CRICKET WEST CUP -ROUND 4

Transcription

1 WEST AUSTRALIAN SUBURBAN TURF CRICKET ASSOCIATION WASTCA CRICKET WEST CUP -ROUND 4 Round 4 of the Kookaburra Cricket-West cup involved our final game of the series against the strong Perth Cricket Association- who in the past have been able to make finals in all grades even though we had beaten them in the round robin format They were not to be taken lightly however, as we still required a win in all grades to potentially secure a final for colts, seniors and veterans. This round would also be rescheduled to the now very popular central location of Charles Veryard Oval- home of Tuart Hill CC, Peter Burgoyne and Oliver Jump. COLTS The day would be sunny however quite blustery with a strong SW breeze assisting bowlers from the city end all day. Balcatta s Jackson Chadd returned to the squad (after a brief modelling career was cut short...) took up the captaincy once again, which provided fruitful dividends as we won the toss and elected to bat on a very flat wicket. Kalamunda s Jacob Reed resumed his customary position as opener and with the talented Mike Noble unavailable, Bedford Morley s ace Alex Smith was once again elevated to open with Reed as the team had success with this plan in round 2 when Smith top scored. Unfortunately our early plans came undone and Smith was caught in the first over for 1. Bedford Morley s Jason Douglas was moved up to the number 3 spot and both he and Reed commenced to build the innings. Both batsmen were finding scoring difficult on a low bouncing wicket and very slow outfield and as the score moved to 16 in the fourth over, Douglas was bowled for 12- We were 2/17 after the completion of the forth over. Captain Jackson Chadd came in at no 4 and commenced to assess the situation and control the game there-after. He and The Wolverine Reed continue a solid partnership of collecting singles and two s meticulously and when Reed took charge of the PCA offspin bowler in the 10 th over fireworks were about to start. After clubbing a boundary and a massive 6 off the first two balls from the spinner, Reed went for one too many skyrockets and was consequentially bowled for 21- The score 3/56 in the 10 th over. A mini collapse then ensued with Coner Moldrich coming in at N.o 5 being caught in the deep for a duck, Jesse Doney caught for 6 and first game player and talented all-rounder and off spinner from High Wycombe Ryan Krink caught for 2-6/78 in the 14 th over- Chadd who at the other end and farming the strike was on 29 n.o. Bedford Morley s softly spoken Left arm opening bowler- Ed Broadley entered the fray at number eight and together with Chadd- who was now growing in confidence would together compile a match winning partnership of 37 off the last 6 over s with Chadd finished unbeaten on 57 which included only 1 boundary however 18 singles and 18 two s and Broadley finished the innings on 8 n.o.- Our score 6/115 off 20 over s- it didn t appear to be enough at the time.

