Marist suffer third-straight loss as Eaton continue on

Marist suffered their third-straight loss when the undefeated Eaton handed them a six-wicket defeat at the Eaton Sports Ground on Saturday.

The Blues were sent in to bat after Eaton skipper Clint Hewson won the toss, with a tough pitch and some good bowling from the Beavers seeing Marist bundled out in the 49th over for just 147.

Marist were without in-form opening batsman Corey Fitt and young all-rounder Brayden Clarke, who starred in the Blues’ Twenty20 victory just six days earlier.

Steve Barron (1-19 off 10 overs) was at his economical best and had young English batsman Max Bryant out for just four runs.

Recalled batsman Lee Sorfleet (6) was then trapped lbw by Clayton Caltsounis (1-26 off 10 overs), giving Eaton a good start.

Aaron Quartermaine returned to the Beavers’ line-up and was pivotal with the ball, taking 4-31 off 10 overs including the wickets of Kyle Davis (0), Shane Cristaldi (3), Adam Spinelli (1) and Jack Wilson (2).

This left Marist in big trouble at 8/65, but skipper Reece O’Connell (73) batted with flare and precision to lead Marist to a competitive total.

O’Connell batted with Ben Shipley (38) for a 70-run partnership, with the duo the only Marist batsmen to score more than six runs for the game.

The pair were dismissed within 12 runs of each other, with Marist leaving Eaton little to chase.

Eaton opening pair Matt Foreman (52) and Matt Davies (40) looked as if they were going to make light work of the run chase, before the latter was removed by O’Connell (2-22 off 10 overs).

O’Connell then had Foreman caught by Cristaldi, leaving Eaton at 2/109.

Sam Roots was surprisingly given a bowl and showed he can take first grade wickets, removing both Quartermaine (11) and James Hillery (8) to finish with figures of 2-49 from 6.3 overs.

Marist did not have enough runs on the board, with Caltsounis belting 24 off seven balls to pass the Blues’ total in the 38th over.