Orana’s tilt at Regional Bash crown goes up in Flames

Four wickets from Xavier McDevitt’s left-arm noodles and a stunning barrage with the new ball from big quick Rhys Voysey ensured the visiting Flames defended 8-139 with relative ease at George Park (1).

Voysey’s first over was a double-wicket maiden while McDevitt ran through the Outlaws’ middle order at a crucial part in the game to lift their side to victory, finishing with 3-20 and 4-10 respectively, bowling Orana out for 116.

RSL Colts, Dubbo and Western Zone star Greg Buckley played a lone hand at the top of the order for Orana, belting 62 off 45 balls but when he fell in the 14^th over the Outlaws’ 2018 campaign was effectively over.

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Having won the Plan B Regional Bash in 2016, big things are generally expected from the Orana outfit.

But with a new-look side and on the back of a first-up loss to Central West on Saturday, the 2018 Twenty20 regional title race has been a tough one.

“I suppose we’ve got a bit more of an inexperienced side this year. We've probably had seven or eight players pull out in the last two weeks,” Buckley said after the Illawarra game.

“The young lads that have come in have given it a good crack though, you just have to learn from it and come back stronger next year.”

Batting first, Illawarra started slowly but that was mainly due to the pressure applied from seamer Trent Smith.

His first two overs were maidens and coupled with some tight bowling from new-ball partner Bailey Edmunds Orana started the match well.

Blake Owen, though, eventually got going and went on to top score with 32 off 27 balls, while a contribution from Toby Dodds (30 off 22) and a lower-order flurry from Jason Bunyan (27 off 14) bumped the Flames up to 8-139 from their 20 overs.

Young spinner Marty Jeffrey (3-23) was undoubtedly the pick of the Orana bowlers, two wickets in his first over stalling what was a promising start from the Illawarra side.

“Marty came on and got some quick wickets, it’s the best I’ve seen him bowl. He was probably the stand-out for us,” Buckley added.

For the Outlaws, disaster then struck with the bat.

Voysey, or the Eurobodalla Express as his teammates called him, went bang-bang in the opening over of the second innings, removing Jordon Peacock caught behind and then skittling Jeffrey to have the Orana side reeling at 2-0.

Buckley struck a blow virtually every chance he got and brought up his 50 off just 38 balls but other than Corey McDean (13 off 19) the Englishman never really found a constant batting partner.

Buckley was the fifth wicket to fall with the score on 86, Matt Pike (2-28) rewarded for persistence with the big wicket.

An over later, McDevitt’s left-arm orthodox picked up Matt Skinner, Smith and then Jason Ryan to completely derail Orana’s Regional Bash campaign.

“We got off to a bad start yesterday and today we just tried chasing the game again, really. We knew to give ourselves half a chance we had to get the runs quickly but it didn’t pay off for us,” Buckley added.

Illawarra skipper Mitchell Hearn was thrilled with his side’s fielding effort, Ben Wright’s diving catch to help remove the dangerous Buckley the highlight.

“We’re a strong bowling side and our fielding was really sharp. It kept the intensity up for the whole innings and we were able to put the pressure on them,” Hearn said.

“We knew the danger in the Outlaws, we knew Greg would come out like that. We dropped him, and we were ruing that, but luckily we were able to keep it tight.

“We didn’t bat well but we scrapped together a total and I think that shows perseverance.”