MOUNT Beauty has given the undefeated Kiewa a scare in their District First Grade contest last Saturday. After winning the toss and batting first at home in great batting conditions, Kiewa’s powerful batting line-up led by John Spencer (30 runs) and Nat Sariman (45) put on 54 runs for the first wicket before spinner Steve Pask broke through. From there, multiple contributions, albeit without anyone raising the bat for a half-century, led Kiewa to a strong first innings score of 232 after being dismissed in the penultimate over. Mount Beauty’s wickets were shared, with two wickets taken by Emerson Lemkau, Craig Henderson, Pask and Shannon Wilson. The dismissals of Lemkau and Toby Derrick in the first three overs put the Power on the back foot to begin their chase, but Greg McLennan (30 runs), Todd Jeanes (33) and Pask (37) steadied the innings Mount Beauty were almost on the canvas before Shannon Wilson (41 not out) and Ross Wilson (36) put on 67 runs for the ninth wicket and gave their side a fleeting chance of victory, before eventually being dismissed for 206 in the final over. Skipper Greg McLennan was pleased with his side’s performance against the league’s best team. “Despite not getting the win, we performed reasonably well – bowling Kiewa out for 232 was a good outcome, particularly as their lightning-fast ground tends to flatter the team batting,” McLennan said. “We had much better batting depth this week and it showed as we nearly were able to chase down the target. “Our running between wickets was more aggressive which put the pressure back on them a bit. “Todd (Jeanes) and Pasky (Steve Pask) batted well together and a good partnership between Shannon (Wilson) and Ross Wilson nearly got us home. “Shannon had a very good game, he took a couple of wickets and made 41 not out which is comfortably his highest score in A grade. In other senior results, the Power’s seconds lost to Kiewa by eight wickets after posting 9/185, while their thirds were defeated by seven wickets against Albury Umpires. Mount Beauty’s first and second grade teams will have a bye this Saturday, while the third eleven will host Yackandandah.
