A SOLID start by Iona senior bats has given Garfield 240 runs to chase next Saturday.
Winning the toss Iona opted to bat first, but started badly losing Andrew Davidson on the first ball of the day.
Young opener Luke Ferguson and Simon Finger then combined both looking in fine form.
As Finger reached his half century, the partnership was finally broken by B. Marson at 99 with Ferguson out for 37.
Fingers’ innings that included some excellent shots ended not long after when he was caught on 61,
Iona then had a mini collapse, thanks to Garfield’s A. Marsh.
Craig Byrnes managed to hang on and he and Will Grbic went about compiling the runs.
Byrnes fell for a solid 27, but Grbic continued on his way and with good support from Shaun Taylor he reached 50, the pair adding 68 for the seventh wicket before Taylor went for 27.
Grbic was unbeaten on 58 and A. Marsh was the best of the Garfield bowlers with 3/32 from 11 overs, Iona finishing with 7/240.
SECONDS
Also taking on Garfield, Iona lost the toss and was sent and lost the early wicket of Russell Ferguson.
The inform Jason Kelly and Scott McKay then combined for a partnership of 59 before the latter was run out for 26.
Kelly followed just a few runs later for 44, Shaun McCormack made a dashing 19, but disciplined bowling from Garfield allowed it to tighten the screws once more.
Jason Sheedy (15) and Bob Rogers (16) both battled hard and George Lineham with some late hitting scored 15 also to help Iona finish with a decent total of 7/172.
For Garfield N. Marsh was the only multiple wicket taker.
THIRDS
Playing Drouin at Cora Lynn, it won the toss and elected to bat that proved to be the wrong decision, slumping to 5/15 thanks to two mixups and Iona skipper Nathan Vistarini ripping through the top order.
M. Barrand and C. Gouge then put on 55 for the sixth wicket in a good partnership as they made 36 and 33 respectively.
Iona’s Brian Campbell sent both back to the pavilion and then decimated the tail to finish with 5/19 and see Drouin all out for 106.
In reply Iona started well thanks to the Drouin bowlers giving away a few extras.
Raymond Campbell was the first to go for 14 and Richard Mitchell soon followed.
Nathan Vistarini and Michael Hearn then steadied, putting on 30 for the third wicket.
However when Vistarini got caught on 22, Hearn followed as Iona lost three wickets just before the end of the day.
The game is in the balance with the score at 5/64, Bob McCallum has 2/31 for Drouin.
PLAYERS WANTED
Anybody interested in playing senior or junior cricket is welcome to attend the Iona Cricket Club at Murray Rd, Iona on Thursday afternoons for training from 5pm or contact Andrew Davidson on 0438 709 705 or Michael Neilson 0438 295 966.
