Round two of the BPL was underway at Ivor Marsden Memorial Park. Moreton Magic were hoping for their second victory of the BPL and the undefeated, top of the table, Gold Coast Waveriders were hoping to continue their winning momentum.
Waveriders had the early momentum with 12 runs coming off the opening over. Some good bowling by Magic’s local hero, Glen Batticciotto, and a good second over by Preston White halted the early runs from the Waveriders. The Waveriders never really got going with the bat, untill later on in the innings, with consistently staying at a run rate between 6 to 7 runs an over. Waveriders were unable to keep getting runs without wickets in between, with the top 6 all in the double figures, but no one able to get in the thirties. Once again star leg-spin bowler Chris Abbey was tearing up through the middle overs, with figures of 3-17. Some creative batting from Hugo Burdon kept the Waveriders going, as he top-scored for them with 25 runs. Wickets kept coming for the Magic, as the Wavriders were at one stage looking like they would be bowled out for under 120. Some late boundaries by Jackson Smith helped the Waveriders reach 9/144. Jackson finishing with 20* runs of just 10 deliveries.
Sundries were the leading run-scorer early, as the Waverider’s bowling was a bit erratic. Two quick wickets in the 4th and 5th over put the Magic on backfoot, as Preston White was the victim of an almost Jofra Archer-like screamer by Nikhil Chaudhary, which possibly could be the catch of the tournament. Jed Wilson and Tom Nicholson steadied the Magic’s innings with a partnership of 62 runs. Nicholson hit some huge 6’s before finishing with 35, and Jed Wilson top-scored with 38 before getting stumped by Patrick Cotter. After the wicket of Wilson, Moreton Magic needed 29 runs off 4 overs with 2 new batsmen in at the crease. The Magic were looking like they would take the victory until a bit of a mixup between the stumps led to the runout of the dangerous Adam Thornton for 13. The match came down to the final over, with the Magic needing 5 runs for victory. The late wicket of Ben Mably put the Waveriders back in contention with this looking like it could go to the tie in the BPL. It didn’t matter though, as Chris Abbey solidified the victory with a huge 6 down the ground to help Magic get their second victory of the BPL.
Chris Abbey said after the match about pitch on field 2, after spin seemed to be the way go for most of the day.
“ (Field 2) a decent pitch to be honest, there wasn’t too much variable bounce or lateral movement “
