Yarragon’s Zaron Smith would’ve had barely one stump to aim at, but his direct hit was right on the money as he ran out Kooweerup opener Chris O’Hara for 9. 74904
By Jarrod Potter
KOOWEERUP continued the charge through the Twenty20 Kookaburra Cup with a comprehensive 82 run victory over Yarragon.
Kooweerup batted first and lost Chris O’Hara early to a piece of great fielding from Yarragon’s Zaron Smith who ran him out by hitting at a single stump view at 1/11.
Mick Giles was the next to fall at 18, after belting two sixes, and both openers were gone at 2/31.
It brought together Shane Dole (45) and Jason Wilson (45), with the pair belting Yarragon’s bowlers around Kooweerup Reserve and knocking together 62 for the third wicket.
Wilson terrorised the young spinner Jake Borsato, striking one over for a six and two fours. Wilson’s big smack about ended on 45 when he had his stumps rattled by Darian Mathews.
The middle overs belonged to Dole, whose guiding presence was pivotal in the Demons’ batting out their overs.
Travis Canavan (14) came in and made some quick runs, as Kooweerup upped the run rate.
Dole went for a dance and missed the ball, getting stumped by Yarragon keeper Ash Smith off Borsato.
The lusty hitting of Matt Bright (12) and John Bright (15) helped give the Demons the last push on their way to 9/176 from their allotted overs. Borsato claimed revenge for his earlier pasting by Wilson, snaring 3/40 from his four overs with Gamini Kumara (2/28) and Todd Mann (2/38) taking the other wickets.
Yarragon got off to a flyer, with Kumara belting 21 in the first three overs, before getting out to Matt Bright.
After both openers were dismissed at 2/36, Kooweerup ramped up their pressure with the ball, to a point where Yarragon was unable to keep men at the crease for significant periods.
Rob Wallace held his own with the bat, grinding his way to 18 before hitting one to Matt Davey off the bowling of Travis Canavan. The rest of the middle order and tail for Yarragon failed to wag and the visitors were dismissed in the 16th over for 94. Adam McMaster (3/19) continued his success at the top level of Kooweerup’s ranks, being on a hat-trick at one stage, and Canavan (2/16) was the other multiple wicket taker, with Davey, Ron Bright, Matt Bright and Dole all taking a single wicket.
Dole’s resilient 45 was crucial to getting the runs on the board, but he said he was there to rotate the strike and watch Wilson wallop the Yarragon attack.
“It was good to get a win and go through to the next round,” Dole said.
“I was basically playing the anchor role and watching Wilson hitting them wherever he liked.
“I was just there to keep things ticking over.
“It was a good batting performance all up… Giles set it up early. It was good to get off to a really good start.”
The win takes Kooweerup one step closer to playing on the MCG in February, with their next opponent to be confirmed.
