The Merimbula Knights made it look easy to overcome Eden in Saturday’s A grade cricket season opener.
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Adam Daley led the home side to a straight-forward win with a 49 run haul.
From his efforts, the Knights gave up just one wicket in the 110 run hunt that saw them pass Eden in just 24 overs.
The farewell of some key players didn’t seem to impact the performance of the Knights on the weekend, easily accounting for the strong Eden team.
The Eden side took to the crease first, but came up with a humble total of 107 runs.
The Eden side were all out in the final over.
A majority of wickets came from catches, with the talented young Knights roster showing plenty of co-ordination and prowess on the park.
Openers Drew Mudaliar and Andrew Evelyn were dismissed cheaply and the start looked promising for the Knights.
When new addition to the Eden roster Patrick Kearney was returned to the sheds for just three runs, the match was flung wide open.
Captain Reece Wheelers steadied his troops with a well-compiled 20 runs and the Eden side began to put on a decent middle-order stand.
Martin Butchers and Tim Bowes put on nearly 40 between them.
However, once they were dismissed the tail crumbled quickly and the Knights were left with a small target to run down.
Josh Brown fired a quick 16 runs to make the total break triple digits, but the Eden roster was running out of overs and wickets.
Matt Lawson and Stephen Groch led the fielding efforts for the Knights, claiming two catches apiece.
Meanwhile, Brayden Macdonald and Luke Ryan were credited for two wickets each off their bowling efforts.
With the target set, the Knights’ reply was swift and clear.
With the target set, the Knights’ reply was swift and clear ... Adam Daley led the home side to a straight-forward win with a 49-run haul.
Ryan joined Daley at the crease for a strong partnership, putting on 90 runs before Ryan was caught.
Ryan had hit 22 runs on the way and Daley was comfortably heading towards a half-century.
However, some inaccurate bowling provided plenty of extras for the Knights and cut the time at the crease even shorter.
The final tally rounded 30 extras on the Knights’ scoreboard, meaning the Merimbula side lost just one wicket.