WESTERN Waves has emerged from the first round of its boys’ state championships campaign with one win from three matches.
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The under 16s, coached by John Houston and Matt Gunther, was the sole victor of the triple-header against Mallee Murray Bulls at Horsham.
The 18s lost a thriller at Horsham City Oval while the 14s were outclassed at Dudley Cornell Park as representative junior cricket took centre stage.
Houston said he was rapt with what he witnessed from his young charges.
Nick King top-scored with 86 while contributions also came from Tim Goodman (49), Jake Blackwell (49) and Dylan Silvy (42 not out) in the Waves’ 3-267 batting first.
Joe Medew-Ewen then shone with the ball, taking 4-32 from eight overs as the Bulls were all out for 139 in 37 overs.
Opener Jake Reid took 3-31 from eight overs to be among the wickets.
“You don’t really know much about the opposition. I thought we batted really well early,” Houston said.
“We had good plans where we put the bad ball away and made them pay that way.
“Our top six, we talked about making it easier on the bottom five, getting in and staying in, having a couple of good partnerships.
“We were hoping at the start to get 200 to 250 — that was the goal. We ended up with 267.”
Houston said the teenagers bowled with purpose.
“With the ball it was about us accumulating pressure. We wanted to get two wickets in every 10-over lot, which we did.
“We had a run-out, that was a goal as well. We stuck to our plans I suppose and we were able to execute them.”
The first-up win has boosted hopes the 16s can improve on the Waves’ best finish of fifth for the age group at state championships.
Houston, who is into his fourth year as coach, said achieving that goal would depend on the team playing to its potential.
“I think we’ve been lucky enough to have a good squad each time I’ve done it,” he said.
“But sometimes you can have a huge amount of potential and not get the most out of them.”
The 18s finished an agonising three runs short after requiring an optimistic six off the last delivery to win their match.
Tom Smith, Will Mills and Hamish Withers took two wickets each as the Bulls made 8-217 batting first.
Luke Merryfull struck 84 and Withers posted 39 in the run chase but their efforts were in vain.
The Waves were 3-202 but lost 6-12 at the death — the last three being run-outs — to finish on 9-214.
The Bulls won the 14s match convincingly after making 151 and bowling the Waves out for 76.
Charlie Locke took 5-28 to be the pick of the Waves’ bowlers while only four batsmen reached double figures. The championships resume in January for all age groups.
afawkes@fairfaxmedia.com.au