Barrier Daily Truth

Robins roll on

Monday, 6th February, 2012

RETURN TO FORM: Curtis Jelbert scored 66 for West.

By Darrin Manuel

West have confirmed their status as the city’s dominant cricket team after crushing second-placed Central by 81 runs at the Jubilee Oval on Saturday.

Curtis Jelbert led the charge for the Robins with a top score of 66, and received good support from vice captain Paul Attard (35) and Brenton Malthouse (17).

Central made a promising start to the match after being sent into the field, with David O’Malley dismissing opener Rhys Harding for just six runs.

The Magpies’ bowling remained tight for the opening half of the match, and by the 18th over West had lost both opening batsmen and scored a meager 35 runs.

However Jelbert kept the scoreboard ticking over at a reasonable rate, and went on to form solid partnerships with Malthouse (31 runs) and Attard.

West batted out their full 45 overs and scored heavily towards the end of the innings to finish with a total to 168.

Central’s top order batsmen appeared unfazed by the run chase, and took control early in their innings to be 1/42 after just nine overs.

Jarred Paull (21) was in fine form and scored freely, but was in dire need of support from his teammates. His dismissal in the 27th over left the Magpies at 5/74, and triggered a complete collapse of the batting line up.

Central lost their final five wickets for just 15 runs to finish on 87. A combined return of just 14 runs from eight batsmen would also be a concern for captain Cam Wells.

“We were going OK to start with but we just fell apart at the end there, and lost some wickets we didn’t need to,” said Wells.

“But West batted really well and scored heavily in their last 15 overs with wickets in hand... they were just a bit too good.

“We’ve got some players to come back in so... hopefully it’s the loss we needed to have going into the semis.”

Malthouse was the best of the bowlers for West with a tidy 4/33 from nine overs, while captain Nick Christos produced a miserly 2/9 from seven overs.

Attard, who also coaches the Robins, said his bowlers recovered well after making a slow start to the innings.

“We didn’t bowl too flash to start with, a few too many extras, but we tightened up and gradually got on top,” he said.

“We knew we had a good score, I actually said to the boys that our score was more like a 220 or 240 because the outfield was very slow.”

Attard said the field conditions made Jelbert’s knock of 66 even more impressive.

“It was one of those days where shots that usually go for four end up being a two, so he had to run a lot of them,” he said.

“He’d been struggling a bit lately and not getting his feet into the right positions, but his footwork was good today.

“He did a really good job, the pressure was on him and he came out and performed.”

All sports inquiries and results can be directed to Darrin at the BDT by phoning 8087 2354 or via email to: dmanuel@bdtruth.com.au