THE Hamilton and District Cricket Association (HDCA) A grade competition saw day one of round seven staged with College batsmen, Adrian Burn and Charles Murrie, rescuing their side from a precarious position to end the day in the driver’s seat against Hamilton at College Turf on Saturday.
After winning the toss for Hamilton, Cameron Templeton asked the home side to bat first on a wicket that had been under covers for an extended period, due to the rain that hit the district on Friday and Saturday morning, and the Blues soon had the Eagles in trouble.
Hamish Kearney sent both opening batsmen, Jack Austin (eight) and Lachy Watt (five) back to the pavilion, then Caleb Millard chimed in with the wicket of Harry Austin (14) to have the Eagles reeling at 3-39.
This brought Murrie and Burn together in the middle, and the pair played their natural games with Murrie the aggressor and Burn happy to turn the strike over.
Murrie attacked and his 86-ball knock of 94 included 12 boundaries and three maximums, as he rested the advantage from the hands of the visitors, adding 137 for the fourth wicket.
Murrie looked certain to post three-figures, but in trying hoist the ball out of the park again he was well caught by Xavier Stevens to hand his wicket to Mitch Lang.
Lachie Brown (31) added 67 with Burn before Lang struck again, as Millard held the catch offered, while Burn was in sight of a deserved century when on 98, he was caught by Millard to hand Anthony Read a well-deserved wicket.
He had batted for 190 balls and struck 10 boundaries and a six in an innings that allowed the Eagles to finish the day on 8-331, as James Cole (31-not-out), Cameron Cutler (26), and Jordy Anthony (14-not-out) posted late innings runs to boost the total.
Read was the best of the wicket takers with 3-108, while Lang finished with 2-33 and Kearney 2-54, as Hamilton’s bowling attack toiled hard all day after the wicket settled down.
St Andrews v Pigeon Ponds
CLEM Young Oval saw St Andrew’s host Pigeon Ponds and the Drews performed well early in the day to have the visitors at 3-33 and on the ropes, but by the time stumps were drawn, the Pigeons had recovered to be all out for 245.
It was a cautious start for the Pigeons after the second-over loss of Peter Staude (golden duck), who was caught by Brendan Huf from the bowling of Latham Wishart.
From there though Noah Hildebrand (seven) and Simon Close (20) were watchful, as they refused to hand over their wickets, but after a 46-ball stay, Hildebrand was trapped LBW by Wishart and Close followed three overs later, as Huf castled the Pigeons’ number three.
This brought Ben Hanrahan and Hamish McCrae together in the middle and they gradually got the better of the Drews attack, adding 79 for the fourth wicket before McCrae was bowled by Aidan Sutherland for 39.
Bailey Walsh quickly sent Michael Close back to the pavilion for only one, but Will Staude (22), Anthony Close (18) and Lachlan Craig (14-not-out) hung around with Hanrahan to boost the tally.
Harahan was superb in hitting his highest score for the Pigeons to date, as he was the last man out with 114 next to his name after smacking eight boundaries in his 167-ball knock to guide the visitors to a competitive total.
Wishart (3-43) and Huf (3-79) were the pick of the Drews attack, but next week the home side will have to bat well to reel in the target.
Portland Tigers v Casterton District
IT was a day of excitement at Hanlon Park on Saturday, as 15 wickets fell for only 110 runs as the two teams struggled to come to terms with a wicket that was underprepared, due to the curator being away during the week leading up to the match.
The surface was very dry and under-watered which led it to crumble early in proceedings, and although it looked perfect, it soon became apparent the bowlers were going to enjoy their work.
Portland Tigers won the toss and elected to bat first, but the Casterton District bowlers soon found their line and length and the wickets began to tumble.
Carey Megaw and Fletcher Bright took the new ball for the visitors and Bright had success with the last ball of his second over, as Megaw held the chance offered by Llewellyn Oakley (four) to give the Maroons the perfect start.
Little did they suspect that the Tigers batsmen would wear a path to and from the wicket, as each new player came and went just as quickly.
Only three Tigers managed to register double figures with Michael Blomeley (17) top-scoring at the top of the order, as the home side was routed for only 74.
Megaw grabbed the bowling honours with 4-22, while Bright (2-18) and Kaden Humphries (2-14) were the other multiple wicket takers for the visitors.
