An unusually cool late November morning greeted Team Midnight at Garran, where the unbeaten Tuggeranong Bandits awaited. The boys quickly noticed the prospect of a super fast outfield, which promised lots of runs for the batsmen. The Bandits won the coin toss and surprisingly elected to bowl first. The Midnight openers admitted to a few understandable nerves and headed out with the objective of seeing off the first 5 overs. A solid start by Hamish Henry and Nick Ryan blunted the opening attack and highlighted to the rest of the line up that the Bandits were only lightly armed. Nick scored his first runs for the season and acquitted the opener role well, not losing his wicket until the 7th over with 28 on the board.

Orlando Pabian strode out at #3 and drove the score along with Hamish beyond 50 before Hamish was run out by an excellent direct hit from the outfield for a breakthrough innings and career PB of 34.

Orlando and Blake Lette batted solidly through the break before Orlando brought up a well deserved retirement on 20. When Blake fell for 12 it brought Finn Henry and Hugh Williams together. They formed an excellent partnership, scoring with great intent at better than a run a ball. Breakthrough Stage 3 innings for each lad with Hugh bringing up a career high 28 not out off 21 and Finn 32 not out off 37. The team score of 153 promised a potential ambush of the Bandits.

Midnight took to the field following wise words from skipper Nate Hamilton, who was elected midweek to lead the team for the remainder of the season. The chat in the field was markedly better than previous rounds and a satisfying commitment to one of the focus areas discussed in the pre-game huddle. Always focussed on encouraging the bowlers and fielders, the chat threw the Bandits off balance as they were accustomed to dominating teams into quiet submission. Regular wickets kept falling and Josh O’Mahony inspired with 3 excellent catches in the field to give the Bandits a contest they were not anticipating. In the end Midnight took the game deep, with the winning runs being hit by the Bandits with 15 balls to spare. The Midnighters will take a great deal of confidence from the match, with an excellent team batting performance, great catching and good bowling under pressure showing the lads they can compete with the top sides.