By Nick Creely
WGCA – OTHER GRADES
REVIEW – ROUND 3
DISTRICT
With the weather forcing four teams to share the points, the victory to Carlisle Park over Emerald becomes a looming edge come the pointy end of the season.
The Vikings won the toss and elected to bat, with opening batsman David Nutting shaking off the recent poor form with 77, the Vikings was on top.
Nutting wasn’t alone as James Giertz also churned out an unbeaten 61.
With rain interrupting play, players were forced in to bat in treacherous conditions for Emerald in reply to the Vikings 5/202.
Mitch Copey toiled away for a hard fought 58, but it wasn’t enough for the Bombers as the Vikings claimed victory.
Pakenham Upper and Officer were unable to achieve a result, the Bullants set 127 for victory.
In reply, the Yabbies were trapped on 3/61 in the 15th before rain set in.
In one of the more rain reduced matches of the day in the entire competition, Upper Beaconsfield and Clyde also shared the points.
Clyde’s innings was cut short at the 33rd over mark with a strong total of 3/145 on the board – Joel Avard 53 not out.
In reply, Beaconsfield could only manage the 16 overs before being moved off the ground.
SUB-DISTRICT
Merinda Park got on against Cardinia and secured victory.
The Cobras set 4/156 for victory, courtesy of a blistering half-century from Glen Ward with three fours and two maximums.
In reply, the Bulls were bundled out for 128 after Peter Jessop ran riot with ball in hand, he picked up 5/24 from his eight overs in the triumphant win.
Bradley Reiner played a lone hand for the Bulls with 55.
Koo Wee Rup, meanwhile, travelled to Tooradin to collect the points.
The Demons posted 5/163, opening batsman Paul Bright led the way with 60.
Shane Somers was best with the ball for Tooradin – finishing with the figures 3/23 from eight.
Tooradin were kept to 9/151 from their adjusted 36 overs, Matt Davey doing the brunt of the damage with 3/29 from seven.
Officer escaped a defeat at the hands of Lang Lang.
The Bullants posted a solid 6/181 with seven of the top eight reaching double figures.
In reply, the Swamp Tigers were 2/130 after 27 overs before being called off.
Rajind Dassanyake looked ominous once again with 55 not out.
B GRADE
Gembrook’s clash with Pakenham Upper Toomuc was the only completed game in a rain-marred weekend of cricket in Victoria, with the Yabbies chalking up the points away from home.
The Yabbies were sent in by the Brookers, and reached 7/194 after a terrific half-century by Casey Thomsen (68) in the middle-order set up the match winning total.
The Brookers were always going to be on the back foot after quickly falling to 4/33, and despite some late fight by Joe Haverkamp (26) and Jeremy Everett (42 not out), the home side were rolled for 141, with Jake Abel the pick of the bowlers with a tidy 3/18 off his eight overs. Ben Jarred (3/25) was also in the wickets for the Yabbies.
In the other games, Clyde (1/56) and Aura Vale (128) drew but were close to a result, Emerald (7/191) were in a similar position in a thriller against Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll (9/177) before rain took over, while Carlisle Park Vikings (9/201) managed to get through their innings against Devon Meadows before the game was called off at Glover Recreation Reserve.
C GRADE
An absolutely sparkling performance from Cardinia’s Steve McLachlan guided the Bulls to a completely dominant win against Upper Beaconsfield at home.
The Maroons batted first, but were skittled for a lowly 33, with McLachlan snaring the mind boggling figures of 6/7 in a phenomenal spell of bowling. Pradeep Kasana (3/8) also did plenty of damage in a remarkable bowling display.
The Bulls did stumble in the small chase – losing four wickets – but managed to steady and take the points with still 23 overs left to play.
Tooradin also put in a terrific display of team cricket at Rutter Park, dismantling Officer.
The Bullants won the toss and elected to bat, but struggled to get going, finishing on 8/86 off 40 overs, with youngster Jack James digging in to make a gritty 32 not out from number three.
Seagull pair Tyler Evans (3/7) and Tim Huguenin (3/20) applied maximum pressure with the ball despite the team giving up 20 extras.
The home side had to work hard for the win, however, slumping to 6/57, before a crucial partnership at the back end helped secure the win.
Cranbourne Meadows and Merinda Park were also able to get through their clash at Lawson Poole Reserve, with the Rebels claiming the points comfortably.
