Lyall’s Preview Round 7 v Northern District and Metro Cup

Last round against Hawkesbury produced some amazing outcomes, including a rarity in a cricket competition, let alone in our club. Two 18-year-olds took 10 wickets each in a match, in different grades on the same day!  Unheard of!! It’s a big deal for any bowler to take 10 wickets in a match. Even hat-tricks are more common. In our 23 years, 10 wickets in a match have occurred just 15 times across the 5 grades by 12 bowlers. And they were all older than 18!

The first “10-for” last week was in 5th Grade by right-arm pace bowler Kaden Warner, in his first season with the club. On day 1 of the round, he took 5-9 and on day 2, completed Hawkesbury’s 2nd innings with a 5-24 performance. He also belted 43 off 23 balls with 8 fours in his team’s first innings to ensure an outright win. His 10-33 are the best-ever figures in 5th Grade, eclipsing Nigil Singh’s 10-35 in 2014-15. Prior to the match, Kaden had taken just 7 wickets for the club—all in 5th Grade.

The second 10 wicket-taker was leg-spinner Atharv Ramakanth, who was playing his first game in 2nd Grade. He took wickets with his first, fourth and 11th balls before finishing with 5-39. In the second innings, he produced identical figures…5-39….to set up an outright chase for his team which was missed by just 8 runs after the Hawks last wicket put on 24. His 10-78 ranks only behind another leg-spinner, Rodney Stafford, who took 11-103 in 2nd Grade in 2004-05. It’s hard to argue that Atharv’s was not the greatest performance on debut for the club in a particular grade. Prior to the match, he had taken 34 wickets from 16 matches across 3 seasons.