Numurkah had plenty on on Saturday besides its Cricket Shepparton Haisman Shield encounter with Katandra, but it may have just avoided having its party spoiled.
A promising start to life in the middle at Numurkah Showgrounds was upended on the back end by a scintillating display from Eagles spinner Andrew Riordan.
Riordan’s figures of 5-32 off 16.4 overs made this every bit a contest, as the Blues fell two overs shy of stumps for 197.
Josh O’Dwyer took the opener’s role on and made full use again, soaking up plenty of sun en route to a hard-fought 53 before Scott Richardson trapped him.
However, O’Dwyer’s early partners did not bear such fruit until skipper Tim Arnel arrived to take the contest to Katandra.
Falling one run shy of raising the bat himself, Arnel put his foot to the pedal with seven fours, up until becoming one of Riordan’s many victims.
It’s been some time since Numurkah had to defend a total, but Arnel is bullish about his side’s chances on day two despite being pegged back late.
“The pitch was really spin-friendly, so it was tricky to bat at times,” Arnel said.
“To Katandra’s credit, they bowled well in the last 20 overs, but 200 is a good score here.
“We’re really confident we can defend that.”
Riordan takes the individual plaudits handily at the end of the day, with far and away his most potent outing this season from a bowling perspective.
Riordan joins rarefied air within Cricket Shepparton’s divisions in 2023-24; not many have had the chance to notch a ton and a five-wicket haul in the one season, after racking up 104 in the Eagles’ huge round seven win over Shepparton United.
THE GAME
Numurkah 197 (Josh O’Dwyer 53, Tim Arnel 49, Andrew Riordan 5-32) v Katandra
Arnel had to give some credit, but sees opportunity in Riordan’s success.
“Andrew’s a really smart bowler who’s played a lot of cricket,” Arnel said.
“The pitch really favoured him today, but if the pitch is like it was today, the spinners will play a big role in the game next week as well.
“We’re proud of how the boys batted for the first 60 overs and did the hard work.
“We might have expected to get a few more after the way we started, but we’ll be up and about with the way we played today against a quality team.”
With pitch conditions that proved conducive to a bit of turn, Arnel highlighted the likely influence of Blues spinners Mitch Grandell and Ragu Aravinthan, tipping the duo for big outings on day two.