Brunswick CC Match Reports: 11-12 Oct

The season is underway. A total of 6 wins from 9 senior games on the weekend got the club off to a good start. Here are a couple of Brunswick CC match reports from an opening weekend featuring some big scores and lots of wickets.

Brunswick 4s vs Melton 4s  2: Judgement Day

Twelve lives ended on the 22nd of February 2025, a day known to those in Melton as Judgement Day and a day known in Brunswick as Silent H. A score set at 487 was so devastating that not one player would return to take on Brunswick the following season. It was a day that would be remembered forever by all who bared witness and a day that Melton would hope to forget. Brunswick went on to lift the flag on March 23rd 2025 after a dominant campaign.

But time heals all wounds, and Melton would return to Holbrook Reserve with 11 new players unscathed from the massacre on February 22. Brunswick, sporting a new captain and only 3 players from the premiership, had their work cut out for them.

After winning the toss and batting, the addition of one Gurvinder Singh, a 7 foot opening batsman clad in a Manchester united jersey atop a white business shirt with red pants and white pads strode to the crease and continued to flay the relatively inexperienced Brunswick attack all over Holbrook. Singh put on 145 off 121, and with the reigning champions having failed to take a wicket in the first session, things were looking ominous.

Eventually Party Panda decided he needed to do it all himself and took 4 quick wickets to limit the score to 247 at the change of innings.

Things appeared dire in the Brunswick rooms until the ghost of Brenton Allan from the future sent a child prodigy cyborg travelling in time to rescue us. 13 year old Abhik Nomula set the tone and after locking in with veteran low grade battler C. West combined for an undefeated partnership of 158 runs to humble Melton. The look of despair amongst the Melton team after letting their best batting innings in a season slip was only comparable to their innings and 300 run defeat earlier in the year at the same park. Abhik has cemented his name into Brunswick folklore and no one will ever forget what is now being dubbed Judgement Day.

It is still unclear which was the more satisfying – the victory to have been apart of, or the score we could have amassed had we had a full 80 overs.

C Grade Match Report – Brunswick vs Reds 

Brunswick kicked off the season in style with a commanding six-wicket victory over Reds at McDonald Reserve.

After winning the toss and bowling first, Brunswick’s bowlers showed great discipline to restrict Reds 2 to 154 all out. The attack was led superbly by Gef Senz, who picked up 4/39 off 9 overs, consistently troubling the batters with sharp movement and accuracy. Bryce Sarah was equally impressive with 2/11 off 7 overs, applying pressure through tight lines, while Eddy Mason (2/7 off 3) delivered a brilliant late spell to clean up the tail. Shaik Hemad Faisal also chipped in with 1/21 off 6, rounding out a strong all-round bowling effort.

In the field, the team was sharp – Sam Long took three great catches, including a diving one hander that showcased his goalkeeping skills. Sid, Gef and Andrew Read each contributed a catch, along with a crucial run out from James Elhindi.

Chasing 155 for victory, Brunswick started steadily before a composed partnership between Sam Long and Sid Kumar sealed the win. Sam anchored the chase with a classy 50* off 78 balls, striking seven boundaries and batting through to the end. Sid played an attacking hand with 29 off 27. Sam also had 40+ run partnerships with Kiran Long (22) and Shaik Hemad Faisal (24). In the closing stages, Ziad Bayzid (4 off 2)* finished the game in style with a boundary to seal the win in the 31st over.

A complete team performance – disciplined bowling, sharp fielding, and a composed chase – gave Brunswick 6 a well-earned first-up win. The energy, teamwork, and composure shown set a great tone for the season ahead.