Sheffield Shield: NSW in commanding position against Victoria
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-South-Wales-c823 (NSW) were in a strong position on the first day of their Sheffield Shield match against Victoria at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). They reached 345 for the loss of just three wickets at the close of play.
The wicket was good for batting and there was not much assistance for the bowlers in it. Any captain winning the toss would have elected to bat first. However, there was a cloud cover at Melbourne, which may have raised some doubts for the teams. There was
no doubt in the mind of NSW captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Stuart-Clark-c2591 though, as he opted to bat straight away after winning the toss.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Phillip-Hughes-c2185 and David Warner started the innings for NSW. The star opening pair got the team off to an ideal start and constructed a brilliant century-partnership for the first wicket. Hughes played very nicely for his 69 off 91 balls but was undone by
a brilliant ball from Peter Siddle. However, the aggressive left-hander had done his job by providing a solid platform for the middle-order batsmen.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Victoria-c859 would have hoped to get a few more wickets after the fall of Hughes but they were denied by the NSW batsmen. NSW’s first-drop batsman Phil Jacques paired with Warner at the crease and both took the game away from Victoria with some sensible batting.
The pair amassed yet another century stand for their team and took the total to 242. Warner missed out on a deserving century as he was out just one run short of his century on 99.
He would have liked to build on the start he had gotten and play a big innings, but was unable to withstand the pressure of batting in the nineties. Jacques was joined by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Peter-Forrest-c2176 in the middle and both took their team’s total over 300 with a 70-run
partnership for the third wicket. However, Forrest was unable to capitalise on the start he got and was dismissed for 25 runs.
Veteran batsman Jacques however, didn’t lose his focus and reached his century in style. He handled the pressure very nicely and struck a towering six to reach his 100. Until the close of play, Jacques was unbeaten on 128 off 180 balls. He struck seventeen
4’s and one huge 6 in his innings. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ben-Rohrer-c1139 was unbeaten on 15 off 22 balls and he will be looking forward to make most of the opportunity.
Siddle was the only bowler, who looked like taking wickets today. The star bowler troubled most batsmen throughout the day and finished the day with two wickets for his team. The only other wicket-taker was http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Michael-Hill-c1955, who took one wicket.
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