Balgownie captain Jamie Fleming is focused on exposing Northern Districts’ ‘brittle’ batting lineup when the two teams clash on Saturday.
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Bally will play host to the Butchers in a 50-over game after the first day of the two day match was washed out last weekend.
While Fleming is disappointed the game has been shortened, he said his side will be no less prepared for the matchup.
“We’ve got a big rivalry with Northern Districts,” Fleming said. “We’re all pretty pumped up to play this game. They’re not a team we like losing to and we haven’t lost to them for a while so we’d like to keep it that way.”
Northern Districts have struggled for consistency this season, currently sitting seventh on the ladder with two wins and three losses.
“We just need to bat better,” Captain Lachlan Dunn said. “Our bowling seems to be alright, our fielding has been a strong point, it’s just batting in pairs and not losing wickets too quickly that we need to improve.”
The Butchers appeared to be returning to form after notching consecutive victories over University and Wests, but any momentum generated quickly dissipated after they were bowled out for 79 in their last match against Keira. Fleming sees this performance as an indicator of Northern Districts’ struggles with the bat.
“They’ve got a very brittle batting lineup, that’s something we’ll be targeting,” Fleming said.
Dunn, however, disagrees with Fleming’s assessment, labeling the collapse against Keira a one off.
“That was just a very off day for us, I don’t think that will happen again this season,” Dunn said.
“Every team in the competition has off days and that was ours.”
Fleming did identify all-rounder Jonathan Fowles as a key batsman and after missing Northern Districts’ last match he will return to bolster the Butchers’ top order.
“Jono Fowles seems to be their danger man with bat and ball, he’s a good cricketer,” Fleming said.
Fleming, however, said his team won’t come up with any specific plans to target Fowles.
“We’re not going to target any of their players, just as a collective group we’ll be aggressive in all three facets of the game”
After dropping the opening game of the season, Bally have won their last three completed games and Fleming attributes the improved performances to an increased level of familiarity within the team after a truncated preseason.
Fleming sees Saturday’s game as another step on the team’s build towards the finals and Bally have pinpointed the upcoming clash with Wollongong as a key litmus test. The match against Wollongong comes after Bally play Port Kembla next weekend and marks the last round before the competition moves to the Twenty20 format over Christmas.
“The game we really want to win leading into Christmas is in two weeks against Wollongong. They’ve recruited well and spent a lot of money on players, so we really want to build towards that game.”
Illawarra
Round six
Saturday (12pm)
BALGOWNIE v NORTHERN DISTRICTS at Judy Masters Oval
HELENSBURGH v DAPTO at Rex Jackson Oval
KEIRA v CORRIMAL at Keira Village
WESTS v WOLLONGONG at Figtree
PORT KEMBLA v UNIVERSITY at King George Oval