Opening day victory for Maestros

Game One saw Hunter’s skipper Mark Schofield win the toss against the Govani Maetros and elect to bat first, and after the early loss of Dan Simpson he saw Stu Connor (40) and Ben Calder (16) make good progress. Connor found the boundary with regularity as the score passed 50 but he and Calder both fell and the middle order struggled against the wily bowling of Karim Govani and Glen Noller. The Hurricanes looked like they would struggle to muster a competitive total, but Max Carter-Miller (34*) and Mike Larke (18) took advantage of some tired looking fielding from the experienced Maestros line up to help take the score up to 145-7 from their 20 overs.

Many at the ground believed this would be a challenging chase for the Maestros, but Alan Ison calmed his side’s nerves by taking 22 from the first over of the innings!!! He reached the retirement mark of 50 from just 15 balls (including 3 fours and 5 sixes) but the mantle was then taken up Andrew Kennedy who drove to the extra cover boundary with frequency as the Maestros cruised towards victory. Kennedy was trapped in front by Scott Fisher for 31, but Alex Ward and Matt Malby saw the Maestros home by eight wickets with six overs to spare.