From the Pavilion – Hawkesbury and T20 Double Header
All grades are in strong positions against Hawkesbury after day one, while 1st Grade started their T20 title defense with two wins.
1st Grade: Hawkesbury 252 vs RPC 2-30 @ Coogee Oval
Hawkesbury won the toss and elected to bat on a flat Coogee Oval deck, but were in trouble early at 2 – 4 with Jake Wilson (3 – 30 from 16 overs) making the early inroads. However, the Hawks open Tim Wilson then took the attack to the RPC bowlers making a hard hitting century before Wilson grab his wicket, and from there the middle and lower order crumbled to see Hawkesbury all out for 252 after 82.4 overs, with Daniel Sams (3 – 21 from 7.4 overs) cleaning up the tail.
With 11 overs to face, Randy Petes moved to 2 – 30 with Nick Stapleton (9 not out) and Tom Jagot (11 not out) at the crease.
2nd Grade: Hawkesbury 277 vs RPC 3-95 @ Owen Earle Oval
Hawkesbury won the toss and elected to bat on a flat Owen Earle Oval deck, and the RPC bowlers found the going tough as the Hawks played their shots from the outset, post 277 from 76 overs. All the bowlers toiled in the batting friendly conditions, with jack Preddey (4 – 73 from 18 overs), Ben Nethersole (2 – 50 from 14 overs) and Sam Doggett (2 – 50 from 8.4 overs) being the best.
With plenty of time left in the day, Randy Petes moved to 3 – 95 from 30 overs, with Englishman Ryan Higgins (46) displaying class on debut, and skipper John McLoughlin (30 not out) looking solid once again.
3rd Grade: Hawkesbury 202 vs RPC 0-3 @ Petersham Oval
Hawkesbury won the toss and elected to bat on a quality Petersham Oval strip, but the Randy Petes bowling unit was on their game from the outset, reducing the Hawks to 8 – 100. But then some fighting contributions from the Hawks lower order saw them scrap to 202 from 76 overs. The bowling honours were shared with Andrew Sprowls (3 – 57 from 18 overs) being the pick on 3rd Grade debut, and he was well supported by Sam Wood (2 – 52 from 17 overs), skipper Rod Stafford (2 – 39 from 21 overs) and the veteran Rob Huxley (2 – 14 from 10 overs).
With 5 overs to face, openers Ben Stares and Adam Docos were able to survive until stumps leaving RPC 0 – 3 and set up for a good chase next weekend.
4th Grade: RPC 265 vs Hawkesbury 0-0 @ Bensons Lane #2
After skipper David Bourke won the toss and elected to bat on a hard and flat wicket at Bensons Lane #2, Randy Petes enjoyed the conditions and raced to 2 – 168 at tea with Karl Schubert (64) and Nathan Stares (65) leading the way at the top of the order. However, when both Stares and Bourke (30) fell straight after tea, RPC had a middle order collapse to be 7 – 193 before Rehaan Nawaz (43 not out) combined with the lower order to see RPC dismissed for 265 and 77.4 overs.
5th Grade: Hawkesbury 131 vs RPC 3-24 @ Kensington Oval
Hawkesbury won the toss and elected to bat first at Kensington Oval, but were immediately under pressure as the Randy Petes bowling unit was the money from the outset with veterans Nigel Singh (1 – 24 from 17 overs) and Grant Rimmer (2 – 18 from 12.3 overs) leading the way, and they were well supported by the returning Sam Muir (3 – 32 from 7 overs) and Karthigan Balasubramaniam (2 – 36 from 15 overs) to see the Hawks dismissed for 131 after 63 overs.
However, with 14 overs to face RPC wobbled to 3 – 24 to leave the game evenly poised.
1st Grade T20 vs Eastern Suburbs @ North Dalton Park: Won by 8 wickets – Easts 7-155 vs RPC 2-157
Eastern Suburbs won the toss and elected to bat first, and were able to post a competitive 7-155 after 20 overs, with skipper Semple the pick of the bowlers with 2 – 27 from 4 overs, and also 3 run outs highlighting the quality of fielding. The run chase was steady throughout as RPC was always in control, with the winning runs coming in the final over. The start with the bat was Semple with 88 from 55 balls with 4 sixes and 9 fours, and he was well supported by Jake Scicluna (22 from 28) and Ryan Higgins (34 from 30 balls).