With the first innings lasting only 38.1 overs, Casterton District had a minimum of 33 overs to bat to see the day out, but the batsmen knew it wasn’t going to be easy after seeing the home struggle on the surface.
Tigers skipper, Will Oakley, threw the new ball to Shanaka Silva and the all-rounder was magnificent.
He struck four times to have the Casterton District top order all back in the pavilion with only five runs on the board.
Rick Killey (two), Oliver Foster (duck), Connor Kelly (duck) and Jedd Rhook (duck) came and went, while Ben Holmes was run out for only two, as the scoreboard showed 5-5.
Maroons skipper, Kaden Humphries (10-not-out), and Megaw (18-not-out) batted for 75 and 81 balls respectively to stop the rot, as they guided the visitors to 5-36 at the end of the day.
Silva was brilliant with 4-3 from his 12 overs that included 10 maidens that tore the heart from the Casterton District innings.
The visitors resume next week with a couple of inclusions in Kane Forbes and Josh Edwards to come into the team, while Humphries and Megaw will be certain not to hand their wickets away, but that target must appear to be a long way off still.
Portland Colts v Tahara
TAHARA travelled to Henty Park and the Blue Caps had their hosts in huge trouble after only 20 overs, as Nathan Slaughter had the ball on a string with his figures reading 4-3 from his opening 10 overs.
The Colts’ opening pair of Alistair Stannard (25) and James Chapple (18) had taken the score to 39 before Slaughter struck double wicket blows in his ninth and 10th overs to reduce the hosts to only 4-39 at the first drinks break
Having dismissed the openers, Slaughter then added the scalps of Luke Evans (duck), Daniel Kinghorn (duck) and Jak Hotchkiss (duck) to finish his first 15-over spell with 5-13 next to his name on the board.
The Tahara bowlers claimed a sixth wicket with only 75 on the board, as Adam Barbary (25) fell to Hamish Myers and it looked as if the Blue Caps would run through the Colts tail.
Up stepped Matthew Payne and Matthew Belden who staged a brilliant rescue operation, adding 171 for the seventh wicket with both players raising the bat to acknowledge their half century milestones.
Belden was the first to go with 79 next to his name as Tahara skipper, Marcus Rhook, finally made the batsman make a mistake with Harry Goodman holding the catch offered.
Belden had faced 115 balls and struck four boundaries and two maximums, but the partnership was the important part of the knock, as it allowed the home side to post a more than competitive tally.
Payne looked certain to register a century but with his score on 92, Rhook struck again, bowling the number six batsman after a brilliant 145-ball innings that included nine boundaries and a further four sixes.
The pair allowed Colts to finish all out for 262 when it looked likely they would be dismissed for less than 100, but Slaughter was the pick of the bowlers with 5-33 and Rhook struck late with 3-18 to be the only multiple wicket takers.
South Portland v Tyrendarra
IT was a tough day at the office for South Portland, as Tyrendarra took the Demons batting order apart to bowl the home side out for only 20 at Cavalier Park.
Tyrendarra won the toss and elected to give first use of the wicket to South Portland, and even in the Darras’ wildest dreams could they have imagined what was to take place over the next 25.3 overs.
No Demons batsman managed to score more than four runs, as Sam Wilson (4-9) and Will Kirk (3-0) routed the home side before the afternoon tea break.
In reply, the Darras top order was watchful, and the winning runs didn’t come until the end of 13th over, while the Demons had claimed two wickets in the process.
The visitors were 3-37 after Will Kirk (five), Jake Wilson (six), and Cameron Mather (three) came and went, and the Demons must have thought they were still in the game, but Sam Wilson (25), Jordy Withers (51-not-out) and Lachlan Kirk (14-not-out) ensured that the visitors were able to declare at 4-118.
With the timing of the declaration, it meant the Demons had six overs to bat the day out, and despite the stoic resistance from Rory Barry and Noah Liersch (two-not-out) who were sent out to see the day out, it was Barry (duck) who fell in the last over with the score on three.
With the Demons needing a further 96 runs to make Tyrendarra bat again, the visitors are heavily favoured to take outright points from the game, which will see the side leap-frog Portland Colts into top spot on the ladder.
The covers at Dunkeld Turf leaked and the wicket was unplayable for the Grampians and Macarthur game, which will now be a one-day game on Saturday.
