Grand Final replay a great battle on day one

• A Grade, Division 1

IN A replay of last season’s premier grade Grand Final, two of the league’s best sides went at it after both coming off upset loses in Round 6. 

The reigning premiers welcomed Town over the bridge to Cowes and the visitors won the toss and elected to bat first. 

Despite losing opener Ron Abeysinghe early, Town, led by their skipper Jesse Giardina (95 from 128) showed their decision at the toss was a great one. 

Giardina and his number three Ben Hanrahan (36 from 121) put on an innings defining 125-run partnership and had Town in a brilliant position to post a big first innings score. 

Amila Ratnaike (32 from 47) put up a decent fight seeing his side recover to the 190s, although another double strike by the Island saw their visitors on the back foot again at 6/192. 

Pandukabhaya Jayasinghe (11 from 37) and Mudassar Riaz (49 from 39) stood up from here though, putting together a valiant 51-run stand to muscle ‘Gatha towards the 250-mark. 

The hosts were able to fight back again late though, claiming 3/10 to see Town finish their 75 overs with a score of 9/253, with their skipper’s gutsy half century the standout, falling just short of triple figures and battling through injury in the process. 

As for the Island, it was the crafty spin of Charith Keersinghe (4/97 from 25) doing the most damage his side will look to make 254 runs this Saturday to clinch the win. 

Koony collapseafter bright start 

KOONWARRA L/RSL welcomed Wonthaggi down the road to the Leongatha Recreation Reserve and the hosts won the toss and chose to bat first. 

They lost their first wicket almost immediately, but were able to recover wonderfully as Isuru Darshana (44) and his skipper Ben Walsh (47) put on a gallant 91-run stand to bring their team back into contention for a decent total. 

With Koony’s two danger men out, the talented visiting bowling attack took over, the wicket of the Cougars’ captain sparking a demolition as Wonthaggi claimed 8/46 to dismiss their hosts for 156. 

Walsh top scored for Koony and will hope his side can replicate Wonthaggi’s efforts with ball in hand this Saturday as they defend 156. 

Dennerley shines but Nerrena take day one

NOT many would have predicted it but Nerrena hosted Inverloch on Saturday in a clash between first and second on the LDCA A grade division one ladder, as the visitors won the toss and chose to bat first. 

Sporting a young line up once again, the Stingrays gave the vacant opening spot to third-gamer Riley Harris, but unfortunately, he couldn’t quite get off the mark as the hosts attack found form on their home deck. 

After losing Jacob Strickland in the eleventh over, Stingrays captain David Newman (22 from 88) went about resurrecting their innings with Walter Taberner but they only managed to further the score by 20-runs before they suffered a double blow at the hands of Ryan Clark (4/27 from 12.3). 

Averaging 112 on the year through four matches, Newman’s dismissal is his first for less than 50 on the season and it became a huge turning point in the match as the hosts worked their way into Stingrays young tail.

Dennerley was able to further his team’s score to the century mark after a 38-run stand with fellow opening bowler Callum Asbury (8 from 33), and then into the 120s where his aggressive knock unfortunately came to an end. 

In an economical opening partnership, Dennerley (1/12 from 6) and Asbury (0/2 from 6) were able to hold Nerrena to just 16 after the 12 overs, taking the one wicket too, they’ll search for the big wicket of Mitchell Clark (12* from 33) as he and the hosts require 126-more runs for victory. 

Imps crumble as Dell claims five

WITH both sides coming off great wins in Round 6, OMK hosted the Imperials and the visitors won the toss and chose to bat first. 

The Imps got off to a bright start, as Luke Rogers (30 from 40) and Rowen McLennan (15 from 35) started to compile a nice partnership and were able to reach 48 without the loss of a wicket. 

In an incredible showing the hosts took all 10 of the Imperials wickets for just 66 runs, dismissing them for 114 in a fantastic comeback. 

