‘Mouth watering contest’ shows premiership potential across the board

By Cricket | February 20, 2016 at 10:36 am 0 Comments

A GRADE – TRIGGS SHIELD

 Yass Golf Clubs v Yass Soldiers Club @ Victoria Park

Saturday’s match of the round more than met expectations with the result unknown until the very last over of the day.

Winning the toss and batting, Yass Soldiers Club Snipers navigated their way through some fine Yass Golf Club bowling to reach 3/162 at 45 overs. Snipers got away to the worst start possible when YGC young gun Luke Southwell removed Ben Mudalier with the very first ball of the match. Fellow opener Dave Field and Craig Irwin tried their best to establish a partnership but it was Southwell again who had Irwin fall to an excellent catch by keeper Boyd Roche.

The Golf Club run chase started well with 29 added for the first wicket before Chris Doyle fell to Josh O’Brien’s bowling for 7. This brought Phil Sparnon to the crease to join Daniel Poidevin, the pair confidently took the total to 78 before an inexplicable mix-up between the two saw Sparnon run out for 15.

Incoming batsmen Mark Howard battled tenaciously against the miserly Snipers bowlers who were giving little away. Despite the urgings of his team mates Howard departed for 4 with the score on 113 and the required run-rate nudging 6 an over.

After surviving two scares in his innings, Poidevin departed for a game high 91 runs and shortly after Boyd Roche fell with the score on 137. Needing another 26 for victory at a run a ball, the game was in the balance, however Golf Club’s Chris Bradley 12 n.o. and Daniel Kemp 6 n.o, who showed a level head beyond his years, got the minor premiers home with three balls to spare.

It was a mouth-watering contest which shows the premiership can be won by any of the four finalists.

Bookham Bulls v Royal Pirates @ Bookham

Runs were the order of the day in a high scoring affair at Bookham.

The home side won the toss and asked the visitors to bat, a decision they came to regret as the Pirates amassed a total of 5/282. Opener Adam Forth was the star of the show, buoyed by his good performances during the representative season, Forth smashed his way to a season high of 140. After losing opening partner Shaun Davis with the score on 9 he built a 2^nd wicket partnership of 86 with Tom Parr (28) and 3^rd wicket partnership of 79 with Anthony Broers (34).

Steve Greenwood came and went quickly, however Forth set about building another partnership of 56 with Matt Lawrence before eventually falling with the score on 237. Lawrence (28no) was joined by Stribley Shield match winner Nick Pollack (39no), the pair rapidly built the score to 282 at the close of innings.

It was a tough day for the young Bulls attack, however opening bowler AJ Wilson can be satisfied with his effort claiming 2/41 (9 overs), as can Tim Hazell 2/61 (8), Marcus Bush 1/40 (*) and Shikane Sawyer 1/51 (9).

Despite spending a tough session in the field, the Bulls were keen to return the favour to the Pirates. After opener Elliott Southwell departed without troubling the scorer, Tim Hazell joined brother Brad at the crease, the pair stabilised the innings well before Brad departed for 38 with total at 2/49. Tim then took control of the innings, remaining undefeated at innings close with a YDCA career high of 107no.

Despite not getting close to victory the young Bulls side will take plenty of confidence away from making the in-form Pirates work for their win. Bowling honours for the Pirate went to Nick Pollack 4/37 (7) with the other wickets shared among Andrew Holgate (1/48 (9), Tom Parr 1/40 (9), Shaun Davis 1/44 (9), Matt Lawrence 1/40 (9) and Anthony Gallagher 1/15 (2).

Harden v Bowning Buffaloes @ Harden

The final A Grade match went fairly much to plan with visiting Bowning leaving with a comprehensive 9 wicket victory.

Batting first Harden were bundled out for 113 with the main contribution coming from Tyler Allen 29 and Jayson Smith 26. Jim Burleigh 4/36 (9) led the wicket haul for Bowning while Dave Brown began his day well taking 3/20 (9), the others to bowl well were Craig Puniard 1/9 (3), Beau Walker 1/10 (4), Angus Burleigh 1/14 (2) and Jamie Apps 0/17 (5).

In reply Bowning was seldom troubled losing only the wicket of Beau Walker for 31 when the score was on 63. From then on it was business as usual for the Buffaloes with Dave Brown 51no and Andrew Swaffield 30 taking them through to victory.

B GRADE – SWEENEY CUP

 Yass Golf Club v Dalton @ O’Connor Park

Winning the toss and batting, the YGC Taipans posted a defendable 9/140 . Dalton would’ve been happy to see the early dismissal of noted run scorer Adrian Waters for 7. Opening partner Bayley Maher contributed a fine 32 which was equal top scorer with Lachy Kemp, who held the innings together with a valuable 32no and extras which tallied 32.

Wickets for Dalton were evenly spread among Nicolas Arney 3/23 (7), Troy Pye 2/8 (4), Neil Corby 2/15 (7) and Dylan Hansen 2/23 (8) while Harry Morris 0/18 (8) bowled economically.

With five batsmen failing to disturb the scorer, Dalton’s run chase was unable to gain momentum, top scorer was Ryan Dowling with 23. On the other hand the Taipans come away from the game knowing their bowling attack can take them a long way through the final series.

Bayley Maher and Lachy Kemp rounded out excellent days work returning figures of 4/15 (5.3) and 3/5 (4) while opening bowler Dylan Percival (2/10) continues to impress as does Bayley Timmer 1/14 (3).

Gundaroo v Murrumbateman @ Gundaroo

Gundaroo lived up to their ‘Gunner’ nickname with a comprehensive 9 wicket victory over main title rivals Murrumbateman.

After being sent into bat Murrumbateman were all out in the 39^th over for a competitive 155. Six of their batsman managed double-figures however none went on to post a match defining score. Andrew McLean top scored with 29 while James Gray contributed 24, Dean Thornwaite 19 and Brendan Johnson 17.

Daryl Roscoe was the Gunners’ chief destroyer claiming 3/29 (6.3), Sean Egan bowled well for 2/8 (3) as did Jeremy Clarke 1/22 (4), Mitch Callagher 1/26 (8), Clint Harvey 1/23 (5) and Anthony Mortimer 1/14 (3).

In reply Gundaroo were relentless, blasting their way to 1/164 from only 19 overs. The opening pair of Anthony Mortimer and Rob Clarke put on 126 before Clarke was dismissed for 57 while Mortimer remained undefeated on 85 when victory was secured.

C GRADE – YASS SOLDIERS CLUB SHIELD

 Yass Golf Club v Boorowa @ Bowning

In another contest between two final aspirants Boorowa continued their good season with a 4 wicket victory over YGC Colts. Batting first Colts would’ve been disappointed in being dismissed for only 87. Following a solid opening partnership of 37 between Tom Roche 26 and Borin Yous 11 the Colts innings never had the chance to gain momentum as Boorowa claimed wickets at regular intervals. Only Liam McKenzie (20) provided any late resistance. Opening bowlers Anthony McMahon 3/18 (8) and Stuart Gay 2/33 (8) led the way for Boorowa with the pair receiving good support from Damien Harton 3/12 (5.2) and Mick Canlis 2/4 (2).

In reply Boorowa looked a little shaky at 3/23 however Murray Armour 32no and Anthony McMahon 29 helped pave the way for the victory target to be reached in the 20^th over. Colts captain Hussein Kassouh bowled well taking 3/22 (4.4) while Liam McKenzie and Borin Yous both returned figures of 1/18 (5).

Binalong v Yass Soldiers Club @ Binalong

No scores submitted for this match.

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