By David Nagel
A BRILLIANT century from Pakenham Upper-Toomuc’s Patrick Garvey, an evenly balanced contest between Tooradin and Cardinia and the top-team, Kooweerup, flexing its bulging muscles were the highlights of day one round 14 in West Gippsland Premier Division cricket on Saturday.
Garvey (137) and his Pakenham Upper-Toomuc (364) team-mates ran riot on their own dunghill as they condemned the visiting Officer (2/15) to an almost certain winless season in premier division.
Garvey came in with the score on 3/108 and dominated the remainder of the innings, sharing in three substantial partnerships of 80 with Luke Gunton (28), 67 with Peter Richards (23) and 50 with Daniel Fry (19) before being the last man dismissed.
The Yabbies had a 400-plus score in their sights at 6/324, but lost 3/1 to give the Bullants some reprieve from the blistering late afternoon heat. The home team had more than 10 overs to bat when the curtain was drawn on its impressive innings.
Earlier in the day, opener Jackson Fromhold (28) set a solid foundation for Garvey and Co, while gun-batsman Chris Smith (66) looked in a menacing mood before failing to capitalise on a great start. Smith finished his batting season with 550 runs at an average of 45.83 and will be at Black Caviar odds to take home the Yabbies Player of the Year award.
Officer once again lacked penetration with the ball, but Lachlan Porter (2/41 off 12.2), James Quinn (2/42 off seven) and Ollie Brown (2/67 off 11) all tasted success on more than one occasion. In reply, the Bullants needed to survive eight hostile overs from the home-side, but came up woefully short.
Lucas Plozza (2/8 off four) trapped both Brown (5) and Darren Temby (0) LBW, and unless Brett Reid and Peter Quinn can both ton-up, it will be a sad trip home for the Bullants this Saturday night.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:Pakenham v Kooweerup
PAKENHAM (176) may have convinced itself it was in great batting form in recent weeks, but it had nobody fooled on Saturday, when after a great start, it spontaneously combusted against the relentless pressure of top-team Kooweerup (3/116).
After winning the toss, the home side was travelling along beautifully at 1/85 in the 18th over, but a 14-over stretch where it lost 6/46 proved there are still question marks over the Lions’ batting line-up.
That might seem a harsh call in the backdrop of the Lions racking up scores of 415 and 498 in their last two matches, but a closer look at those two innings makes for interesting reading.
Batting second on both occasions, a staggering 518 of the 913 runs scored by the Lions came after the winning runs had been struck. Twenty bowlers were used by their opposition including all 11 players having a trundle for Upper Beaconsfield in round 13. That type of batting might be great for getting an eye in, but doesn’t prepare anyone for the intensity and pressure that a top team like Kooweerup brings to the table.
It showed on Saturday.
At 1/85, with the in-form Ben Maroney (53) and Jason Williams (23) at the crease, the Lions looked headed for another big score before Demon’s skipper Travis Canavan (3/18 off seven) struck two crucial blows. First he had Williams nick one to keeper Chris Bright then tested Sugeesha Dinushan’s (1) technique against the short ball with instant success.
In between, a Maroney and Sean Gramc (4) mix-up saw Gramc run-out courtesy of a Trent Cochrane direct hit and Maroney fell to a low caught and bowled by Shane Dole (2/51 off 11). The Lions refused to go into their shell, and despite an aggressive rearguard half-century from Dom Paynter (50) the home-side was still bowled out in the 47th over.
Ron Bright (3/24 off 5.2) joined Canavan as a three-wicket-taker, while Matt Davey (0/15 off eight) didn’t taste success, but bowled aggressively down-breeze in an impressive spell. In reply, the Demons were cruising before two late wickets ruined a near perfect day.
Chris O’Hara (61), Michael Giles (25) and Shane Dole (17) were once again among the runs with O’Hara particularly impressive before falling just before the close of play. Jack Anning (1/7), Jason Fisher (1/11) and Russell Lehman (1/41) took wickets for the home side.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:Tooradin v Cardinia
TOORADIN (0/42) played host to Cardinia (218) on Saturday, and despite dropping 10 catches the Seagulls have their noses in front heading into day two after the Bulls uncharacteristically threw away a terrific start.
Cruising along at 1/125 with Mark Cooper (59) and Neil Barfuss (58) in complete control, the Bulls got the jitters losing 6/36 before a late Luke Turner (47) rally pushed the score beyond 200.
It was another uninspiring performance by the Bulls, who were rolled for 188 by Beaconsfield in round 13 with similar reports coming from both innings. The Tigers also dropped an unusually high amount of chances against the Bulls in a clear indicator they’re hitting a lot of balls in the air in recent times.
The three above-mentioned players were the only batsmen to reach double figures. On a hot day and with little early success the Seagulls stuck to their guns impressively, gaining the upper hand by claiming the last nine wickets for just 93 runs. Ash Adams (4/54 off 14) and Callum O’Hare (3/27 off 10) made the biggest in-roads for the home team, while Brenton Adams (2/46 off 14) provided quality slow bowling back-up.
With 18 overs to bat, the Seagulls made the perfect start, not losing a wicket and knocking 42 runs off the required total. Tom Hussey (29 not out) and Brenton Adams (10 not out) will resume the battle at 1pm this Saturday.
The Bulls love this scenario of defending small to medium-sized totals and will back themselves to knock over the home side. If they do, they will gain a crucial psychological edge before the two reacquaint themselves in the first round of finals.
Upper Beaconsfield v Beaconsfield
IT looks like dual success over its cross-town rivals for Upper Beaconsfield (4/92) this season after the Maroons dominated a disappointing Beaconsfield (102) at home on Saturday.
Visiting skipper Justin Stanton would have been feeling pretty good about himself after winning the toss in the hot conditions but the smile was wiped from his face by a terrible start to the Tigers’ innings.
The early loss of both openers was compounded by the run-out of Jordy Andrews (5) as the Tigers slumped to 3/14. The experienced duo of Stanton (16) and Brad Miles (44) then set about re-building the innings and did so in impressive fashion, taking the score to 72, before Miles dismissal triggered a startling collapse.
The Tigers lost 4/3, including the run-out of Stanton, to fall to 7/75. Lower order revivals have been the Tigers specialty this season, but there was no fight-back this time with the visitors being rolled for a tick over triple figures. Jason Dodd (13 not out) joined Stanton and Miles as the only players to have double digits next to their names.
For the Maroons, Shawn Flegler (4/24 off 15.4) was back to his best while Daniel Brennan (2/29 off 14) was rewarded for his economy with two wickets. With 24 overs to bat, the Maroons went about the smallish run-chase in a positive manner.
Chris Pentland (30) and Brennan (16) put on 47 for the first wicket before they departed in quick succession while Flegler (22) made a solid contribution before falling, as stumps were being drawn.
Beaconsfield’s Jason Dodd (4/17 off nine) continued his good bowling form, but will need to be a miracle worker to get his Tigers over the line this week.
