By David Nagel
B GRADE
Adrian Buller continues to transform his reputation from a bowler of high quality into a batter of rare class after pounding a brilliant century in Clyde’s (8/306) crunching WGCA B Grade victory over Pakenham Upper/Toomuc (126) on Saturday.
Buller was superb, cracking 144 of his team’s huge total after the Cougars found themselves in some serious trouble after falling to 2/11 after the opening exchanges of the contest.
Buller – who back in 2012 against Gembrook took 9/32 in an innings and 12 /47 for the match – scored his second century in two seasons after smacking 117 not out against Carlisle Park last year.
Buller rebuilt the Cougars’ innings with some great support from Gavin Adams (48) with the pair piling on a 152-run partnership for the third wicket.
Buller also shared a 65-run stand with Josh Spittal (40) before being the sixth batter to fall with the score on 262.
Brody Smith (3/56) and Ryan Mibus (2/46) did their best to stop the carnage for the Yabbies, who began their home-ground chase with little hope of victory.
James Stevenage (34) got the Yabbies off to a bright start but the bowling of Ross Elston (3/17) and Spittal (2/1) proved too big a hurdle for the Yabbies to clear.
Emerald (5/138) has leap-frogged Tooradin (129) into fourth place on the ladder after the Bombers produced a remarkable performance at Rutter Park.
Jake Santini (33) and Declan Cocks (31) played key roles in leading the Bombers to a respectable score before the break, despite some solid trundling from Seagulls’ bowler Ben Vincent (2/28).
The Seagulls were then cruising to victory, with Rob Simpson (36) and Shane Somers (24) setting a solid foundation…before the wheels well and truly fell off!
The Seagulls slumped from 3/106 to 129 all-out, 10 runs short of their target, as Sebastian Mueller-Schmuki (4/25) and Santini (2/21) went to work.
The Bombers could have made life easier for themselves…. conceding a whopping 30 runs in wides!
A splendid bowling display from Ash Bailey (4/8 off 8) has piloted Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll (2/89) to a comfortable victory over Cardinia (84) on the main oval at Nar Nar Goon.
Bailey bowled beautifully, bowling four maidens in the early stages of the match to have the Bulls on the backfoot from the outset.
Nick Mueller (2/12) and Kuwarjeet Singh (2/17) were also impressive for the home team.
Jaswinder Singh (43) then made sure there would be no hiccups in reply, guiding the Marygoons to victory after just 15 overs at the crease.
And Devon Meadows (1/75) continues to set an extremely hot pace at the top of the table after thumping Carlisle Park (71) at Glover Reserve.
Mitchell Kleinig (3/4), Trent D’Alton (2/4) and skipper Mick Floyd (2/6) were all in terrific nick for the Panthers who remain undefeated at the mid-way point of the season.
The Panthers made extremely short work of their run-chase, with Peter Deighton (43 not out) showing little or no mercy in 11 overs of mayhem.
C GRADE
Lang Lang’s Trevette Kerner (5/8) and Kooweerup’s Paul West (5/27) will still be scratching their heads after their magnificent individual performances failed to translate into team C Grade victories on the weekend.
Kerner had a terrific battle with one of the best batting line ups in C Grade, restricting top-team Officer (134) at Caldermeade Reserve.
Kerner’s incredible figures came from eight overs, and included three maidens, as his battle with Steve Pursell (31), Blake Henderson (28) and David Gibbs (23) had things pretty much squared away at the half-way point of the match.
But the Swamp Tigers failed to capitalise on Kerner’s efforts, slumping to 4/16 in reply as Josh (2/11) and Taj Beddows (2/14) went to work.
Hayden (23 not out) and Dylan Diehl (22) put some respectability into the Tigers reply…but the Beddows boys had the last laugh at the completion of 40 overs.
West also had a bag of wickets to show, but no victory, after his five-wicket haul similarly went to waste for Kooweerup (92) against Clyde (143).
West and Liam Pirotta (3/18) had the Demons in a strong position, after restricting the Sukhmanjit Singh (40) and Salman Faiz (29) led Cougars to a gettable score at the main break.
But, apart from Max Monckton (25), the Demons were no match for a versatile Cougars attack with Blake Spittal (3/8), Coby Hodgson (2/8), Anuveer Parmar (2/10) and Denver Lewis (2/17) leading the home side to victory at Ramlegh Reserve.
Gembrook (9/143) has kept its finals hopes alive after causing the upset of the round against Merinda Park (8/110) at Gembrook.
The Cobras won the toss and elected to bowl first and a great contest between bat and ball ensued.
The Brookers had two main contributors – skipper Jeremy Everett (43 not out) and number-three Cam Williams (39) – while Cobras’ captain Brenton Huyskens (3/22) and Ashley Jenkin (2/24) were certainly up for the fight.
