By Hayley Wildes
WGCA DISTRICT AND SUB-DISTRICT DIVISION
REVIEW – ROUND 9 (ONE-DAYER)
Cranbourne Meadows entered the Christmas/New Year break as the lone team without a loss and that trend continued in the first day back of WGCA District play for 2019.
The Rebels, taking on the seventh-placed Carlisle Park Vikings, took care of business in their one-day clash.
A solid opening partnership between Veerpartap Singh (47) and Rupinder Singh (22) set the foundation, before Ashish Uppal (44 not out) guided Cranbourne Meadows to a total of 8/206 in their 40 overs.
Garry Godfrey (3/32) and Aaron Straughair (3/49) bowled well for the Vikings. Unfortunately for Carlisle Park, in reply only three batsmen managed to make it to double figures as Tom Smith (5/29) ran rampant.
With Smith and Joraver Sidhu (3/15) in dominant form for the Rebels, the Vikings faltered throughout their entire innings and eventually fell for just 82 runs in 20 overs.
Clyde was able to come away with the win against bottom-placed Tooradin at home. The Cougars – led by a magical 103-run partnership between Gavin Adams (70) and Joel Avard (52) – posted a total of 7/240. Steven Russell (64) also put together a thrilling innings for Clyde.
In reply, the Seagulls’ top order stood tall and gave their side a fighting chance. Starts to Billy Antoniou (23) and Michael Ralph (28) were important, while Kade Burns (63) and David Freeman (47) were sublime in setting up the innings.
Unfortunately for the Seagulls, once those four were dismissed, there was a collapse and they fell for a total of 9/213. Harrison Coe (3/40) was impressive for the Cougars.
NNG/Maryknoll put on a batting clinic against Emerald to come away with a win in a high-scoring game.
The Bombers chose to bat first and got great contributions across the board. Mitchell Daley (50), Julian Hanfi-Scott (45) and Trent Rolfs (36) anchored the innings as Emerald posted a total of 8/230. Travis Gray (4/47) was impressive with the ball.
In reply, the Marygoons were simply irresistible as Michael Giles (110 not out) and Bradley Senior (91 not out) put on a show. Giles’s unbeaten 110 came in just 88 balls as he smashed nine 4s and seven 6s. Senior wasn’t far behind – his unbeaten 91 came in 86 balls and included 11 4s and five 6s.
The Marygoons – in one of the finest batting displays this season – chased down the required runs in just 31.2 overs, for the loss of just one wicket.
An important game in the context of both team’s seasons, Cardinia held on for a thrilling win against Officer. Bradley Remy (73) anchored the Bulls’ innings, helping them to a total of 9/185 as Adam Reid (3/33) bowled well for the Bullants.
In reply, Officer had many batsmen get off to starts, but only Adam Reid (35) could manage over 30 runs. Still in the hunt until the final over, the Bullants ultimately fell eight runs short of Cardinia’s total, managing 8/177 in their 40 overs.
SUB-DISTRICT
Pakenham Upper/Toomuc is now four wins clear on top of the ladder after chasing down the required runs against Merinda Park.
The Cobras batted first, but were unable to get comfortable and their run rate suffered because of this. Craig Robertson (32 not out), Dylan Hand (28) and Hamish Raymond (28) did their best, but the team could only muster 7/141.
In reply, the Yabbies paced their innings and with Sahan Wijeratne (59 not out) continuing his dominant form, Pakenham Upper/Toomuc did enough to get home, posting a total of 6/143 in 38.1 overs.
Kooweerup dominated from start to finish in their clash against Pakenham. The Demons batted first and Andrew Martin (74) was in fine form, punishing any wayward deliveries.
Ron Bright Jr (43 not out), Riley Clark (37) and Shaun Donnelly (35 not out) were also impressive as Kooweerup posted a total of 5/219. John Hutchinson (2/20) was efficient in his eight overs for the Lions.
Pakenham never looked likely to chase down the total as no batsman managed over 20 runs. Paul Bright (3/21) and Jai Lewis (2/7) were impressive for the Demons as they held the Lions to just 8/103.
Catani handed out a thrashing to Gembrook and moved into second position on the ladder as a result.
The Cats sent the Brookers into bat first and despite starts by Daniel Tigges (23) and Tim Gray (23), Gembrook failed to string together strong partnerships. Catani’s Dustin Peebles (4/19) continued his terrific form as he led the way for his side to dismiss Gembrook for just 96 runs.
Not content with tearing apart the Brookers batting line-up, Peebles played a starring with the bat as well. Peebles (47) and Josh Bethune (28) led the Cats home with a total of 2/105 off just 14 overs.
Lang Lang’s batsmen took over in their contest against Nyora, leading the Tigers to a fantastic win.
The Maroons, thanks largely to an inspired unbeaten century from Gavin Hackett (106 not out), posted a defendable target of 9/222. Rajind Dassanyake (3/24) was impressive with the ball for the Tigers.
In reply, Lang Lang got straight to work as openers Nathan Phillips (91) and Jess Grima (41) put on a 103-run partnership.
Phillips then partnered with Dassanyake (71 not out) to keep the innings going along nicely. Ultimately, the Tigers reached the target in 33 overs, for the loss of just three wickets.
