HURLEY Hotel Hounds will be looking to avenge a first round loss in the inaugural Crane Aid Goulburn Valley Bush Bash League when they tackle Jarvis Delaney Crushers at Kyabram’s Northern Oval this Sunday.
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The Kyabram-based franchise suffered a loss to the SRP Mud Dogs in the opening round of the three-match series at Barooga last Sunday.
The Paul Newman-coached and David Newman-skippered Hounds were restricted to 7/146 off their 20 overs and Mud Dogs covered this score in 17.4 overs for the loss of four wickets.
Dandenong Premier League players Tom Donnell and James Nanapoulos failed to get going opening the innings after Hounds had lost the toss and were invited to bat.
Two Cricket Shepparton players, Kyabram’s Kyle Mueller and Katandra gun Jedd Wright, provided the bulk of the runs for the Hounds.
Mueller was run out for 34 off 25 balls, with four fours and a six, while Wright top scored with 39 off 31 balls, featuring two boundaries and two sixes.
Most of the Hounds bowlers copped a battering from the Mud Dogs batsmen, with Jedd Wright with 2/17 off three overs the most economical.
Kyabram Cricket Club’s Cade Mueller, picked up by Mud Dogs in the draft, was not called on to bat in the game.
Hounds coach Paul Newman said the wicket early had been "proppy" and ‘‘difficult’’ to bat on but he was not using that as an excuse for the loss.
“We were going pretty well until Kyle (Mueller) got run out after a deflection off his arm which hit the wicket while he was backing up. We were probably about 20 runs short,’’ said Newman.
Newman said this Sunday’s clash at the Northern Oval against Jarvis Delaney Crushers, who also suffered a first-round defeat, would be vital to stay alive in the series.
He said Cricket Shepparton’s Gino Saracino and Fire Brigade’s Brenton Campbell, who missed last Sunday’s opening game, would be fresh inclusions in the Hounds side for the game, which starts at 2.45 pm.
The early game, also at the Northern Oval between first-round winners Mud Dogs and Cobram Panel Works Panthers, starts at 11 am.
Spectators are encouraged to watch what should be some exciting cricket.