Hawks gunning for T20 excellence

They may have suffered their first defeat of the season last weekend, but Rovers United Bruck’s A grade squad are eager to rebuild their winning streak to qualify for the short form finals. After a flawless start to the year in the one-dayers, the Hawks fell in their first T20 against the Lakers, but bounced back against City Colts, with a win this weekend against the dangerous Beechworth sure to boost their chances of making the decider. RUB skipper Jeremy Wilson said it had taken time to adapt to the shortest form of the game. “It’s still limited overs but it’s a lot different to one-day cricket, it’s probably a bit more of a high-intensity game,” he said. “With the first game, we didn’t bat very well so the game was over pretty early in the chase, but if you break it down, you can have one bloke really take the game away from you. “We don’t play a lot of it so I suppose as we go along it’s probably going to become a bit more of the norm over the next few years, but I think we can only get better.” A few misfires at the top of the order made the weekend more challenging than would be preferred, with Charith Perera (4, 4), Jordan Hansted (7, 6) and Ryan Collier (0, 24) unable to get the side off to the flyer they’d need. “Chazzy [Perera] missed out both times, Jordie missed out, Ryan missed out in the first game but he batted pretty well in the second game,” Wilson said. “I think we’re all probably guilty of playing some pretty ordinary shots in that first game, so to hit back in the second game, we wanted to make a score we knew we could defend, and that’s what we did. “We shot ourselves in the foot, you can only blame yourself for losing that first game, but I think we’d have to win every game now to make the final – we need to win really well these next three games, and that starts this week.” Beechworth similarly have a win and a loss in the book, but will be buoyed by a recent statement knock from the ever-reliable Brenton Surrey, who belted 74* from 58 balls to help his side to victory over a strong Ovens Valley side. “They’re similar to most sides, they’ve got a couple of good batters, they’re a handy side, they’re dangerous,” Wilson said. “They’ve got Grub [Brenton Surrey] with the bat, who’s just consistent but the rest of them, like most sides, are a bit hit-and-miss. “Matty Ryan’s been batting really well this year, he’s a bit unorthodox with the bat so he can get away with things other players don’t, they’ve got the young blokes like Clance [Clancy Ellett], Will Prebble. “They’re going to be pretty good bats, I think Will’s still a teenager and Clancy’s only in his early 20s, they’re pretty handy with the bat. “It’s a bit of a lottery, the T20s, you’re just not sure what to expect, so you’ve just got to try and take advantage when they bowl poorly.” Rovers United Bruck head out of Wangaratta for the first time this season to take on Beechworth Wanderers at Baarmutha Park, with the first ball set for 12.30pm.

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