TWO young bowlers have excited their respective coaches with standout performances on the opening day of the Sunraysia Cricket Association (SCA) campaign.
Mildura West’s Harrison O’Brien, 21, claimed 4/15 from seven overs in his First Division debut against Coomealla Wentworth, while 15-year-old Surendra Prajapat took 4/36 for Mildura East against Irymple in just his fourth top- grade match.
Both bowlers were also one wicket away from a hat-trick.
Mother Nature threatened to end the day early with some rain coming down before starting time, however after a delay all matches got under way with conditions certainly favouring bowlers.
West coach Davison Mbindi was ecstatic with the performance of O’Brien in his first game, with the young gun and veteran spinner Chris Williams (4/35) helping dismiss the Blues for 105 at John Hall Oval.
“Harry just came in and hit his straps straightaway, and he and Dicko (Brandon Dixon) bowled really well in a partnership,” he said.
“We’ve been seeing it in practice and we thought he could be a good bowler for us, but I don’t think we expected him to perform this well.
“He’s pretty excited and so are we to know he can take wickets for us.”
Mbindi is also confident of his side claiming victory this week, already at 1/27 in reply.
After losing opener Luke Cullinan for 18, giving O’Brien his first wicket, the Blues lost their next four wickets for just another 25 runs.
O’Brien did most of the damage, including giving Melbourne recruit and fellow debutant Sean Hawking two catches behind the stumps.
Big-hitting Blue Darby McLean put up resistance with 39 from 43 deliveries, but Williams and skipper Shane Driscoll (2/13) did the lower order damage as the visitors were all out in the 33rd over.
West will resume needing 79 runs with Williams (13 not out) and Mbindi (9 not out) at the crease.
Having only recently turned 15, Prajapat was thrown the new ball by East coach Josh Berry for the first time and duly performed as his side dismissed perennial finalists Irymple for 151 at Henshilwood Oval.
“I was saying to the boys that he’d be the hardest trainer at the club that I’ve probably ever seen,” Berry said.
“He’s down at the nets almost every day with his dad and older brother and for a young guy of his age he’s got a really mature head on his shoulders.
“He got hit for a couple of boundaries early by Jordy Payne and he could have easily dropped his bundle but he showed some real maturity to keep coming back to bowl like he did.
“They were pretty classy dismissals he got, too.
“There weren’t too many loose shots to him, he just bowled really well. He’s not quite as quick as Jayden or Zane Hunt but he probably does a bit more with it.”
Swallows skipper Mark Thomson top-scored with 36, with Bryson Lush (32) and Jarrad Armsden (23 from 20) also among the runs.
Mukesh Sharma and Tom Vadlja would each take three scalps to end the innings. Vadlja, the seven-time Innes Medal winner, tooktwo wickets in two deliveries to end the innings. It technically leaves Vadlja on a hat-trick with his first ball if Irymple have a second innings.
In response, however, the Swallows put East on the back foot early, leaving them 4/20 after 17 overs. Chase Stone grabbed 2/7 from eight overs, with Dom Price and Bailey Anderson also picking up a wicket each.
At Mildura Senior College, reigning premiers Mildura Settlers sent Nichols Point in to bat and knocked them over for 149.
Pointers co-coach Shawn Mathews played a solid hand with 44 in the middle order and opener Mark Frazer scored 29, but two wickets each to Jason Morrison, Richie Wyld and Brayden Wood put the innings to bed.
Setts, who welcomed Mark Cleary and Andrew Petrie back into the fold, did not bat before the end of play.
Much to their frustration, Merbein South was forced to pull all teams from scheduled matches this weekend after a COVID-19 case was detected at the club.
The Saints are hopeful they can get on to the field this weekend against Gol Gol, with each team set to face 40 overs instead of 80 in the two-day format.
