Harper Sercombe
Point Cook Centrals have come out on top in a thrilling two-day clash with Footscray Angliss in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association division 4.
The Sharks were chasing down 154 on Saturday after bowling Footscray out in 72 overs the previous weekend The Sharks were nine down with 16 runs still remaining, and was able to chase it down thanks to a great innings by number eight batsman James Garnham who finished on 35 not out.
Captain Brett Talbot said it was a very pleasing win, as the Sharks stay well in the hunt for finals, as they sit in fourth position.
“Footscray were bowling pretty good lines and lengths and obviously being down to the bottom order it gets a bit tricky to navigate from that position,” he said.
“There were a couple of dropped catches, so we got a little bit lucky but it was nice to receive a little bit of luck in what’s been a pretty tough season.
“He (Garnham) is a young kid that’s been performing exceptionally well in second grade for a couple of seasons now.
“We know he’s a proven leader of the club in the future and it was a wonderful opportunity for him to step up and really announce himself as a first grade player, and it was really exciting to watch. He was very mature in his innings and sort of knew what he needed to do and executed the plan really well.”
This week the Sharks face third placed Roxburgh Park away, in what is set to be a huge, season-defining clash.
“We’re pretty keen to get stuck in and it’ll be a really good kickstart for our season, hopefully to sort of go there and try to achieve a really positive result,” Talbot said.
“We had Footscray Angliss who are an excellent team, and that sort of showed how close the comp is, the one wicket result could have gone either way.
“I think that anywhere between sort of third and an eighth is really tight and on your day, you can win or lose. One and two sort of jumped away. On anyone’s best day, you can certainly challenge one or two as well, but it’d be a really good yardstick to see where we’re at.
“It’s gonna be a super big challenge for us, you know, third, verse fourth at the moment. So we’re excited to be able to take that next step and next challenge for us.”
