While their sides finished with a win and draw, respectively, the first grade Bulldogs – chasing the Eels’ 247 and needing 218 for victory – whimpered to just 99 to be all out in the first innings with few batsmen troubling the scorers.
Sent back in to bat for a second innings, the Dogs fared slightly better with Nick Carruthers scoring a sparkling 60 with 34 of those runs from boundaries.
The game was called with Bankstown at 1 for 93 and the Dogs losing on first innings.
Earlier in the week, the Bulldogs took on Sydney University in a mid-week twilight match.
Without usual captain Daniel Solway, who was representing NSW Metro, the Dogs won the toss and batted.
Wicketkeeper Ethan Deal was the only batsman to get going with a rapid-fire 41 off 27 balls. Without serious support, his innings stood almost alone and meant the Dogs struggled to achieve a defendable target in reaching 8 for 145 off their allotted 20 overs, despite many batsmen getting modest starts.
The total was never really enough and the students chased them down in the 18th over for the loss of just four wickets.
Firsts fail to unleash but lower grades hit century
A FRUSTRATING day for the Bulldogs First Grade side was offset by outstanding performances from two of Bankstown’s best and brightest young batsmen, Ryan Freeman and Bryan Handunneththi, each scoring 102 not out in Second and Third Grade, respectively.