In reply, the Diggers had 37 overs to see if they could wrap up the win in a single day’s play, and they certainly gave it a crack, finishing the afternoon just 15 runs shy of the Imps total at 2/99. 

Joel Cuman (43* from 110) was the standout at the top of the order he’ll continue on this Saturday with his captain Koby Brann (6* from 16) as they look to finish the chase with 16 more runs. 

• A Grade, Division 2

Korumburra sets huge task for Wonthaggi Club

THE Sri Lankan pairing of Harshika Fernando and Inshaka Siriwardena starred for Korumburra after the visiting side elected to bat against Wonthaggi Club.

Opener Fernando took an aerial approach after digging in early, with his unbeaten 156 including five sixes as well as his 11 fours.

Siriwardena never cleared the boundary during his knock of 155 but displayed his attacking outlook with 22 fours, keeping the scoreboard ticking over continuously before falling to the bowling of Luke McGuirk.

“It’s one of those days you watch and can’t believe what you’re witnessing when you see two blokes put on what they did,” Korumburra skipper Harry McNeill said.

“Both of them were pretty much chanceless for the first hundred or so and there are not too many days when you see two blokes put on 300 runs, so we all felt lucky to be able to watch it and be on the right side of it.”

McGuirk was the only Wonthaggi bowler to make an impression in the wickets column, rewarded with 3/67 from his 19 overs of toil, a rate of just over 3.5 runs an over.

Korumburra made a massive 4/364 from its allotment of 75 overs, more than 4.8 runs per over, setting up a strong chance of victory on day two.

Should Club lose early wickets in its chase, it may be a tough day in the office.

But, if Wonthaggi lays a solid foundation, it could yet be a thrilling finish to the match.

Kilcunda Bass faces steep run chase against Nyora

NYORA was led by two century-making Hacketts as it plundered 5/350 at more than 4.6 runs per over.

While Gavin eventually fell for 139, Jake was unbeaten on 115, making it uncertain which of the pair has the greater bragging rights.

After a solid partnership for the first wicket, the removal of both openers with the score on 61 appeared to bring Kilcunda Bass back to parity, but it was hard work for its attack for most of the day thereafter.

While Ryley Duff took a couple of important top order wickets for Kilcunda Bass, he struggled to contain the Nyora batsmen, conceding 80 runs off his 16 overs.

Nicholas McCallum took a tidy 1/29 off 11 overs including the scalp of Nyora opener Daniel Esler, while Todd Smith couldn’t manage a breakthrough but conceded only 45 runs off 16 overs with five maidens.

Solid MDU start sets up big task for Foster

OPENER Steven Arnup’s 93 was the foundation for MDU’s strong position, with the host racking up 287 runs off its 75 overs to set Foster a challenge on day two.

While Tharindu Nuwan’s 31 was MDU’s next best score, most of the line up made decent contributions.

Josh Toner took on a heavy workload with the ball for Foster, topping the Tigers’ wicket tally with 4/94 from his 26 overs.

Three of those wickets accounted for members of the MDU top order.

Benjamin East did some damage further down the MDU batting list, capturing 3/61 off his 17 overs.

Phillip Island contains Glen Alvie despite Harris heroics

PHILLIP Island knocked over Glen Alvie for 190 after electing to bowl at Wonthaggi Recreation Reserve, with the total built almost entirely on the shoulders of Lachlan Harris.

The Glen Alvie skipper and keeper hit 129 not out, with 17 extras the next biggest contributor to the side’s total.

That meant just 44 further runs were scored off the bats of Harris’ teammates, with Matthew Dakin (13) and Wayne Luke (12) the most substantial contributors.

Clint Wilson sent down 23 disciplined overs for just 36 runs, with his three wickets helping finish off the Glen Alvie lower order.

Heath Womersley also took three wickets for the Sharks, ruining Glen Alvie’s middle order and with just 16 runs taken from his 11 tight overs.

Phillip Island will be confident it can chase down Glen Alvie’s total, but it is high enough to give the bowling side hope.