By Doug Barnes

The Muddies C Grade team hosted an undermanned Mission Beach team at Griffith Park last weekend in a game where neither team could elevate themselves into the semi-finals.

The inexperienced and disorganised Mission Captain won the toss and elected to bat on the Griffth 2 pitch, hoping his team of nine could post a defendable total.  The visiting batsmen started well with left handed opener Miller pouncing on anything short compiling 32 runs off 28 balls to have Skipper Doble a touch nervous.

The Skipper’s son, Ryan bowled with great maturity and extracted uneven bounced out of the pitch and picked up the number two and three batsmen, taking a solid 2 for 20 off 6 overs.  Keel Sorenson had Miller caught by Darlington and the remaining Muddies bowlers made light work of the long tail.

Barnes ended his wicket taking drought with a well-controlled 3 for 7 off his six overs while Glenn McDonald took his first wicket for the Muddies, ending on 1 for 10 off his 2 overs.  All 8 dismissals were caught, with Schiesser and Walz taking two each and McDonald taking a screamer to end the innings. The Mission Beach team all out for 97 off 26 overs.

The Port Douglas batsmen strode out full of confidence that they could knock off the small total in a hurry. The speed wobbles struck early though with Darlington and Taylor out after just 2 overs, the Muddies reeling at 2 for 5. It should have been 3 for 5 but for Walz being dropped on a duck.  The experienced and classical batsman did not let the opportunity slip, batting with great finesse to make 35 and get the Muddies right back in the game. He was joined by Gary ‘Buckets’ Postans, itching to return to the B Grade team and needing runs to get him there. After a scratchy start ‘Buckets’ added 30, sealing victory with a Captain Doble adding a useful 15.

The heated match was a solid hit out prior to the resumption of the longer format of the game.  The team has a week off before hopefully winning the 3 remaining games to take out the 2 day final.  The day off will be spent cheering on the Muddies B Team in what will hopefully be a Valentine’s Day massacre as they face off against their old sparring mates the Mulgrave Punjabs.