A well-earned 45 off 46 balls from SRP Mud Dogs opener Daniel Clohesy proved a deciding factor in his side’s round two Goulburn Valley Bush Bash League win over CPW Panthers on Sunday.
The Strathdale Maristians opener went about his work on a Cobram Showgrounds wicket that looked to offer more for the bowlers early, but remained unfazed and saw off early bowling pressure.
“I thought we batted particularly well, the conditions weren’t easy, but they weren’t overly challenging — we had assessed it wasn’t going to be that 180-mark score we might be looking for,” Clohesy said.
“We knew we’d get our runs through singles or twos, ‘Chalks’ at the top was really good and got us off to a flyer, ‘Larko’ (Josh Larkin) and Jai (Lemire) through the middle, we were able to keep going on from that.”
Alongside fellow opener Andrew Chalkley (29), the pair managed to amass 54 before the Panthers could find a breakthrough.
After Chalkley departed in the sixth over, Clohesy hung tough to keep the scorers busy, but more importantly proved the rock of the side, coolly manufacturing runs as those around him swung for the fences.
Clohesy fell five runs short of his half-century after he was caught off the bowling of Riley Gow in the 14th over.
“It was probably a bit slower than I’d usually go about it,” he said.
“Because of the conditions I had to take a little bit more time and identify that I might have to be the one that bats the majority of the innings.
“Obviously it was a bit disappointing to go out with five overs to go caught on the boundary, but at least it gave blokes around me a chance to have a swing and they did so well.”