The Rebels batted first, racking up 9/157 off their 40 overs, with youngster Brodie Matthews top scoring with 33, while with the ball, Cobra Robert Strang (3/29) caused some issues.
In reply, the Cobras could only muster up 107 (including 41 extras), with Geoff Bradshaw (3/28) and Shaun Matthews (3/30) helping secure the win for the Rebels.
In the remaining game, Pakenham (4/194) and Nyora (2/14) drew at Nyora Recreation Reserve.
D GRADE
Kooweerup continued its perfect start to the season with a comfortable win against Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll.
The Demons racked up the runs after being sent in, compiling 3/196, with openers Daniel Tannahill (55) and Brent Wilson (62) doing the most damage with the blade, while Jai Lewis (46) also found some late runs.
The Marygoon – despite managing to bat out its overs after losing a trio of early wickets to be 3/22 – fell well short on 7/129, with Likesh Mahajan (47) showing some terrific fight to continue his strong form after a century last weekend.
Clyde was also on the winners list after defeating Aura Vale at Narre Warren East.
The Cougars made 3/161 off their 30 overs, with Brett Whittingham dominating with an unbeaten 85, with the Lakes finishing on 4/134.
In the remaining matches, Cranbourne Meadows (6/128) defeated Lang Lang (125), while Carlisle Park Vikings also got the points in their clash against Emerald (5/155).
E GRADE
Tooradin and Gembrook were among the winners on the weekend in the round of wash outs.
Despite setting a monster score of 4/263 in the first innings courtesy of an unbeaten 172 from Josh Cuthbertson, Merinda Park were surpassed for victory by Gembrook.
The Brookers chased down the total with seven wickets in the sheds – Samitha Karunagoda whacked 90, while Dinesh Pathirage (79) and Sujith Krishantha (75) also scored with ease.
Tooradin, meanwhile secured victory over Devon Meadows but did it with difficulty, winning by one wicket.
The Gulls were set 113 for victory and managed to chase it down nine down in the 35th over.
Skipper Ben Vincent the hero of the day with both bat and ball, claiming a tremendous 6/8 with the ball and 7 not out with the bat to guide his side to victory.
Cranbourne Meadows escaped victory by the narrowest of margins against Officer.
The Bullants posted 5/178 before having the Rebels 8/118 in the 38th over in reply before rain settled in to force Officer to share their awaited points.
The Pakenham derby was also drawn.
Pakenham Upper set 5/170 before Pakenham were on 5/147 until rain concluded the match.
F GRADE
Devon Meadows secured a strange victory over Merinda Park on the weekend.
Devon posted 5/187, with Darren Cooper collecting 65 not out in his first match of the year.
In reply, Merinda Park batted out its full 40 overs for only 107, but with eight wickets in hand.
Carlisle Park and Officer shared points after playing only 51 overs for the day.
The Vikings set 134 for victory, and before the Bullants were able to chase the score, the rain settled in – leaving Officer 041 after 11 overs.
Clyde secured victory over Pakenham in one of the rare unaffected matches.
60 from Chevy Dyall put Clyde in the box seat – setting 205 for victory.
In reply, the Lions could only manage 3/131 from their 40 overs.
Cardinia claimed a stirring victory over Lang Lang, courtesy of a blistering run chase.
Cardinia sent Lang Lang in and held the Tigers to 5/103 from its 40 overs.
In reply, the Bulls passed the Tigers in 19 overs with skipper Chirs Remy leading the way with a scorching 41.
ONE DAY
Maryknoll chased down Upper Beaconsfield to secure one of the three wins in the one day competition on Saturday.
Beaconsfield set 8/164 from its 35 overs with Josh Trembath smashing a half century that including three boundaries and five maximums.
In reply, Karan Nanda did the damage with the bat for Maryknoll – whacking 67.
Emerald, meanwhile, ripped through Pakenham Upper to secure victory.
The Yabbies were bundled out for 71 and chased down in 20 overs.
Both Jason Reilly (35) and Brett Maddock (25) were retired in the run chase to give a hit to others as the Bombers chased down the total with seven wickets in the shed.
The only match to not reach a conclusion was the game between Nyora and Koo We Rup.
An escape for Nyora after Koo Wee Rup set 7/253 from its 35 overs.
Cranbourne Meadows were the second victory of the day over Aura Vale who was unable to gather a side.