1st Grade T20 vs Illawarra @ North Dalton Park: Won by 8 wickets – RPC 6-175 vs Illawarra 7-161
RPC won the toss and batted first , and with Jake Scicluna (59 from 46 balls) and Ryan Higgins (36 from 30 balls) continuing their good form from the early match, and Nick Stapleton (34 from 11 balls) providing some hard hitting at the end of the innings, RPC were able to post 6-175 after 20 overs. Illawarra were up for the chase though, and at one point looked to have the game in control, but some great death bowling by Adam Semple (2 – 24 from 4 overs) and Daniel Sams (1 – 29 from 4 overs) saw RPC victors with Illawarra restricted to 7 – 161 after 20 overs.
RPC Metro Green vs Penrith @ Rance Oval: RPC 104 vs Penrith 2-170
After winning the toss, RPC Green decided to bat first on a hot day at Rance Oval. The wicket had plenty of grass for the quicks but is a traditional good batting wicket with a lightning outfield. The Penrith attack was quality and gave RPC little. George Frazakis, Dominic Sullivan and Jeremy Jastrzab applied themselves to the job but RPC ended up with 104 runs as a first inning score. RPC never got the opportunity to bat in the good conditions due to the loss of early wickets.
With a below par fielding and dropped catches not helping, Penrith batters raced away with runs and scored 2-170 at the end of Day 1. The wicket had settled down nicely for them and they took full advantage. Max Brandy toiled hard in the heat bowling good line and length to be our only bowler to achieve success.
Bala Mohan
RPC Metro Gold vs Mosman @ Balmoral Oval: Lost by 6 wickets – RPC 131 vs Mosman 4-132
After winning the toss RPC Gold elected to bat first on a flat pitch. Even though couple of batsmen got off to good starts with Luis Siddall and Lasith Fernando each scoring 24, no one managed to capitalise on good batting conditions and RPC were all out for 131. Mosman chased down the runs in 30 overs losing 4 wickets. Charith DeSilva picked up two wickets and Andrew White and Kiri Tsalikidis snatched one each.
Lasith Fernando
Masters Round 1 – RPC vs Epping at Epping Oval: won by 6 wickets- Epping 9 – 228 vs RPC 4 – 229
Epping won the toss and elected to bat on a pitch that was batting friendly and offered very little help for the bowlers initially, Randy Petes struck early with a wicket to Mark Wall, followed by a brilliant run out after some great fielding from Anthony Malouf. Epping 2 for 30 after 5 overs.
Epping then set in with some good batting and moved to 3 for 104 at drinks, 20 overs. They kept going at a good rate and took the score to 4 for 176 after 31 overs and finished their innings at 9 for 228 from 40 overs. A total which we always thought was achievable provided we batted well.
Randy Petes Bowling (Wicket Takers only):
Mark Wall : 6 overs 1 for 45
Darren Smith: 9 overs 2 for 34
Greg Scott: 9 overs 2 for 52
Riley Wall: 2 overs 1 for 15
Dean Parker: 4 overs 2 for 15
I thought our bowlers toiled long and hard on a warm day, and on a deck offering no help what so ever.
Chasing a good total we had to get off to a solid start and we did. Darren Smith and Mark wall got the innings rolling until Mark lost his wicket for 18, 1 for 46. Then the unexpected, Darren went for a Big drive and got an edge to first slip, out for 27 after looking set, 2 for 46 after 10 overs. In a spot of trouble chasing 228 on a deck which was starting to keep low and deteriorate making batting quite difficult.
Randy Petes Batting:
Anthony Malouf 42 not out….Retired.
Fabian Heaton 33…Ret Hurt .
Dean Parker 44 not out….Retired.
John Mesar 15 run out by James Hourn who can look forward to bat at # 11 next game. Just kidding mate !!!!!!!!!!!
Peter Lazaropoulos 21 not out.
James Hourn 3
Greg Scott 4 not out.
Simon Jasper dnb
Riley Wall dnb
Randy Petes finished with 4 for 229 from 38.4 overs and deserved winners after a very tough game of Cricket.
Special mentions to: Dean Parker, Anthony Malouf and Fabian Heaton for a match winning performance with the bat.
I would also like to thank Simon Jasper, Riley Wall, & Thomas Hourn who all went out of their way to make sure we were not short of players. We wish Fabian a speedy recovery from his hamstring injury and hope he is fit for our next game on 26th Oct at Kensington Oval.
John Mesar
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