A pretty solid performance week one put us in a good position going into the final day’s play for 2017. We won the toss and batted, and again made a brisk start on a quick outfield. But the Newtown bowling and fielding were a lot better than the Blazing Tigers, and, like the 400 bus, the wickets came three at a time. Thing were shaky at 3/35, but Banjo and Brandon absorbed plenty of pressure, then got the scoring rate right back up there, using the fast outfield to pretty devastating effect. A 114 run partnership took us past drinks, with Rookie falling shortly thereafter for 52, before Cramsie registered his second consecutive mid 80s score. Rob and the tail continued to hit out, with Rob falling last for 35 after the Gladdies had racked up 243.
Once again, the Gladdies gave a very good account of themselves week two, but it just wasn’t enough to get us another win. Marty and Gus bowled one of the better Gladstones opening spells in many years, but we only got 2 wickets in the first 17 overs, as Newtown somehow held us out. They never really needed to slog, as any decent push that beat the in field was a fair chance of racing for four. We dropped a couple of very tough chances, and a couple of close decisions didn’t go our way, but basically Newtown just put together a very good batting performance, as you’d expect from an undefeated team. They got the required 243 with 4 wickets and 6 overs to spare.
