THE Wingello Tigers honoured their club patron Bill “Tiger” O’Reilly in the best possible fashion – with a convincing win against the Bill O’Reilly XI, made up of players from the Riverina and Wyangle Cricket Clubs, in Wingello on Sunday.
The match, which consisted of four quarters of 16 overs, was played in good spirits and there were three generations of the O’Reilly family there.
Bill’s son Peter oversaw the scoring duties, while his son Michael played in the game and Michael’s son Daniel helped his grandfather score.
The O’Reilly XI batted first and, under the watchful eyes of international umpire Simon Taufel, they struggled in their first innings to finish at 5-54.
The Tigers wasted no time and cruised to 2-102 off their first 16 overs with Cameron Pike [61 retired] and James Baldwin [50 retired] among the runs.
The O’Reillys hit back in their second innings with some lusty hitting to set Wingello a target of 220. O’Reilly batsmen Neil Bulger and Steve Groch rocketed balls into the bush with ease. But the Tigers cruised to win in about 25 overs for the second year in a row. .
Wingello’s Cameron Pike was named man of the match, while David Short picked up the bowling award and James Baldwin the batting.