Illawarra have jumped to fourth place on the Watson Shield ladder after upsetting the highly-fancied Eastern Suburbs in their round three NSW u17 Cricket Youth Championships fixture at Trumper Park.
Illawarra secured their comfortable seven-wicket victory last Sunday on the back of some brilliant bowling by a trio of spin bowlers.
Eastern Suburbs had amassed 400 runs in their last-start win but they were bowled out for just 151 from 45 overs by Illawarra.
The home side would have fancied their chances of racking up another big score after winning the toss and electing to bat first on a dry, very fast outfield.
But Illawarra's strong bowling outfit had other ideas.
Illawarra captain Josh Garnero made excellent use of his strong bowling line up, starting with 14 overs of medium fast bowling, which yielded the initial three wickets.
Darcy Norris (2/15) and Tyler Davidson (1/23) did the damage as Eastern Suburbs sat at 3/83 at the first drinks break.
Illawarra's dynamic spin bowlers took over after the drinks break.
Blake Cattle (3/18) and Harrison Deck (0/25)paired up to bowl every over of the second session and collect the prized scalps of the normally big-scoring Easts' middle order batters.
Oliver Smith (2/16) then joined the party as Illawarra bowled 26 overs of spin for a combined 5/59, a huge factor in restricting the home side to just 151 runs.
Having the luxury of fielding their full-strength batting line-up, Illawarra began the run chase in style with opener Jack Cattley (41) and Blake Cattle (61*) combining for a 64-run partnership for the second wicket.
Riley Broadhead (42) continued the charge and combined with Cattle for a 73-run partnership. Illawarra passed the total inside 30 overs, to secure another very well earned bonus point, much to the pleasure of their coach Will Badger.
"Our bowling lineup is exceptional. We used eight bowlers and still held a team who've been scoring at seven per over in their first two games to just three runs per over," he said.
"Our top order then showed great maturity with sensible, solid batting to knock over the target in style."
Illawarra will travel to play last-placed Fairfield-Liverpool this Sunday.
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
