The Coro Cougars have made a strong start to their season with a six-wicket win over Hanwood in the opening round of the GDCA first grade season at Exies No 1 on Saturday.
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After winning the toss and electing to bat, Hanwood would have been looking to make a strong start with Brad Hornery and Brendan Hicken opening the batting.
After seeing off the first four overs and getting the score to 14, Hicken (9) was trapped in front by Alex Flood (1/14), but Oliver Bartter and Hornery looked to stabilise the innings.
The pairing put on 18 runs for the second wicket before Hornery (7) was caught behind of the newest member of the Cougars side Angus Boulton.
The fall of Hornery saw Hanwood lose 4/20 with Boulton (2/18) picking up the wicket of Oliver Bartter (11) while Micheal Crosato (1) was run out by Hayden Pascoe and captain Charlie Cunial (8) was caught by Pascoe off the bowling of Burns (1/10).
Ben and Jack Rowston looked to get their side towards a defendable total with a 21-run stand before Jack Rowston (7) became the first victim of Dean Bennett.
Ben Rowston (14) kept their momentum going however when he fell to Jack Hutchinson it saw Hanwood lose their final four wickets for two runs with Hutchinson (3/19) and Bennett (2/14) doing the damage to see Hanwood bowled out for 93.
The Cougars would have been looking to make a strong start to try and secure the bonus point win but his an early snag with Ben Rowston (1/18) picking up the wicket of Rob Rand (3) falling in the second over.
Tim Rand joined Bennett at the crease but just 10 runs later Dean Wynne was able to pick up the wicket of Rand (3) to see the Cougars sitting on 2/16 after five overs.
The stable heads of Bennett and Pascoe were able to get their side back on track with a strong third-wicket partnership.
Over the course of the next nine overs, the pair put on 58 runs to get their side to within 20 runs of victory before Bennett was caught by Tom Bartter off the bowling of Charlie Cunial.
With still over half their innings to go, the Cougars had time on their side, and with 12 runs remaining to secure victory, Hicken (1/11) was able to make a crucial breakthrough as he picked up the wicket of Pascoe (39).
Coro's youngsters Angus Boulton (8*) and Ben Signor (8*) were able to get their side across the line for a six-wicket win with 22 overs remaining.
The Cougars will look to maintain their early momentum when they take on Exies Eagles while Hanwood will look to bounce back when the face Leagues.
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