uniting. Barkly St made 8-314 from its 80 overs.
In senior division, Sydenham Hillside is 1-43 in reply to Sunshine United’s 113, while in division 3, Caroline Springs was bowled out for 212 against Maribyrnong Park St Mary’s.
