ROUND six of the Hamilton and District Cricket Association (HDCA) A grade competition saw vastly different results across the district, as the weather gods tried their best to wreck the day, as three big centuries were struck and then two bowlers grabbed five wicket hauls to even the scales between bat and ball.
Some games failed to bowl out the required minimum 75 overs for the day and this means the team that’s batting resumes next Saturday and will bat until they make up 75 overs (or are dismissed, whichever comes soonest), and the team batting second bats for the time remaining in the day,
Macarthur v Tyrendarra
THE weather had the final say at Macarthur Recreation Reserve with the teams only able to complete 43 overs before stumps were drawn, with the home side 3-132 in the match of the round.
Macarthur won the toss and elected to bat first on the synthetic wicket and after a maiden to begin proceedings from Ben Menzel, Sam Wilson struck with his first ball of his spell when Menzel grabbed the chance offered from the dangerous Simon Sharrock.
Michel Brilley was joined in the middle by Ollie Wortley and the pair combined well to see the side safely through to the drinks break without further loss.
The pair were batting well and moved the score well past 50 and looked untroubled by the bowlers, but with his score on 27, Wortley tried to lift Dylan Murray over the infield only to be caught by Jordi Withers.
Brilley played his shots to all parts of the ground and raised his bat to acknowledge the applause of the spectators for his 50, but just as he appeared likely to go and post a big score, he was out for 65 (13 boundaries) as Wilson accepted a return catch off his bowling.
Kyle Smitten (30-not-out) and Jack Wortley (eight-not-out) will resume next week with 32 overs still to bat, and the team must bat these overs out, as Tyrendarra has the firepower in its batting order to chase down a target of 220 in the time remaining.
Hamilton v Pigeon Ponds
HAMILTON had its best day of the season to date, as the home side rallied with the ball at Dahl Turf to have Pigeon Ponds reeling at 7-119 when play was called off after 40 overs.
Cameron Templeton won the toss for Hamilton and quickly asked the Pigeons to bat first, as Noah Hildebrand and Peter Staude took strike to start proceedings.
The visitors would have been in much deeper trouble if not for a stoic innings from Hildebrand, who batted through the day to remain not out on 35, facing the first ball of play and the last ball.
Aside from Heldebrand, there were four other players who reached double figures without going on, as Staude (14), Michael Close (12), Will Staude (13), and Max Leeming (15) gave Hildebrand support without making the score the team needed.
Templeton was the pick of the Hamilton bowlers with 3-30, while Caleb Millard was very economical with 2-9 from only eight overs.
With 35 overs to bowl, Hamilton must strive to dismiss the visitors for as few runs as possible and then bat positively to gain its first win of the season.
Tahara v Grampians
TAHARA Recreation Reserve saw Grampians pile on the runs to finish the day at 5-351 as the Pumas top order took advantage of batting on the synthetic wicket to amass the highest score of the day with skipper, Donald Collins, hitting his second consecutive century.
After having last round off for the bye, Grampians resumed its season by being sent into bat by Tahara after losing the toss, as Collins and Carl Joyce took strike.
Joyce was soon back in the hutch with only five against his name, as Taine Morris had the all-rounder caught by Sam Brewer to give the home side an early breakthrough.
Little did they know that Collins and Zach Burgess would halt the celebrations with a century plus partnership, which was only broken when Burgess (68 with nine boundaries) was caught by Luke Barnes to give Morris his second wicket.
Eddie McShane came in and immediately lifted the scoring rate along with Collins who had raised his bat for his 50, as the bowlers toiled for no reward.
As soon as he had raised his bat to acknowledge the applause for his 50, Mc Shane was on his way after being caught by Barnes from the bowling of Hamish Myers.
Collins remained still and had raised his bat for the second time in as many games to acclaim his century, but Ty Gilmore was in no mood to allow the Blue Capos back into the game as he struck 30 from only 27 balls before Myers struck for a second time.
