General News
10 March, 2022
Baker delivers for the Cats
MORTLAKE all-rounder Clinton Baker delivered with bat and ball to help his side finish off its home and away season with a win over Cobden in a rain-shortened match last Saturday.
MORTLAKE all-rounder Clinton Baker delivered with bat and ball to help his side finish off its home and away season with a win over Cobden in a rain-shortened match last Saturday.
Baker (47 n.o.) and Will Kain (47) formed the backbone of the Cats’ innings of 5/187, supported by Todd Lamont (27), Neil Kelly (27) and Lachlan Higginson (16 n.o.).
The rain that loomed throughout the day materialized during Cobden’s innings, putting a halt to play at the end of their 32nd over, and the Duckworth Lewis method determined Cobden’s 6/81 was not enough.
Baker led the Cats’ bowling with 3/21, with wickets also falling to Higginson (1/14) and skipper Todd Robertson (1/21).
Robertson said his side performed well through both innings, with his batters setting a high enough target for his bowlers to defend.
“Almost all our batsmen got good starts this week, what we really wanted was to spend as much time on the turf as we could before finals, which we did,” he said.
“Our bowlers were attacking at the start, and we managed to get a couple of breakthroughs, but then we just had to put the clamps on.
“With runs on the board and weather on our side it came down to bowling as many dot balls as we could to bowl them out of it.”
Robertson said Cobden made it tough for the Cats despite how the match may have lookedon paper.
“It wasn’t a comfortable win, Cobden batted pretty well, and bowled well too, they managed to consistently get wickets,” he said.
“They’re a lot better side that their ladder position suggests.
“They’ve got some really good kids, they’re only one or two players, or a couple of kids developing, from being a top four side, that’s for sure.”
Mortlake have suffered a couple of surprise defeats since Christmas, but it seems the pieces are starting to fall into place heading into the finals.
“I’ve been happy with the younger guys taking the next step and grabbing games of cricket by the scruff of the neck,” Robertson said.
“And then for our experienced guys, Clinton’s had an interrupted few weeks with various things, so it was good to see him back in form.
“Him and Neil Kelly, they’re going to be important pieces of the puzzle for us this week, you can’t buy that sort of experience.”
Mortlake face Bookaar on Camperdown’s turf wicket this week, and the Pelicans will be looking to rebound from last week’s loss to Pomborneit, their first since January 22.
Robertson said his side had nothing but respect for Bookaar and were taking nothing for granted.
“They’ve got a good side, a couple of key players with experience and some kids who, if they get some confidence, can do some real damage,” he said.
“It’ll be a good match-up at Camperdown, which is a good batting deck.
“For us it’ll be about being disciplined with the ball, bowling in the right areas and hopefully squeezing them into playing rash shots, and then us taking our chances.”