But the Cobras fight lacked intensity after tea with Michael Coull (30) and Chris Smith (23) the only players to show resistance.
But the Brookers were simply too good with Williams (2/17), Matt Candy (2/20) and Willie Davis (2/27) leading the home side to a comprehensive victory.
And some solid mid-order batting from Josh Trembath (50) and Peter Brennan (40) has led Upper Beaconsfield (131) to victory over Pakenham (74).
Trembath took care of the early run-scoring business while Brennan showed his experience, being the last man to fall in the last over of the Maroons’ innings.
Bryce Nay (3/9), David Auld (3/29) and John Hutchinson (2/27) toiled hard for the Lions, who would have fancied their chances of hunting down a moderate total.
But the task was a lot harder than it looked with Paul Kezik (36) the only batter to take things up to the home side.
But AJ Claxton (3/13), Braedyn Bowden (2/5) and Josh Westra (2/11) held all the aces…leading the Maroons to a comfortable 57-run triumph.
D GRADE
No nail-biting was required in WGCA D Grade on Saturday with all four games producing one-sided results that were clear a long way from home.
The most surprising of those one-sided contests came at the Rythdale Rec Reserve where top-team Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll (1/62) made light work of the challenge handed down from third-placed Cardinia (60).
This one was expected to be a beauty, but the Marygoons got off to a flying start and never took the foot off the pedal.
After sending the Bulls in, the Marygoons were all over the home side with Daniel Swinburne (3/10) and Luke Merrett (3/25) cutting a swathe through the Bulls’ top and middle order.
Only some stern resistance from skipper Ryan Webster (23) and number-three Tyson Browne (20) stopped the Bulls’ innings from being a rout.
Nadun Alwis (36) and Lakhvir Sekhon (19 not out) wasted no time in hitting the Goon to victory…getting the job done in just the 11th over of the innings.
Tooradin’s (1/145) talented batting line up has a habit of making the extremely difficult look ridiculously easy indeed and the Seagulls top-order has done it again against Cranbourne Meadows (142) at Lawson Poole Reserve.
The Rebels would have been quite content after Munish Mahajan (53) and Shash Natarajan (21) had bumped and grinded their way to a respectable total before tea…overcoming the constant threat of skipper Kane Latham (3/23) and Connor O’Riordan (3/39) to post what looked to be a decent target.
But fast-forward 17 overs and this one was done and dusted as a fired-up Latham took flight!
The Seagulls captain crunched five fours and six towering maximums in a magical innings of 61 that took the game away in an instant.
Shannon Warn (46 not out) hit three fours and four sixes to follow his skipper’s lead, while Shaun Tongue (27 not out) was also no shrinking violet as he slapped three balls to the boundary…and one clearing the pickets!
The Seagulls won in just the 17th over…scoring at the T20 rate of 8.5 for the journey!
Devon Meadows (4/90) has consolidated its place inside the top four after a grinding victory over Carlisle Park (8/88) on Saturday.
The Panthers appeared set for a really easy day at the office, having the Vikings 5/14 at one stage with Rob Worsteling (3/10) and Robbie McMahen (2/10) doing most of the damage.
But a steadying knock from Michael Perry (38) saw the Vikings survive their 40 overs – although a win still appeared unlikely.
Perry (2/5 off 8) bowled beautifully in the second half of the day, giving the Vikings a sniff, before Luke Martin (40) steered the Panthers to a slow and steady victory in the 38th over of their innings.
And Emerald (6/164) sits just outside the top four after its impressive total proved too big a task for Officer (117) to chase down at Starling Road.
No scores are available for the Bombers, who had to sift through some great bowling performances from Bullants trundlers Reece Campbell (3/18) and Greg Henderson (2/16) to put together a winning score.
Campbell (25) capped off a fine game for the Bullants by top-scoring in the unsuccessful run chase.
E GRADE
A sparkling unbeaten century from Clyde number-three Kevin Baldsing and a rare hattrick from Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll’s Aaren Corrin were the standout highlights of an entertaining day’s cricket in WGCA E Grade on Saturday.
Baldsing’s impressive innings of 121 not out was studded with some serious quality, with seven boundaries and six sixes guiding the Cougars (6/183) to a winning score on the main ground at Donnelly Reserve.
Baldsing completely dominated proceedings, with skipper Joel Driver (22) having the best seat in the house as Baldsing went on his rampage.
Baldsing and Driver put on 59 for the fourth wicket, before the centurion and Blair Weir (7 not out) put on an unbroken stand of 55 – dominated by Baldsing – to round out the Cougars innings.
Rod Morrison (2/42) stuck to his guns to claim bowling honours for the Cobras.
