Sharks do it easily in Koonwarra

• C Grade, Division 1

KOONWARRA L/RSL welcomed Phillip Island down the road to Koonwarra Recreation Reserve and the hosts won the toss and sent the Sharks into bat first. 

The Cougars were able to claim regular wickets early, but the Sharks kept building and saw the majority of their scoring happen in the latter part of their innings with captain and number eight Michael Cleary (39 from 27) top scoring with a positive knock that included three fours and two sixes. 

Brodie Cary (2/17 from 7) finished with the best figures for Koony’ as they held the Islanders to 8/144 after their 35 overs. 

In reply, the hosts were never really able to get their wheels in motion, losing 6/40 to start out their chase before a 44-run partnership between Cougars captain Kevin Thorne (17 from 49) and Tom Collins (23 from 44) gave them hope. 

Unfortunately for Koony’ though, they were unable to finish the job, as the Sharks dismissed them for 92, sealing the 52-run win. 

Deane Mani (3/15 from 7) was the best with the ball for the visitors, they’ll have the bye this weekend, while the Cougars will host Korumburra. 

Andot stars as Club take down Cobras

WONTHAGGI welcomed Korumburra down the road to McMahon Reserve and the hosts won the toss and chose to bat first. 

After losing his opening partner early, young Andot Mankhong (34 from 54) set up his side beautifully in conjunction with his captain William Speed (26 from 21) with a 43-run stand. 

Aiden Quilty’s (31 from 26) knock was also crucial as the Club finished on 8/151 after their 35 overs which were bowled by nine different Cobras bowlers.

Matthew Olden (3/42 from 7) and Patrick Beadel (2/10 from 3) were the pick of them.

In reply, the visitors were able to shake off the loss of wickets to surge towards the 100-mark as Beadel (39 from 58) backed up his great bowling with a solid knock. 

The momentum switched hands though as the Cobras neared triple figures, as Club took 7/45 to win it, dismissing their visitors for 144, seeing them fall 7-runs shy in the penultimate over.

Alan Ray (2/1 from 0.3) came on and claimed two wickets in the 34th over to win it for his side, a clutch performance at the death. 

Although, player of the match honours would have to have gone to Mankhong (4/38 from 7) who backed up his awesome knock with a great spell of bowling. 

Club will now host Nyora, while Korumburra will head down to Koonwarra to face the Cougars. 

Demons down Nyora

NYORA travelled down to Meeniyan on Saturday to face off with MDU who lost the toss and were sent into bat first. 

They soon reached 50 without loss before two quick wickets halted their surge, they recovered but again lost a clump of wickets in the 90s and then after passing the 100, eventually they finished 8/141 after their 35 overs.

Demons captain Dale Thomas (30 from 55) top-scored for his side, while his opposing captain Ben Pugh (3/24 from 7) was the best with the ball for Nyora. 

In the second innings, the visitors lost an early wicket but recovered briefly to reach the 40s, however they too continually lost clumps of wickets which affected their momentum a little too much, ultimately going all out for 129. 

Keith Linford (65 from 81) did all he could in the loss, his half century vital to Nyora’s chances, he unfortunately couldn’t see them to the end as he was run out.

Shalin Patel (3/13 from 6) was the pick of the bowlers for the hosts, they’ll host Inverloch at Dumbalk this weekend. 

As for Nyora, they’ll head to Dalyston to face Wonthaggi. 

Inverloch had the bye.

• C Grade, Division 2

Strong start sets up Kilcunda-Bass win 

KILCUNDA-Bass started brightly at Dalyston Recreation Reserve after electing to bat, with skipper Ashley Joseph and keeper Luke May combining for a 102-run opening partnership, helping set up a target that proved beyond Koonwarra Leongatha RSL.

After Joseph’s retirement on 42 and May’s dismissal for 44, nobody else in the Kilcunda Bass batting line up got going, with a couple of scores of 16 the next best.

However, a whopping 31 extras helped the side set an imposing 180 all out, with 22 of those sundries being byes.

In reply, Koonwarra L/RSL was unable to establish any significant partnerships, with its openers both failing to reach double figures.

Cougars skipper Glenn Matthies made a promising start to his innings, batting at number four, but was run out for 26.

Geoff Birnie, with 18 runs, was the beaten team’s other player to reach double figures, retiring on that score.

Like its opponent, Kilcunda-Bass also conceded a generous number of extras with a total of 25, having significant issues with wides and no balls, but still restricted the Cougars to just 8/104 to record a 76-run win.

The winning side shared the wickets around, with Pat Rubeis (2/14 off seven overs) and Daniel Bettles (2/0 off one over) the bowlers who managed more than one dismissal, with Bettles also running out the opposition skipper.

Earlier, Jai Brocklebank, Birnie and Matthies managed a couple of wickets each for the ultimately beaten side.

OMK does enough  at Scorpion Park

THE batting heroics of Ray Edwards (53 not out) weren’t quite enough to set up a Leongatha Town triumph at Scorpion Park, with the visiting Outtrim Moyarra Kongwak (OMK) completing a tight win.

Ben Maguire’s quickfire 35 not out guided OMK home, with his attacking 29 ball innings including five fours.

However, OMK’s eventual success appeared far from assured when it tumbled to 6/70 with the dismissal of Harvey Sorensen for 4.

With the eighth wicket falling at 99, OMK still needed seven runs to surpass Town’s meagre 105 run total.

Despite its bowlers having to defend such a low total, Town refused to concede defeat, buoyed by Travis Strybosch’s success taking 4/6 off seven overs and accounting for both OMK openers.

However, Gavin Furness survived the five balls he faced, enabling Maguire to complete the task at hand.

Given his earlier exploits with the ball, snavelling 3/9 off his seven overs, it was fitting that Maguire was there to guide OMK to the win.

His teammate George Lomagno also deserved praise for his spectacular success with the ball, taking 3/6 off his full complement of overs.

Glen Alvie handed points

Glen Alvie defeated Phillip Island on forfeit.