Seabrook captain Leigh Edwards rode his luck en route to a match-winning century in Saturday’s 66-run win over Williamstown Congs in VTCA west A1 at Bruce Comben Reserve.
Edwards was dropped twice on his way to 108, but those were mere blips in an otherwise confident innings in which everything seemed to come off for the Saints’ leader.
“I got lucky, I got dropped twice, but other than that I was hitting them pretty cleanly,” Edwards said.
“It was one of those days where everything was coming off the right way, minus the two dropped catches.
“The wicket ended up playing pretty well, so you could get yourself in and hit through the line.”
Seabrook had been set a relatively small 137 target for first-innings points.
The Saints expected their home pitch to break up under the sun later on day two, so they had no plans of sticking around and tempting fate.
“Small targets can be tricky but we knew we had to make the runs pretty quickly,” Edwards said.
“I just went out and tried to knock it over as quick as possible and luckily got away with it a couple of times.”
A feature of Seabrook’s win was the all-round contribution.
The Saints have been criticised in recent seasons for being too reliant on their top-end talent to get the job done, but that seems to be a thing of the past.
“I back our guys in 100 per cent,” Edwards said. “We’re a pretty solid team this year and everyone seems to be switched on.”
Gun youngsters Mitchell Haberecht (5-32), a left-arm paceman, and Tom Flynn (3-35), a right-arm quick, had their fingerprints all over the victory.
“They’re two young fellas who are really finding their form and really starting to fill their shoes in senior cricket,” Edwards said.
Medium pacer Dhaval Patel also made his mark with an economical 2-15 off 14 overs.
With 11 wickets at an average of 9.9, Patel is far and away the Saints’ most dependable bowler.
“He nibbles around both ways and could basically hit a two dollar coin if you put it on the pitch,” Edwards said.
“You can set your 7-2 fields for him and know he’s not going to drop one down the leg side.”
The Saints remain undefeated in fourth spot on the ladder, having experienced a couple of draws brought about by Melbourne’s fickle weather.
The Saints will be aiming to go into Christmas with an unblemished record when they face Bellbridge at Mossfiel Reserve in the final game for the year.
