AN unbeaten 75-run performance from Barham Koondrook co-captain Garry Lolicato ensured his team started their SHDCA A Grade campaign in winning fashion with a hard fought four-wicket win over RSL on Saturday.
With Friday’s rain making for difficult batting conditions across the district, the performances Lolicato and RSL opener Ryan Hinton, who carried his bat throughout the Blues’ innings on his way to an unbeaten 53, stood out.
Both regarded as being among the elite batsmen in the association, they not only survived when teammates fell around them, but prospered by scoring freely.
Lolicato’s 75 not out came from just 62 deliveries.
Barham Koondrook co-captain Jayden Hall praised the performance.
“You have to start stacking the wins up early in the season otherwise it can be hard to fight back later in the year,” Hall said.
“It was a resilient win, it was tough and we were in a bit of trouble at times, but ‘Gaz’ (Lolicato) was brilliant and really steadied the ship in the middle of the order.
“When someone makes 75 runs out of a total of 115 it’s a pretty decent effort.
“He was scoring all around the ground as well, and they have some pretty decent bowlers, like Oscar (Hier) who he got on top of at one point and had a couple of good overs against, which got him going.”
Hall was another key contributor, taking four wickets for 22 runs from his eight overs, including four of the Blues’ top six batsmen.
Although it was a strong one-two combination from the Raiders co-captains, who led their team to their first victory of the season, Hall was quick to praise his side’s all-round depth.
“The conditions were a bit tough at times, I felt sorry for RSL early on to be honest,” Hall said.
“It was doing a fair bit off the deck, especially up one end, and when you have a ball swinging one way and cutting the other, it makes it pretty tough batting.
“We’re a pretty strong team this year with plenty of depth and I was happy with our performance.
“After the game we mentioned that while ‘Gaz’ (Lolicato) and myself may have had individual success today, next week it could be anyone that steps up and performs as we have a team that is definitely capable of that.
“It was a resilient win and while ‘Gaz’ anchored the innings, there was a couple of other boys that batted well on a tough wicket as well.
“While they may not have gotten the runs as such, Leigh (Sobotnicki) and Joel (Davidson) still played important roles and did pretty well just batting with Garry to hold up an end.”
Hinton was a standout for the Blues with the bat, with Todd Day-Henery (20 runs) the only other RSL teammate to make double figures.
Brenton Caldwell was the pick of the bowlers for the home side, taking 3/13 from six overs, with Oscar Hier (two wickets) and Stuart Patterson the only other wicket takers.
Barham Koondrook will hit the road once again this Saturday when they face reigning premiers Nyah District in an early season test, while RSL will have the bye to regroup before also taking on the Demons.
