The Muddies Blues have all but secured their place in the 3rd Grade Cricket semi finals with a hard fought victory over Norths at Fuller Park on Sunday.

Stand in captain Sam Hodgson won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first on an absolute belter of a wicket.
 
Hodgson and his opening partner, Keith Taylor, got the Blues off to a solid start once again, putting on 53 for the first wicket before Taylor fell for 14.

This brought Logan Marsh to the crease who set about building his innings while Hodgson continued to attack from the other end. Hodgson continued his fine form, bringing up his second 50 in three weeks when he took 15 off an over. Unfortunately he fell soon after, for a better than run a ball 64, having added 61 with Marsh.

Gary Postans came to the crease next and with about eight overs to go looked to lift the Blues score past 180. Some hard hooks and pulls and one glorious cover drive saw Postans finish with 35 n.o off just 23 balls, and with Marsh lifting his own scoring rate, the pair put on an unbeaten stand of 81 in quick time.

Marsh finished unbeaten on 60 and the Blues had set a formidable total of 195.

The Muddies bowlers then set about trying to knock the top off the North’s batting line up and both openers bowled with aggression, beating the bat on a number of occasions.

Unfortunately, there was a four ball in most of the opening overs and the North’s skipper was not in a forgiving mood, punishing anything pitched up.
 
The first wicket put on 36 before Johnson struck twice in quick succession, but then the game threatened to get away from the Blues as a 74 run partnership had Norths in control.

Postans, however, broke the partnership, which signalled the beginning of the end, picking up the first of his three wickets.

Hodgson also chimed in with three wickets, including the prized scalp of the North’s skipper for a well-made 53, which cemented his Man of the Match performance.

The end came relatively quickly after that with the final seven wickets falling for 43 runs to have Norths all out for 159.

With second through fifth all playing one another next week any number of possibilities can occur. A win will secure finals cricket for the Blues and a possible second place finish while a loss could still see them qualify, albeit relying on runs scored, wickets lost and any other number of permutations.

Get down to the Croc Pit from 1:30pm to support the lads in their push for a finals spot.