Raymond Terrace skipper Steve Smith sang the praises of all-rounder Daniel Upland after his superb century against City United at Jack Collins Oval on Saturday.
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Smith said while Upland’s century put the result beyond doubt, winning the toss was crucial in the outcome as whoever batted second was always going to struggle in the plus-40 conditions.
The Lions took their good form from the Hunter Valley Cup Twenty20 comp to post a commanding 6/236 batting first.
They dismissed top of the table City for 152, but Smith said nothing should be read into City’s performance in relation to their favouritism for this year’s Maitland first grade title.
“It was a toss you wanted to win and bat straight away,” Smith said. “We were on the other side of the coin when we played Port Stephens here in a one-dayer two games back.
“We struggled to mount any sort of chase as we were pretty much cooked from our time in the field and it was the same for City today.
“They were also without Josh Trappel and another one of their players didn’t bat because he was feeling crook after fielding.
“It was incredibly difficult to back-up after being in the field and when we got Matt Trappel out we knew we had the game.”
Upward came in the with the score on 19 when Leigh Osmond was out for seven, but any hopes City had of following up their early success were snuffed out by Upward and Jaymes Thomas who combined for a partnership of 144.
Thomas went first for 55 continuing his fine form from the Hunter Valley Cup. Upland was next out for 107 with the score on 191.
Smith said he was particularly pleased that the remainder of the order were able to continue the momentum of the start they were given.
Jason Wells finished with the best figures taking 3-37. Teenager Alex Lidbury was impressive taking 2-16 off six overs and Will Maher picked up 2-10 off his five
“It’s very good to get the win and it means we are just outside the top four and back in the mix for finals,” Smith said.
“However, I wouldn’t read anything into City’s form.”
Next weekend back-to-back two-day fixture could prove crucial in the fortunes of City and their opponent Northern Suburbs.
Last year’s grand finalists are fourth and fifth respectively with Norths on 36 points after beating Wests by five wickets at Coronation Oval.
“Unfortunately, we are going to be without our young representative players including Alex Lidbury, who had a great game on Saturday, as they have IDCA competition commitments on Sunday,” Smith said.
“It’s something we probably need to look at in future as far as scheduling of matches.”