Three dropped catches in three balls and a 7 for 57 bowling demolition from Ben Vikionkorpi provided contrasting highlights which handed the Douglas B-grade Mudcrabs their first win of the Far North Cricket season on Sunday.

After the Muddies side had reigning premieres Rovers 5 for 53 at stumps at the end of day one and looking in control, they were looking for early wickets to create an outright victory opportunity.

Unfortunately, it did not come immediately, even with Vikionkorpi bowling at full tilt.

Catches in the slips and on the legside let down the bowling efforts of both Vikonkorpi and David Coulthard early, with no less than seven catches going down, giving the Rovers batters a chance to stay in the game and even causing an unlikely first-innings upset.

Fortunately for the Muddies, Vikionkorpi kept the pressure on, creating chances and stemming the flow of runs, giving Matt Muller (1 for 12 off 2overs) a chance to make his bowling debut, breaking the overnight partnership of Barnes and Dutton with his first ball – a rising bouncer getting Dutton caught at backward square leg.

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Coultard (0-31 off 14 overs) was another very good bowler with a couple of catches going down off his bowling.  He only had 31 runs hit off his 14 overs which was a very good run-containing spell at a time when it looked like Rovers were going to get on top.

A change of bowler at Vikionkorpi's end made the batters relax and Simon Cody (2 for 1 off .4overs) got the break-through wicket with short wide ball that caught the edge, allowing Coulthard to pop it up to McConnell, resulting in the Muddies’ first successful catch.

Cody’s fourth ball of the over got the final wicket, hitting the batter plumb in front of middle stump.  Rovers finished their innings on 155 with Vikionkorpi bowling 7 for 57 off 24 overs (three maidens).

After failing to bowl them out under 100, the Muddies had to go in for the second innings bat with batting practice in mind.  

They just needed to make sure they were still standing at the end of the day off the remaining 41 overs.  They didn't want a sudden collapse that might let Rovers in with an outright opportunity.

This nearly became a possibility when Keith Taylor spooned an easy catch to covers off the first ball of the second over.

Captain Nathan King’s luck ran out when one went to hand and he was caught on 10 on his return to the side, after collecting a few boundaries through the slips.  

It looked very ominous when McConnell walked, or hobbled, to the crease with the Muddies on 2 for 11 off just 3.3 overs.

Fortunately Glen Ives was looking very solid and he and McConnell ensured there was no further collapse in the batting order, with a partnership of about 45 runs in the vital batting time of 17 overs, keeping the first game, first-innings win safe for the Muddies.

Ives was eventually caught on 13 after some very tidy batting, which then gave Ben Shrimpton some time at the crease, which he played sensibly for his seven runs.  

McConnell was bowled for 31 with about half an hour left to play and was ably supported by his runner, King.

Next weekend’s game is on Sunday at 1pm at the Port Douglas Sporting Complex with the Douglas Mudcrabs taking on the Barron River B-grade side.