Victoria starts with win, loss at country cricket championships

VICTORIA finished with a win and a loss from the opening day of the Australian Country Cricket Championships in Western Australia on Monday.The Vics, which feature Ballarat players Heath Pyke, Matt Goonan and Matt Hyden, beat South Australia in the first of two Twenty20 fixtures, before losing to hosts WA in the afternoon.Victoria chased down South Australia’s modest total of 9-84, reaching the target in the 14th over with the loss of just two wickets to claim a competition bonus point.One of those to be dismissed was Goonan, who opened the batting only to be bowled on the second ball he faced. Pyke and Hyden were not required to bat.Wicketkeeper Pyke was handy behind the stumps during SA’s innings, effecting a stumping, taking a catch and being involved in a run out.Victoria finished on 6-122 batting first in the clash against Western Australia, with Hyden top-scoring with 26 (two sixes, one four) at the top of the order and Goonan finding some form down the list with 22 from 23 deliveries. Pyke, who opened with Hyden, was dismissed for just five.Western Australia hauled in the target with the loss of five wickets with an over in hand.Victoria, which includes ex-Ballarat cricketer Alex Cairns, now of Geelong, took on East Asia Pacific in a one-day clash yesterday and meets ACT in a similar fixture today.