2 Trent Wilson would open our attack from the City end bowling down hill and now with the assistance of a strong tail breeze. The David Beckham look-a-like would stun both opening batsmen with his pace and movement in the first over sizzling 5 deliveries hitting hard into the gloves of Jesse Doney and the final delivery of the over a short pitched delivery rising sharply to catch the PCA opener on the hop to defend it away- a maiden over in the first- just the platform we needed with such a small total. High Wycombe s young fast bowler Brayden Howatson opened up from the opposite end pushing up hill and into what was now a very stiff breeze, struck in his first over removing the PCA opener for a duck clean bowling him- PCA 1/5 off 2 over s. Wilson and Howatson (1/20 from 3 over s) would continue the pressure on the batsmen with tight accurate bowling keeping the visitors to just 25 in the first 6 over s until fielding restrictions were lifted. Ed Broadley then took over from Wilson down hill from the city end and with Ryan Krink working up hill into the breeze gaining superb flight and drift from the breeze the PCA batsmen struggled to consolidate partnerships- Broadley struck in his second over with a sharp catch off his own bowling then Krink struck in his 3 rd over removing the dangerous PCA opener with a fabulous catch by his bowling partner- Broadley. At the 14 over Mark PCA were 3/62- Broadley finished his set of 4 over s 1/15 with Krink in his first match finishing impressively with 1/22 from his 4 over set. Balcatta s Ironman Conor Moldrich continued the left arm pace downhill with the breeze and claimed his first wicket clean bowling the only PCA batsman who appeared settled at the crease during their innings to take-away any chance of victory for the visitors. Daniel Cole chimed in with a wicket and Alex Smith (2 wickets) worked in tandem with Moldrich and Wilson-who return to complete his set of 4 to restrict PCA to 7/96- a solid 19 run win to our boys. Trent Wilson was the pick of the bowlers finishing with 4 overs, 2 maidens 0/9- unlucky not pick up several poles- A Great team performance lead by our captain- Jackson Chadd. SENIORS With a win in this final match our seniors would all but be guaranteed a finals berth. Jamie Scardifield would lead the team for its final game although appeared fatigued after his team saving century the day before when his club was in big trouble earlier on against Whitford s. Once again luck was not with him at the toss and we were sent out by PCA to bowl. Several changes to the team would see Oliver Jump return from the couch and the inform All rounder and Kalamunda CC captain Tim Overton in for his first game of the series. Swan Valley s Jordan Mast was a late withdrawal on the morning of the match due to a shoulder complaint- ( Rumour has it he was shredding hard in the last 12 hours prior to stereo sonic... and injured himself). Oliver Jump took up the attack from the City end- now with a Gail force breeze at his back and Nollamara s opening bowler and solid all-rounder Daniel Del Prete to come up hill. Del Prete, would has played quite a bit of cricket against the majority of the Perth Cricket Association players enjoyed a bit of friendly pre-game banter with his previous

3 compatriots which only fuelled his motivation to perform well, that combined with some boundary side colourful commentary- would see him have the last laugh on the day. Del Prete struck in his first over clean bowling the opener with his third delivery and then following up two balls later to have the other opener removed- caught behind- PCA 2/9 after 2 over s. Jump also wanting a piece of the action in his third over cleaned bowled PCA number 3 and followed up 2 balls later to have another wicket- caught in the deep by Bentley s Tim D Souza- The opposition were in trouble 4/30 off 5 over s. Del Prete then struck again in his third over another caught behind to Whitford s Neket Shah who was having a field day at this stage of the match- PCA 5/31 after 6 overs. Del Prete would finishing a fabulous set of 4 over s by taking his 4 th wicket and silence the peanut gallery- a catch to mid off by High Wycombe s Ross Weaver- Del Prete finished with the figures of 4/23 with his bowling partner Oliver Jump supporting him extremely well- 4 over s 2/15- PCA were now 6/39 from 8 over s. Tim D Souza then took over from Jump coming down wind from the City end and bowled with good flight- picking up a sharp stumping by Shah in his second over- D Souza would finish with 1/16 from his 3 over s. Ross Weaver was then given the task of pushing up hill into the gail force breeze to bowl in tandem with D Souza and kept the game in our control. Unfortunately Weaver should have finished with 2 wickets for the match. A high skied chance called out by Keeper Shah got caught in breeze ( rumour has it Shah was still seeing stars after Jamie Scardifield s 115 yesterday against them) lost total track of the ball to not even get a glove on it.!!!!!- This would be his only mistake for the day. The following over from Weaver saw another high chance went to Oliver Jump running in from deep third man only to see him also mis-judge the flight and the catching chance hit his knee and bounce halfway to Wanneroo. Subi-Marist Opening bowler and night time gigolo Andrew snake eyes Barr took over from Tim D Souza at the City end and grabbed a wicket as well- 1/17 off 2.5 over s- a sharp chance to Wembley District s ever reliable Suresh Perera. Tim Overton came on from Weaver s end to blow out yesterday cobwebs and mop up the PCA innings- all out for 100 off just 18.5 over s.- Overton finished with 1/3 off his only over required. With Scardifield cramping badly, Suresh Perera demanded the opening batting position and also to take fully advantage of his good form throughout the season so far Kalamunda s Tim Overton would also join him at the crease to chase down the small total. The game was all but over within the first over, with Overton getting his eye in taking a single off the first ball from the very sharp PCA left arm opening bowler, who was also bowling down wind with a stiff breeze at his back, Suresh Perera stole the show with a brisk but entertaining innings of skill and absolute class.!!!! Perera took 3 boundaries off the first over and 6 runs off the second over- we were 0/21 off two- this was going to be a very short chase and an early charge to the Tuart Hill bar. Perera then proceeded systematically dismantle each bowler as though they were poorly made robots- -fabulous square cuts, straight hits for boundaries and sixes over long off and deep cover saw him reach his 50 off 27 balls.

