The Camberwell Magpies will be looking to rebound and finish season 2020/21 on a high after a disappointing Round 16 clash with Melbourne on Saturday.
In their final home game for the season, the Magpies’ won the toss and asked the Demons to bat first at McQueen Park. Aware of the firepower within the Melbourne batting line up, Camberwell’s bowlers knew they needed to be at their best to restrict the Demon’s plethora of scoring options. They succeeded early by turning the first part of the innings into a grind, with spinners Shubham Bhargave (2/53) and Ollie Jenkins (1/34) both collecting wickets in their first overs.
But from 2/50, Cameron White and Jack Harper steadily rebuilt the innings with 71 each to have the Demons in prime position to launch to a score of 250-plus. But the Pies fought back through the agency of opening quicks Will Walker (3/27) and Andrew Fekete (3/37) to restrict Melbourne to a manageable 9/222 off their 50 overs.
With Chris Bridle unable to bat due to back spasms and only nine wickets available, Camberwell needed its top order to fire. Unfortunately, the Pies were never able to find any momentum in their batting innings and quickly found themselves in a hole at 3/28.
In his first competitive game in over 12 months due to a long hamstring injury lay off, opener Ben Rowles showed some impressive signs in his innings of 30 as he combined in a 50-run stand with Tom Russ for the fourth wicket. But once he was dismissed things fell away pretty quickly to be bowled out for a disappointing 124, with Russ the last man out for a well-made 49.
In the Second XI match, Melbourne elected to bat first on a typically beautiful batting wicket at the Albert Ground. However, the Demons found themselves in a spot of bother early at 3/34 on the back of a strong bowling and fielding performance from the Magpies.
A fourth wicket partnership of 138 put Melbourne right back into the contest, before Camberwell’s bowlers fought back led by young quicks Ben Jowett (4/42) and Tom Nelson (2/48).
Chasing a very achievable 9/233, the Magpies’ top order didn’t get the start it needed to mount a serious crack of claiming the points. Rishab Guddadamane (70) continued a fine season with his sixth half century, but he lacked the support to play a match-winning hand as Camberwell were bundled out for 150.
In the Third XI match at Watson Park, things started promisingly for the home side as they made early inroads on the Demons’ top order.
With Melbourne 5/41, it looked like an upset was on the cards, but just like the top two grades Melbourne found a way through a significant middle order partnership to finish up on 9/183 from their 45 overs. Reuben Jamieson was the clear standout for the Camberwell bowlers with 4/24 off his nine overs.
In reply, the Magpies’ batsmen were again found wanting, with Tom Vanderslik (41) and Jamieson (23 not out) showing the only real significant resistance as Camberwell were bowled out for 127.
In the Fourth XI match, Camberwell were playing away at Beaumaris Secondary College and Melbourne again batted first. The Demons were cruising at 3/137, but the Pies managed to restrict them somewhat to a score of 207 with youngsters Henry Smith (3/21) and Max Burn (3/23) leading the late fight back.
In reply, Camberwell were in early trouble at 2/15 before Angus Steele (38) and Joel Carruthers (37) combined in a 58-run partnership. In the end it was too big of a target for Camberwell as they batted out the innings falling 47 runs short.
The Magpies will now look to finish the season on a high with four wins next weekend against Casey-South Melbourne in the final game of the 2020/21 season.
This Round Recap is proudly brought to you by Melbourne City Toyota.
