It’s hard to believe but we are now already into the sixth edition of our Spartan Scorecard Series and your suggestions continue to flow in! We’ve had a request to take a look at what was quite an unusual match and extraordinary Spartan victory that saw us defeat Phoenix by just ten runs in 2011.
As we move into our sixth edition of The Spartan Scorecard Series, we turn our attention to the 2010/11 season and the SMCA’s 6th Grade competition when we took on Phoenix at Trevor Gribble Reserve.
The match in question took place in the 2010/11 season in our fourth grade side (but placed into the competition’s 6th Grade division) and was captained by Dale Putland. The season saw us make the Grand Finals in both the one-day and two-day competitions – winning the former but going down by 35 runs in the latter. Both finals matches were played against Kardinya Lakes Cricket Club.
The game outlined below however took place two weeks before the finals began in round 14, and proved to be a vital victory for us that cemented us in second spot.
The highly unusual encounter amazingly saw the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club get rolled for just fifty runs before taking all ten wickets to roll Phoenix for 40 in return – resulting in the incredible victory!
After being rolled for just 50 runs batting first, we returned serve by knocking the opposition over for just 40 – a ten run victory on first innings!
After losing the toss, we were sent into bat by Phoenix and they certainly must have thought this was a masterstroke decision as we were quickly reduced to 3/27. A Spartan Shuffle for the ages then followed as we lost our last seven wickets for just 23 runs.
The Spartan Shuffle is the infamous term for our less-than-stellar batting performances that do rear their ugly heads from time to time. This one in question though would have to certainly be up there. Check out the full scorecard and match report below!
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The Spartan Innings – Click/Tap For Larger Version
The Phoenix Chase – Click/Tap For Larger Version
At A Glance:
After being sent into bat on the opening day, the Spartan fourth grade were reduced to 1/14 in the eight over after opener Travis Fryers was caught for ten. The batting scorecard was not anything to write home about unfortunately as this score was only one of two to reach double figures.
The batting continued and saw us lose our second wicket for just 16, and despite a mini-revival between Captain Dale Putland (8) and Vice Captain Adam Seaward (8) the score soon read 4/29 when both these batsmen had been dismissed.
It did not get any better from there though as the Spartan side lost their fifth wicket on the same score before one run later falling to 6/30.
The poor reading of 6/30 only got worse when we were reduced to 9/45 – before we were ultimately all out for 50 after just 38 overs.
Rob Blazevich was batting at number six and was the not out batsman with twelve, being the only other player to reach double figures. Not even the sundries could muster an innings of note as they accounted for just 7 runs.
The Phoenix bowlers had all bowled superbly and J. Jago had taken 5 wickets for 15 runs while P. Smart was highly intelligent with the ball, claiming three wickets.
Dismissed for fifty was certainly a less-than-stellar batting performance on the opening day of a two-day fixture in what was a sunny February day in 2011.
It would have been quite understandable to think that the dressing room may not have been the happiest place in the world at the time, and we’re not too sure what Captain Putland had to say but whatever it was – it worked like a charm as all players came out as determined as ever and did the unthinkable – defending fifty!
The comeback started in the fourth over when Phoenix lost their first wicket for ten runs after Jayden Putland claimed their opener LBW. In fact, Jayden would go on to claim the first three wickets of the innings all LBW inside five overs.
Shannon Davies then joined in on the action to claim three quick wickets, ultimately finishing with a terrific 4/24 from 9.2 overs.
Phoenix’s scorecard quickly became dire when at 5/25 they lost another two batsmen for just five runs to be left reeling at 7/32 chasing the small total. The 19 runs for victory looked like a mountain to climb, and by 9/36 it was well and truly over.
Jayden claimed two of the last three wickets to fall to finish with five and Phoenix had been defeated in incredible fashion – bowled out for 40!
Shannon took the final wicket of the match as only 18.2 overs were required for the entire innings. Only the two Spartan bowlers were used – Davies and Putland – who took nine wickets between them with one run out earlier in the innings.
Only one Phoenix batsmen reached double digits and there were five scores of zero (plus the not out batsman who was 0*).
To imagine the celebrations and jubilation felt by the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club players would have been something for the ages as we defended such a small total in emphatic and incredible fashion.
A second innings was commenced that served mostly as batting practice as there was never going to be enough time to forge an outright result. We finished on 7/140 in the end with Rob Blazevich scoring a fine fifty to again finish not out. In all he had gone through the match having not been dismissed and scoring 62 runs to defeat both teams on their first innings.
The match had seen the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club never give up and achieve an incredible victory over Phoenix in successfully defending a score of just 50. Whats more all players believed that they could win the match and held their catches, effected crucial run outs and fielded well.
Commenting on Facebook, the skipper from that match Dale Putland said recently that “that day was unbelievable but we believed and that was a big thing that day. Never give in!“, and this was certainly the case. It is also sound advice for all our players to know what is possible and that as long as there are runs to score or wickets to take, we are always in with a chance!
Editors Note: Unfortunately we do not have a premiership photo of this grade’s 2010/11 One-Day Premiership but we would love to add one to our honour wall at the clubhouse. Please let us know if you happen to have one available!
In Conclusion:
This was our sixth entry in The Spartan Scorecards Series, and with plenty of matches to list, we hope to bring you a new entry at least every week this off-season! Be sure to stay tuned, and consider subscribing to our Email Newsletter if you haven’t done so already – that way you’ll never miss an entry!
We also encourage anyone with scorecards at home to send a photo of them in – we’ll be sure to feature them on the series! Simply click here to submit one!
Finally, be sure to check out our 2019/20 Spartan Yearbook – with over seventy pages of content it is the best way to recap on everything from the most recent season at the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club!
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