MANILLA smashed its way into the McDonald’s Country Plate second round, with half centuries to openers Abel Carney and Chris Dobson setting up a 118-run win over debuting Peel Valley in Tamworth yesterday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Making its return to representative cricket after an enforced absence, Manilla made 240 and then rolled Peel for 122 to join Walcha and Inverell in the second round.
Walcha didn’t even have to bowl a ball, with Glen Innes forfeiting.
Inverell did have to strap on the pads but had its win wrapped up before lunch.
Batting first, Moree struggled against some good quick bowling and could only muster 56.
The home side lost just two wickets in chasing down the runs, with Mick Kenny (27no) and Dave Mudaliar (12no) seeing them home after Tom Lavender had got them started with 14.
New skipper Lachlan Binnie couldn’t have been happier with proceedings, especially the bowling performance.
That was where the win was set up, and largely on the back of openers Shaun Rynne and Tom Scoble.
“Tommy bowled beautifully,” Binnie said of the teenager.
“He didn’t get the luck but he pretty much made the wickets happen at the other end.”
Backing up from Northern Inland 16s duties last week, Scoble finished with 0-12 from his seven, which was split over two spells.
Rynne cashed in at the other end – and also bowled well too – to claim 5-12.
They combined to have Moree on the ropes at 5-17.
Making his senior debut, Scoble’s NI team-mate Scott Palombo (14) and Doug Murphy (25) provided a brief resurgence but when they went, Moree’s innings folded pretty quickly, with Kenny taking 3-16 and Richard Wilson 2-10.
Murphy also did his bit with the ball, snaring 1-19.
Paddy Montgomery (1-24) took the other wicket.
He’s another of the NI youngsters and bowled well, Moree president Kyle O’Connor said.
He thought Palombo also did well in difficult circumstances.
In the game in Tamworth, Manilla got away to a flyer, with Carney and Dobson putting on 54 in pretty quick time.
The introduction of North Tamworth quick Keyton Hislop stemmed the tide slightly when he removed Carney for 59.
Dobson (68), though, continued on, adding 41 with Chaise Crough (9) for the second wicket, and then putting on 59 with skipper Paul Abra (34) for the third.
The innings tailed away after that, with only Clark Geary (12) and Stephen Moore (13no) below the top four reaching double figures.
Peel Valley skipper Brett Douglas and James McLelland were mainly responsible for that, with Douglas claiming 4-35 and McLelland 3-17.
The bush boys then got to 1-57 at lunch after losing Matt Hughes (38) just a couple of overs before the break.
But things quickly deteriorated after the break though, with Douglas going for nine.
Hislop (49) hung around until the ninth wicket but struggled to find partners as Ed Lockrey (5-32) tore through the middle order.