4 Overton provided great support to Perera also taking a liking at times to the bowling smashing 4 boundaries in an inning of 28 n.o. Perera finished the match with two towering sixes towards the scoreboard and his team mates and closed out with a match winning 69 off 38 balls which included 7 four s and 4 sixes- we completed the chase at 0/101 off just 11 over- a comprehensive win and successful completion to our final match. VETERANS Needing a victory to give us any hope of the Veterans playing finals this year Fremantle Mosman Park s and team captain, Steve Teague won the toss and elected to bat. With several players unavailable, the team make-up included a couple of key inclusions- the classy batsman Rod Sammutt and solid All-rounder Jason Priest, Freemantle Mosman Park s Mark Brian was also a late inclusion along with all-rounder Andy Stevens. Whitford s club legend Gavin Cole opened the bat with first gamer Mark Brian and we did not get off to the start we wanted- Cole out caught behind in the first over for 2. Classy Rod Sammutt then joined Brian at the crease and put on a solid partnership of 29 until Brian went for a slash outside off stump and was caught behind for 8- we were 2/31 off 7 over s. Jason Priest then joined Rod Sammutt at the crease and both batsmen used their skill and craft with the bat to build a solid partnership and platform for the lower order to consolidate a substantial innings. The pair put on a partnership of 48 until the 15 th over when Sammutt was caught in the deep trying to lift the run rate- out for a well compiled team top score of 38 including 5 boundaries.- 3/79 with 5 over s remaining. Unfortunately the middle order and tail end dropped away dramatically in the last 5 over s in the haste for quick runs- Teague- elevated himself to no.5- hit a towering 6- (many say it was his first and only six in his career -which was still up for debate until late after the game had finished...)- out caught for 10, Andy Stevens- bowled for 5 and legend Dave Sheppard seething he had dropped from 5 to no.7 by the captain run out for 8- we were in trouble. When Bedford Morley s club stalwart John Gregorcerwicz was run out for a duck along with keeper Gary Edgar (1)- we finally struggled to 9/117 off our 20 over s- Whitfords Glenn Hollows remained not out on 2. A spirited speech from Captain Teague and an spurring burst form Dave Sheppard was enough to set the team alight and send tingles down the spine as they took the field. The ever reliable left arm inswing of Adam Lang commenced from the city end duly assisted by the Gail force breeze proceeded to create havoc for the PCA batsmen. Competently assisted, pushing into the breeze, was Andy Stevens workman like manner with the ball to have the opposition in trouble. Lang struck in the first over removing the PCA opener for a duck.

5 Lang and Stevens continued to apply the pressure, beating the bat on numerous occasions- After 4 over s PCA 1/10- and in trouble. Association Legend Dave Sheppard took up the attack and continued the pressure from the City end and when Bedford Morley s Johnny G took over from Andy Steven s, who had completed his set of 4 over s 0/17 it was game on- PCA 2/34 from 8 over s. Legend status for association players is not used lightly and over the past 15 years Sheppard has displayed all the attributes and heart that command legend status by turning games. Full of adrenalin from his pre innings rev-up, Sheppard bowled with great venom and true pace and was too much for the opposition batsmen. He took wickets in his last 3 over s- a clean bowled, a catch to Gary Edgar in his third over and finally an LBW decision went his way to finish his set of 4 over s with the figures of 3/11 including 2 fantastic outfield catches.!!. Ross Belstead also provided superb support to Sheppard in the crunch time of the innings taking 4/21 off his 4 over s. Adam Lang came on to close the innings out for PCA taking another wicket in the final over to finish with 2/26 of 4 over s. PCA failed in the chase at 9/104- a solid team effort for a 13 run win to our boys who now wait on other results to see if a finals berth awaits them in January.