The Cobras then started well in reply, with Brett Irvine (49) and Marty Donaldson (23) showing early signs of competitiveness, but the Cougars bowling outfit proved too strong in the end.
Satinder Saini (2/16) and Shannon Allum (2/18) bowled well enough for the Cougars to take home a well-deserved 12 premiership points.
Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll’s (8/117) Aaren Corrin (4/41) played out the dream of every bowler on the planet on Saturday…claiming a spectacular hat-trick in the Marygoon’s 54-run loss to Pakenham (9/171) on the back oval at Toomuc Reserve.
The Lions – courtesy of fantastic knocks from experienced pair Scott Webster (61) and Dale McCraw (55)- were well and truly in the box seat before Corrin made a graceful passage to centre stage.
He first broke the 84-run stand between McCraw and Webster – bowling McCraw – before returning to cart three wickets in three balls in the latter stages of the Lions’ innings.
Webster was first to go, caught by Daniel Rodger, followed by Mick McClaren (0) LBW, before James Ahern (17) was caught by Corrin’s new favourite teammate Cameron Watts.
The bowling of Corrin, Russell Perry (3/21) and Greg Interlandi (2/14) helped restrict the Lions to a tick over 170.
After a slow start the Marygoon’s were always up against it in reply, with Ahern (3/25) and Deepak Gusain (2/13) bowling the Lions to victory.
Russell Perry played a lone hand for the vanquished…remaining undefeated on 50 not out at the completion of the 40-over reply.
And a terrific bowling display has led Emerald (3/91) to a soft victory over Pakenham Upper/Toomuc (82) at Worrell Reserve.
The Bombers were on top from the outset with Nick Govaars (3/17), Ross Jackel (2/4) and Colin Steggelman (2/16) proving too hot for the Yabbies to handle.
If not for a fighting innings from Santosh (32) …things could have got extremely ugly for the Yabbies.
Bombers’ pair Jackel (29 not out) and Likhesh Nahajan (25) then saw off the very best of Jonathon Rewell (3/29) to steer their team to victory inside 22 overs.
Officer had an extended Christmas break courtesy of the bye.
F GRADE
There is movement at the top of the WGCA F Grade ladder with Pakenham taking over the number-one ranking from Cardinia on Saturday.
The Lions proved too strong for Upper Beaconsfield, while Cardinia’s loss to Devon Meadows saw things look a little different as we head into the new year.
Devon Meadows (7/163) set up its victory over the Bulls (136) with a strong batting display, with Anthony Brown (45), Mark Cosgriff (36) and Lincoln Hepburn (20 not out) repelling a great spell of bowling from Bull Ash Jones (4/14) to leave the Panthers in the box seat at the half-way point of the contest.
But Jones’s hold on the best bowling figures for the day would not last long with Lucas Brown (5/10) securing a brilliant five-wicket haul in the afternoon sun.
Brown – with great support from Cosgriff (3/37) – kept taking wickets at the right times as the Bulls threatened several times to hunt down a gettable total.
Chris Thompson (36) and Chris Remy (20 not out) were the best of five players to get solid starts for the Bulls…but the bowling of the Panthers – particularly Brown – proved too big a hurdle to overcome.
Pakenham (5/124) has produced a complete all-round performance to down Upper Beaconsfield (5/122) at Heatherbrae Reserve.
The Lions first restricted the Maroons with some laser-like bowling, with Alex Brennan (2/19), Gary Sewell (1/13 off 8) and Les Jones (0/18 off 7) proving very difficult to score against.
Scott Ricketts (25), Paul Johnson (24) and Tyler Astle (20) did well to post a modest score for the Maroons against some very frugal bowling.
But the 122 was never going to be enough, particularly after a bright start from Brennan (28), and some strong mid-order batting from Matt Saunders (36).
Aaron Naismith (2/5) toiled valiantly for the Maroons, but the Lions won easily with 21 overs in the bank.
Lang Lang (5/130) is gripping on to fourth place on the ladder after the Swamp Tigers survived a tough contest against Pakenham Red (125) at Toomuc Reserve on Saturday.
Matthew Waixel (3/23) and Keith Halden (2/10) did the early grunt-work for the Swampies, who did well to restrict the talented duo of Cooper Lambert (35) and Tarrant Millar (22) to moderate scores.
Chasing 126 for victory, Waixel (28) began the innings well but some great bowling from Lambert (3/13) brought the Lions back into the contest.
Things looked 50/50 at times, but fighting knocks from Bailey Rowe (40 not out) and Lucas Halden (23 not out) saw the Swampies home with four overs left to spare.
The game between Pakenham Upper/Toomuc and Kooweerup, at Lakeside Reserve, was declared a draw without a ball being bowled in the match.
