Haisman Shield - Bowlers lead Mooroopna to dominant victory

Brodie McDonald anchored the chase from the top of the order, with his well-made 34 helping guide Mooroopna to the 70-run target in just 16.2 overs.

Greeted with sunshine and a pearler of a wicket at Mooroopna Recreation Reserve, Northerners captain Mitch Brett won the toss and chose to bat with no hesitation as he and Kiwi recruit Nick Breslin strode to the crease with hopes of constructing a big first innings score.

Those hopes would immediately be dashed as Zanchetta and fellow opening bowler William Dundon (2-26) showed no signs of early season rust to have the visitors reeling at 3-16 – with star batters Breslin and the Brett brothers failing to make any meaningful contributions.

Looking to salvage some sort of competitive total from the shocking start, the Cats continued to be ruthless with the ball as Jack Gaskill (2-8) picked up where the openers left off as Northerners did not have a single player pass 20.

Set a lowly 67 for victory, it was a nervy start for the reigning premiers as opener Ethan Anderson departed in the first over and Jac Smith-Williams followed him to the pavilion not long after to have them struggling at 2-6.

This is where the class of McDonald would come to the fore as he successfully saw out a brilliant opening spell by Joel Brett to wrestle back momentum and steer his team towards victory.

As the victory target grew closer and closer, McDonald would unfortunately fall in the game’s dying stages for 34 – leaving it to captain Sam O’Brien and wicket-keeper Brady Mulcahy to finish the job as the Cats banked the six points in under 20 overs.

Zanchetta said it was fantastic to see his side open the season in such dominant fashion.

“It was a really good win, we were very clinical with the ball coming up against a very strong batting line-up, so we were very happy to get the job done over them,” he said.

“Before Christmas it is all about banking points and putting on clinical performances because as we saw last year there was only a game separating second and eighth – so it is awesome to play well and get off to a good start.”

A win orchestrated by their work in the field, he said it was fantastic to see the bowlers execute the team plans to perfection.

“I am very proud of the bowlers, we have a plan on how we want to play and when you bowl someone out for 66 everything works out perfectly,” he said.

“As long as we are doing our best to execute those plans it gives us the best chance to win games of cricket and a performance like that gives us a lot of confidence moving forward into the season.”

Mooroopna will be looking to continue its momentum next weekend as the side travels to Kialla to face Old Students, while Northerners will be desperate to bounce back when Euroa comes to town.