Round 4 saw the Bombers taking on old rivals Melbourne University Cricket Club in a Two Day Fixture. It was a tough day for the Bombers but there were many promising signs across the grades.
The 1sts traveled to University to take on the students at University Main Oval. Losing the toss and being sent in the home side had their tails up early. Despite early wickets falling around him in form opener Emerson White had a solid start with the bat (26). Coming off a century in the 2nds Noah Panaia showed his class scoring a crucial 42 through the middle. Nick Markovski also contributed with 26 runs late in the innings, to help post a total of 139. The Bombers were able to take 3 late wickets to finish the day leaving the Students 3-63 at stumps and the game tantalisingly poised. Debutant Jarrod Parsons looked at home in his 1st XI debut contributing both with bat (16) and ball (2/13). The Bombers will be looking to make early inroads next week.
The 2nds fronted up to fortress Cross Keys for the second game in a row. After a strong win last week, the boys were looking to pick up right where they left off. Winning the toss and batting, young gun Vihanga Fernando starred for the Bombers hitting a scintillating 105 off 243. He was ably supported by Prasanna Ketheeshwaran who scored a classy 82, the two steered the Bombers to a strong position with the Bombers finishing day one sitting at 8-277 at stumps.
Sent in on a tough wicket at Princes Park the previously undefeated 3rds were all out for 42. Despite the tough start to the day the 3rds fought with the ball managing to take 5 Student wickets with MUCC ending the day at 5-147. Swing kings Brad Porter 2-9 and Para Singh 3-34 doing the damage. Despite being undone by a strong Melbourne Uni attack, a solid second half of the day in the field keeps them in contention for week two. It's a funny game cricket...
Coming off an impressive win last week over Footscray, the 4ths faced some early challenges at Cross Keys Reserve. Despite being four down before drinks, a resilient 86 from Krit Darji swung the momentum back the Bombers way. The strong fightback also included late contributions from Stefan James (21) Gurnoor Singh Gill (22) and Aaron Cornish (23) with the Bombers posting a competitive first innings total of 210.
All four sides will be looking to a big week of training at Windy Hill and strong performances next Saturday.
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