ON the second day of the round eight matches on Saturday, Grampians did enough to overcome Hamilton and remain on top of the Hamilton and District Cricket Association (HDCA) A grade ladder.
After Hamilton posted 184 last week, thanks to a century from Simon Sharrock, Grampians began the chase on day two at 2-43, with Will Collins (17) and Ben Wallis (duck) back in the sheds.
At this point, it was anyone’s game with the Pumas requiring solid partnerships to see themselves to victory, while the Blues needed a few quick wickets to set themselves up for the win.
The day started well for Hamilton as Cameron Templeton removed Carl Joyce for 26 about 10 overs into the day’s play, leaving the Pumas at 3-63, but Tom Polkinghorne and Ty Gilmore steadied the ship.
Polkinghorne dug deep and batted time, determined to see his side past the target to claim another win.
He hit a gritty knock of 70 off 185 balls before Templeton also sent him back to the sheds.
From here, cameos from Harrison Wood (23) and Josh Gordon (25) were enough to pass the score in what was an incredibly patient chase which yielded a win for Grampians.
The team finished up on 219 off 89.3 overs with Templeton the pick of the bowlers with 3-50 off 22 overs, while Sharrock picked up a couple of middle order wickets with the ball.
Pigeon Ponds d. Macarthur
PIGEON Ponds is pushing for fourth spot on the A grade ladder after defeating Macarthur in an important game for the home side.
With Simon Close (51) the only batsman to make a decent score in the first innings, the home team lost plenty of quick wickets in the lower order to finish all out on 114 after 62.3 overs.
However, in the 11 overs of Macarthur’s batting innings that went ahead on the day, it was far from ideal losing both Wortley brothers for ducks with Larry Leeming picking up the wickets to leave the Demons reeling at 2-6.
Matthew Lindsay and Kyle Smitten strolled to the crease on Saturday determined to bat some time and put on a partnership to will their side over the line.
While both steadied the innings, Lindsay fell for 12 and Smitten fell for just five and Macarthur were on the back foot at 4-21.
Jack Beaton was crucial for Pigeon Ponds, claiming both wickets and making it incredibly tough for the Demons batsmen to get any easy runs across his 17 overs.
Things didn’t get better for Macarthur, as its middle order fell cheaply through Michael Brilley (13), Charlie Summers (one) and Sam Lambevski (eight).
Adam Fry and Jeremy Sheehan put up a lower-order fight with a 34-run partnership which nearly doubled the team’s score, but Fry eventually fell for three, closely followed by Sheehan with 25.
Simon Close ripped through the lower order to add a five-wicket haul to his half century, finishing with figures of 5-40 off 27.5 overs, which included 11 maidens, while Beaton took 3-20 from his 17 overs.
College d. Casterton District
COLLEGE made light work of Casterton District in the second day of their match at Island Park Turf on Saturday, as the Maroons had their work cut out for them chasing a massive 361, thanks to 128 from Adrian Burn the previous week.
College’s Henry Bensch made sure that opening pair, Ben Holmes and Sully Gibbs couldn’t build a partnership, as he took out Gibbs’ stumps, sending him back to the sheds with six runs.
New batsman, Carey Megaw, followed suit the following ball when Bensch wrapped him on the pads and the finger went up, sending him back on a golden duck and Bensch was on a hat-trick, but the milestone did not eventuate.
Rick Killey was the next man to go after a quick knock of 10, bowled my Lachie Watt and the home team was in real trouble at 3-26.
Kaden Humphries (five) was next to go after Bensch also undid him, before the anchor of the innings so far, Holmes, was sent back after making a healthy knock of 25.
Matt Killey was the only other Maroons player to get double figures, hitting a patient 21 to try and push the score to a more respectable total, while Burn took a couple of wickets to finish off.
Casterton District was all out for 76 at the end of the day’s play after just 38.4 overs, as Bensch finished with figures of 3-13.
College enforced the follow on and sent the Maroons in to bat for a second time, removing Gibbs (11) and Kane Forbes (24) early, while Holmes (26-not-out) and Rick Killey (three-not-out) saw out the overs with the scoreboard showing 2-66 at the conclusion of the game.