A TRADEMARK strong bowling performance from Irymple was the catalyst for a crucial three-wicket win over Mildura Settlers at Henshilwood Oval in SCA round 13 on Saturday.
The Swallows restricted the reigning premiers to 6/136 after sending their opponents in, with skipper Jordan Payne most impressed with the execution after the Christmas break.
“Being the first game back and obviously not having played for a month we just wanted to keep the mistakes to a minimum, set some decent fields and try to make them create some shots,” Payne said.
“But without a doubt, our first 20 overs were probably our best 20 for the season. I think we had them 2/45 after the 20-over mark
“Especially the kids too, Bailey Anderson and Billy Phelan bowled really well, and Mark (Thomson), when the ball is swinging around is quite a handful, so we set some decent fields but the skill execution was by far the best thing about it.”
A line-up with the class of Settlers was always going to respond, with Paddy Keogh finishing unbeaten on 61 and the likes of Mark Cleary and Richie Wyld (16 and 20) chipping in against the tide.
“They had wickets in hand to attack that back 20 (overs), which they did. They have some class players like Cleary and Richie in the middle order who got them to a respectable total,” Payne said.
The day started with a bang, Bailey Anderson bowling Jason Morrison with the first ball of the match, and from there the Swallows bowlers kept it going – with none of the top three in Anderson, Thomson and Phelan going for more than 2½ runs per over.
Phelan particularly has come a long way with his bowling, following on from a solid junior career with bat and ball – all before the age of 18.
“(Phelan) has always bowled well but sort of towards the back end of last year and especially this year he’s gotten a lot quicker, and he’s very hard to pick up out of the hand just with his natural action,” Payne said.
“He’s been more of a weapon for me, depending on the wicket and situation, we can use and he knows that – he nearly opened the bowling (on Saturday) but after Bailey’s first over and how much the ball was swinging I went for Mark instead, it was a horses for courses-type thing, but Billy’s bowling has always been exceptional.”
With the bat, Irymple got a good start through the agency of Bryson Lush (32) and Jeremy Graham (18) to be 0/45 and were able to get through with a couple of overs to spare.
“We were much the same as them and wanted to have wickets in hand after 20 overs,” Payne said.
“We saw how difficult it was to score if you could bowl that back of a length, which is what we were able to execute really well, we were three down at the 20-over mark but I think we were about 75 runs, so about 30 ahead of where they were, but they got a couple of quick wickets which always changes momentum in a game.
“We probably didn’t have the confidence per se to just try and win the game quicker, blokes were a bit tentative at some points – a win’s a win and I’m not going to complain about that but it’s the first game back after a month off.”
