HAVING topped the Hamilton and District Cricket Association A grade standings since the start of the season, Pigeon Ponds appear to be in freefall down the premiership ladder, slipping to third after a second straight loss.
On Saturday they were thrashed by Hamilton, who gained a bonus point victory at Dahl Turf in a clinical display that has the Blues well placed with the finals only seven weeks away.
With the day dawning bright, sunny and hot, one would have been forgiven that all captains would bat after winning the toss, but it appears that the top ides in the competition are more inclined to bowl first this season, such is the faith in their bowlers.
So, it was at Dahl Turf where Brandon Weatherson sent Ponds in to bat on what appeared to be a batsman-friendly surface.
He threw the ball to Daniel Jones, who joined the club from the Southern Titans CC in Warrnambool after moving to Hamilton for work.
Jones would have an immediate impact with the ball, as he rattled Will Staude’s stumps without him scoring, which started a procession of Pigeon Ponds batsmen to and from the pavilion over the next 32 overs.
The Hamilton bowlers delivered a very diligent line and length, as the batsmen failed to put runs on the board.
They were forced into making mistakes, as the pressure built and the loss of wickets only added to that pressure.
Ponds were missing some big names from their usual line-up, but they did have great replacements for them with Ben McCure and James Staude, but even their inclusion couldn’t stem the flow of wickets.
Weatherson was able to mix up his regular order of bowlers by having Jones and Simon Sharrock open the bowling while resting Cam Templeton and Caleb Millard until later in the innings to unleash the regular new ball pairing on the Ponds middle order to great effect.
James Staude batted at number 10, top scoring with 25 and was the last man out with 100 on the scoreboard.
Jones grabbed 4-12 to lead the honours for the home team, but he had great assistance from all the bowlers with Hamish Cook, Cameron Templeton and Anthony Read grabbing a brace of wickets each in support.
Defending only 100, it was always going to depend on gaining early wickets, but it never happened for the visitors, as Carl Rhook (14) and Read (27) added 38 for the first wicket before Tobi Cook (48 from 29 balls) took the match away from Ponds with a devastating batting display.
The winning runs were hit from only 18.5 overs, as Hamilton recorded its fourth bonus point victory of the season.
Whether it was their first match on turf for the year or the loss of key players before the match which caused the Ponds batsmen to fail is unknown.
What is known is that the team must halt this slide down the premiership ladder if they want to claim an initial Dundas Cup.
Wortley puts Pumas in a spin
MACARTHUR leg spinner, Ollie Wortley, has spun his web around the Grampians batsmen to help the Demons record a much-needed bonus point victory at Macarthur on Saturday.
Wortley grabbed career best figures of 6-35, as he ripped through the Pumas batting order to rout the home side for only 128 which the Demons quickly rounded up.
Will Collins won the toss and elected to bat first on the synthetic wicket, looking to give his players the chance to post a huge score on a surface that favours batsmen with consistent pace and bounce.
He took the opportunity to shuffle his batting order as he and Ash Read took strike with regular opening batsman Josh Gordon dropping to number four.
The move paid off too, as the pairing scored at a run-a-ball pace before Read (10) was caught by Matt Lindsay behind the stumps with Kyle Smitten delivering the first blow.
Lindsay would feature again in the dismissal of Eddie McShane, as the wicket keeper reacted quickly to run out the young batsman only six balls later without scoring.
At 2-28 the Pumas needed Gordon and Collins to lay the foundation for the innings and they added 15 and looked solid, but Gordon tried to lift a Charlie Summers delivery over the infield only to see the safe hands of Jack Wortley wrapped around the ball to be on his way for only one.
Collins (28) followed only two runs later, as Lindsay accepted another catch behind the stumps and Grampians was in trouble at 4-45.
Ollie Wortley was then into attack, as he had Zac Burgess on his way for a duck.
At 5-46, Grampians was in freefall and it needed the vast experience of Joe Sutherland and Tom Polkinghorne to come together to try and rescue the innings.
They were happy to play each ball as it came and they punished the bad ball but after adding 38 for the sixth-wicket before Sutherland edged the ball through to Lindsay to give Wortley his second wicket.
From then on Polkinghorne played a lone hand, as he watched on from the bowler’s end with wickets continuing to tumble.
He posted 45 from 48 balls, but even that couldn’t rescue the Pumas, as Wortley grabbed the final six wickets to end the innings at 128 after only 34.4 overs.
If being bowled out for such a score wasn’t bad enough, the batsmen failed to bat out their overs which is a cardinal sin in limited overs formats.
Despite delivering a dominant display with the ball in hand, the Demons have got to address the elephant in the room; the number of wides the team has delivered this season.
They added another 16 to their season tally of 118, which is inexcusable at this level.
Of course, the team is not alone in bowling wides but in the three matches since the resumption after the Christmas break, Macarthur has sent down 63.
Chasing only 129 for victory, the Demons were given a great start of 70 from Ollie Wortley (24) and Matt Timms before Wortley spoiled his day by getting out with victory in sight.
Timms (67-not-out) had his best innings of the season to date and he guided the home side to the target with the loss of only three wickets.
The bonus point victory lifted Macarthur into fourth place on the ladder and they are only six points behind second-placed Hamilton, while Grampians remain in the hunt for a finals berth in sixth place, only six points behind Macarthur.
Eagles continue to lead the way
COLLEGE continues to lead the competition at the head of the ladder after a comprehensive victory against Casterton District on Saturday.
The depth of both clubs was put to the test with each having first choice players unavailable for the match, but it was the College team which showed its depth with little or no difference from their first-choice side.
Charles Murrie won the toss and, as has been his choice each time the coin has fallen in his favour, he sent the opposition into bat.
He didn’t have long to wait for the first wicket, as Henry Bensch snared possibly the biggest scalp of his short A grade career when he had Rick Killey caught at the wicket by Angus Brown for only six in his third over.
After that early setback, the home side settled down to bet through to the drinks break and they reached that milestone with 3-70 on the board with skipper Kane Forbes and Ben Holmes at the wicket.
This solid position was undermined with the first ball after the resumption, as Forbes was caught by Adrian Burn and then Holmes was gone only one run and two overs later to see the scoreboard show 5-72.
From there though, the batsmen failed to get on top of the bowlers who sent down a diligent line and length and the final tally of 8-124 was a fair indication of the form of both teams at this stage of the summer.
The target was never going to bother the Eagles, as the top order knocked off the run required in only 22 overs for the loss of five wickets, as the ladder leaders notched another bonus point victory.
