We've had an incredible run in the 2 day grades since christmas, the record is 8-0, theres been 5x100's, 6x50's and 2x5 wicket hauls in 2 Rounds of cricket and March glory is within our grasp for the top 4 grades.
The 5ths were under the pump last week with just 7 players they never stood a chance against bottom side Bayswater. Clear highlights were 34* from Mark Hancock, a masterful 22 from Anthony Howes and 18 from Adrian Kennedy who also picked up the only wicket during Bayswaters Innings.
This week things were much better with 12 players turning up! Once again Mark Hancock was on fire with 32*, he's in rare form and obviously having a tilt at the batting averages. But it was Adrian Kennedy who topped the scoring with 45, falling agonisingly short of his first 50 for the club. Pat Forrest also showed some form with the willow with 24*, but the 5th's ran out of overs to chase down Lysterfield's 215 total. Anthony Howes collected his 3rd duck for the 5ths this year. During the bowling innings the wickets were shared around, with Jamie Tanner pulling on the whites again and taking 2/37, Mark Hancock 2/30, Addy Kotamraju 2/22 and Scott David 2/20 & 2 catches. The 5ths are mathmatical possibilites.
The 4's stormed home against the old foe. Eildon Park batted first and put on 237 at the Stud Park oval. Drew Withers 3/43 and Blake Lines 2/52 did the majority of the bowling and the "return of christ" had little impact in his 9 overs. But it was the batting that was the talk of the town, with senior citizens Ray Phillips 105 and John Mills putting on the best partnership of the year so far of 146, Ray hitting 105 of those runs. Bart Hoggett 44 and newly wed Matt van Lith 103* also put on 112 in their partnership for the 4th wicket. With more than 10 overs to go Matty was robbed of a real big one. The win & percentage booster should see the 4ths edge closer to the top 4, but by my calculations and estimations they will remain 5th. They have the bye next round meaning they'll get at least 6 points + the best percentage of the round.
The 3rds also made light work of Eildon Park. Batting first the boys piled on 321 runs in 74 overs with Ashley Thompson continuing with his all or nothing season, but this time it was "all", he hit 123, a new top score so far this season. Also with contributions were Gavin Harding 39, Zane Thomas 32, Warren Comerford 32 & Rob Howes 31. Simon Wilkinson 4/53, Ryan Lepore 2/25 and Daine Vernon 2/60 finished off Eildon Park in 44.3 overs for 220.
Jarrod Thorp plundered 109 opening the batting for the 2nd XI on their way to 9/350. The 109 came in just 28 overs with the majority of the runs scored scored from cover to mid-on, it was great to watch. Mark Dalton continued his amazing run of scores so far this season, he's had a worst score of 47 in the 5ths. Ben McLean 42 and Mitch Gregory 30 chipped in and the team added 100 in the last 15 overs. Ian Jongen was outstanding with the ball taking 5/19, showing why he's the best in divvy 3. Ray Borg will be wearing his chest guard out in the field from now on after copping one in the ribs whilst fielding that had him short of breath for a couple of minutes.
The first XI fell shy of an outright victory against Upwey, the fellas dimissed them for 117, Adam Wild starring with 4/37, his best bowling figures for the season. It's been a while between drinks for Wilba (not literally of course) whose played a close second fiddle to Foxy & Mungy but now leads the wickets with very consistent hauls of 2 & 3 in almost every innings. A top order collapse had the guys 4/36, but skipper Rhys Marget 56, Josh Gregory 36 and Travis Mulder 59 got the team the 6 points and a 100 run lead. The boys couldn't get the 10 wickets they needed but Upwey closed play at 8/135 with Travis Mulder taking 3/25 and Jarrod Butcher 3/14 in the comprehensive win.
I had to double check the dream team this week, with Youngy's XI scoring 1006 points!!! He had all the big points scorers in his team.
Dalton, Mark 82
Gregory, Joshua 76
Gregory, Mitchell 40
Hettiarachchige, Sampath 32
Lepore, Ryan 38
Marget, Rhys 81
Singh, Navinder 0
Thompson, Ashley (C) 168
Thorpe, Jarrod 144
Van Lith, Matt 138
Young, Matthew 10
Borg, Ray 12th 29
Ray Phillips scored 150 points with his 105 + 2 catches. Mark Hancock scored 120 points, 2 not outs proving helpful. Whilst Barry Wild had the thing in reverse with -37. Rhys's team still has the most points and Matt van Lith jumped a few places with 974 points. Ash Thompson has streaked away from the field this week on the players ladder. The 2's still have the most points in the teams challenge. |