Collins finally fell with an outstanding 148 next to his name (20 boundaries and a six) from only 188 balls as he was trying to reach his 150 when Myers claimed his third wicket by bowling the Grampians skipper.
Myers took the bowling honours with 3-47 while Morris also bowled well to claim 2-53, but the task is ahead of the home side next Saturday to chase down the target.
Casterton District v South Portland
THE old saying of “cometh the hour, cometh the man” could have been written about South Portland skipper, Scott Martin, as he played a brilliant captain’s innings against Casterton District at Island Park Turf on Saturday.
The weather tried hard to wash out the day, but the teams agreed to play and after losing the toss South was sent into bat and the visitors lost the early wicket of Adam Thompson (one) bowled by Jacob Edwards.
The home side should have had Martic earl on but a dropped catch with the batsman on only six would prove very costly as the afternoon wore on.
Martin was seemingly batting on a different wicket to the rest of the South Portland top order as Rory Barry (17), Karsen Edwards (15), and Tighe Warburton (two) failed to support their skipper, but just as the home side looked to be getting on top Martic found an ally in Harrison Dennert.
Martin is a batsman that likes to score quickly and Dennert was no slouch either with his strike rate as the pair took the score from 4-132 to 5-284 as they added 152 for the fifth wicket before Dennert fell for 68 when Fletcher Bright held the chance offered from the bowling of Edwards.
Martin will resume on 169-not-out with 10 overs to bat after time allowed only 65 overs to be bowled, and if he gats to 200 then the ball will head to all parts of the ground as the visitors try to post another 80-100 runs.
Edwards with 2-53 was the only multiple wicket taker as the home side missed the injured Logan Gibbs, but the Maroons will have to bat normally next Saturday and not bat for a draw.
Portland Tigers v St Andrews
TWO outstanding individual performances highlighted the meeting between Portland Tigers and St Andrews at Hanlon Park on Saturday as Shanaka Silva and Brendan Huf performed brilliantly with bat and ball respectively.
Latham Wishart won the toss for St Andrews and quickly asked the Tigers to bat first in what appeared to be perfect bowling weather; overcast skies and humid conditions which should have had the ball swinging.
Early wickets to Wishart and Josh Nield had the visitors in the box seat but Silva strode to the wicket, and he took the game in hand with a stunning batting display to finish with 159 from only 143 balls and hit 18 boundaries and a further six maximums.
He shared a massive fourth wicket partnership of 177 with Paul Procter (82 from 95 balls) as the pair struck to ball to all parts of Hanlon Park, with both players being the form batsmen in the Tigers lineup.
Huf was simply brilliant with the ball as he grabbed 6-58 from 16 economical overs that kept the visitors in the contest, but the Tigers still managed to post 350 from the 73 overs they batted before being dismissed.
Gorae-Portland v College
THIS game is on a knife edge going into day two after College was dismissed for 227 and Gorae Portland is 1- 19 in reply.
The Eagles must be disappointed with their score after winning the toss and electing to bat on the synthetic wicket at Alexandra Park, but credit where it’s due with the home side holding the catches offered and the bowlers delivering a disciplined line and length.
The early wicket of Heath Schmidt (golden duck) set the visitors back, But Jack Austin (27) and Adrian Burn (12) and George Macdonald (37) took the visitors to 4-106 when Macdonald was dismissed.
William Mackellar (42) batted well at number four but his dismissal saw the visitors lose 6-53 to slump to 9-159 when Angus Brown and Will Bourke came together for the last wicket.
The pair weren’t fazed by the bowlers and Brown raised his bat for his 50 (from 66 balls with six boundaries) only to see Bourke (24) fall to Sam Atchinson and the Eagles were all out for 227.
Tom Roberts once again was the pick of the Go-Ports bowlers with his second consecutive five wicket haul with 5-86.
College struck a late blow against the home side with the wicket of Noah Greene (five), but the key wicket next Saturday is Nick Wills, and he must be dismissed as cheaply as possible if the visitors want to bring the points home with them.
