By Jarrod Potter
MASSIVE wicket hauls defined District and Sub-District Divisions on Saturday with Clyde bowler Adrian Buller taking nine while seven scalps went to Emerald’s Clint Marsh.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:EMERALD V CATANI
Emerald (3/130) almost stitched up first innings points as Clint Marsh (7/28) took apart Catani (141) in spite of a resilient 83 from James McMahon.
McMahon was left to fly the flag by himself once again, to back up his 101 last round against Merinda Park, as Catani struggled to stay at the crease.
Excluding McMahon and the ten extras from Emerald, the rest of the Blues’ order made 9/48 with only two more batsmen going past double figures.
With little assistance from the ten-man tail, McMahon smashed the Bombers’ crew about the park before succumbing to Marsh as his second victim. Marsh wasn’t finished from there and sent five successive Blues back to the change-rooms as he tore through the middle and lower order. His seven wicket haul takes Marsh to 33 wickets for the season at 7.42, leaving him one shy of Peter Zauner on the wicket-takers list.
Euan Thoms claimed the last scalp as Emerald completed their rout of Catani in the 43rd over.
The Bombers continued their rampage with the bat – Anthony Flint (37), Geordie Scott (27 not out) and Ryan Scott (24) piled on the runs as Emerald races towards a first innings victory.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:ST FRANCIS XAVIER V MERINDA PARK
Playing his first match since October, Toby Odlum (50) helped guide St Francis Xavier (160) to a defendable total against Merinda Park (0/8). Adam Newstead (3/34) and Jess Mathers (2/38) claimed the first five wickets before Odlum dragged the X-Men from 5/76 with his half century. Assisting Odlum, Brendan Hunt (17) and number 11 Aaron Georgesz (12 not out) managed to tick over the scoreboard and push St Francis Xavier into a reasonable position. Merinda Park’s openers made sure nothing dire happened in the remaining seven overs and finished at 0/8.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:LYNDHURST VIKINGS V DEVON MEADOWS
Without a steadying hand, Lyndhurst Vikings (119) was skittled by a combined force from Devon Meadows (4/206) before the Panthers struck with the bat.
Lyndhurst struggled to get out of first gear as Bill Loudon (3/15), Matt Clayton (2/13) and Peter Zauner (2/31) claimed multiple Vikings’ scalps. David Spencer (26) top scored for the Vikings, but there was little to celebrate as the wickets tumbled. Lyndhurst only batted for 40 overs as they failed to cobble together any useful partnerships.
Devon Meadows on the other hand struck strongly as they sent the ball flying around Maranatha College. Jason Holman (84 not out) and Steve Robinson (67) piled on 133 for the third wicket as the Panthers raced to 4/206 at stumps. An outright victory is on the cards for Devon Meadows with a quick smash about this Saturday, which would bridge the gap between the Panthers and Merinda Park leading into the final round.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:NYORA V NAR NAR GOON/MARYKNOLL
Nyora (111) avoided a total capitulation against Nar Nar Goon-Maryknoll with Peter Dixon holding up the Maroons’ batting order. Dixon (37) was the glue of the innings as Nyora batsmen failed to stay at the crease. Adam Tagliaferro (19) and Dylan Ford (10) held off the onslaught as long as they could, but the damage was done long before they stepped up to face. Chris Lewis and Vinny Van Strijp continued their good form with the ball. Lewis took four wickets and Van Strijp three and Sam Vanderzalm two of his own to skittle the Maroons for 111. Nar Nar Goon-Maryknoll is 2/60 in reply. (No Nar Nar Goon-Maryknoll results available.)
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:
SUB-DISTRICT
GEMBROOK V CLYDE
Adrian Buller’s nine-wicket rampage took Gembrook (65 and 4/43) to the cleaners as Clyde (4/162dec) made the gulf between Sub-District contender and wooden-spooner seem light years apart.
Buller needed only 13.3 overs to get the magic done, claiming all but the first wicket, which fell prey to Dean Williams (1/13).
Clyde smashed a quick fire 162 with Brad Goodman (82) and Kane Avard (32) the chief destroyers of the Brookers’ attack.
Gembrook’s 65 is their 11th score under 100 for the season and at 4/43 in the second dig, that could increase to 12 in a year Gembrook fans and players alike will forget at 6.01pm on 3 March.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:UPPER BEACONSFIELD V CRANBOURNE MEADOWS
The Maroons (187) cobbled together a competitive score against the Rebels, but will rue their missed opportunities to kick on to a bigger total.
Five Upper Beaconsfield batsmen got to 25, but none went past 50 as Shawn Hassall (49) was the man to venture the furthest in his innings. Hassalll and Kyle Gibbs (25) pushed the scoring around with a 66 run partnership for the seventh wicket, but not enough big partnerships blossomed to get Upper Beaconsfield to a better score.
Four of their batsmen were dismissed on 25 each as Meadows’ bowlers Jason Poole (3/24), Mark Zoldak (2/21), Adrian Savage (2/36) and Lee Murdoch (2/47) claimed multiple wickets to restrict the scoring.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:TOORADIN V CARDINIA
Tooradin (7/90) and Cardinia (86) swapped wickets like trading cards as 17 wickets fell between them cheaply.
First up and electing to bat, Cardinia bowed out abruptly as Tooradin only needed three bowlers to get the job done. 21 each from Brad Remy and Matt Ryan pushed the Bulls out of the dreaded sub-50 zone, but they couldn’t stay at the crease under relentless pressure from Steve Hamill (4/39), Mat Finch (3/19) and Richard Holland (3/26). Bowling out the 39 overs between them, the Tooradin-trio unravelled Cardinia with ease before the rot started again… this time for Tooradin.
Kane Latham (22) and Mat Walker (18) got starts, but from there the Seagulls fluttered and failed as they lost seven wickets approaching the close of play. Ryan Little (3/15) and Brayden Browne (3/24) went to task on the hapless Tooradin bats. Tooradin managed to scrape the barrel enough to get first innings points but the onus is on them to post a defendable target for Cardinia to chase this week to attempt an outright victory. Taking the maximum 20 points would all but close the door on finals hopes for Cardinia and Nar Nar Goon-Maryknoll.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:NAR NAR GOON/MARYKNOLL V LANG LANG
A four-wicket haul welcomed back Lang Lang (3/75) strike bowler Bodie Brown (4/40) as the Swamp Tigers snuffed out any finals chances for Nar Nar Goon-Maryknoll (119). Brown made up for lost time in taking the four scalps off 17.5 overs. Kurt Nestor (2/15) was the other multiple wicket taker for Lang Lang. The response from the visitors didn’t fare brilliantly, as Ricky Caddell (5) and Peter Wilson (0) fell without much of a fight to leave Lang Lang 2/5. A 61-run partnership from Ross Douglas (38 not out) and Cameron Chasemore (24) overcame the fragile start to see Lang Lang through to stumps three down with 44 runs left to hunt down.
