From the Pavilion – Round 6 Day 1 vs Fairfield-Liverpool

Some great performances over the weekend sees all games evenly poised against the Fairfield-Liverpool Lions going into day two…

The Randy Petes Poidevin-Gray team also suffered their first loss of their campaign, going down to a spirited Bulldogs outfit…

This weeks edition of from the pavilion is brought to you by:

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1st Grade: RPC 8-341 vs Fairfield-Liverpool @ Rosedale Oval

After skipper Adam Semple won the toss and elected to bat first at Rosedale Oval, a solid start between openers Anthony Sams (35 from 86) and Alex Kemp (48 from 98) goot RPC off to an ideal start. However, the middle order crashed and the Randy Petes slumped from 1-107 to be 7-144 when 1st Grade debutante James Psarakis wearing cap no.102 and batting at no. 9 made his way to the wicket to join the no. 8 batsman Soumil Chhibber. The pair then re-wrote the club record book with a partnership of 191 for the eighth wicket breaking the CLUB and 1st Grade record of 182 set by Nathan Price and Adam Semple against Parramatta in 2012-13. Psarakis went on to narrowly miss a century on debut being caught on the boundary for 98 made from 165 balls with just 3 fours and 2 sixes. Chhibber was also unlucky not to bring up his maiden century when he finished at 92 not out when stumps were drawn on day 1 with Randwick Petersham 8-341 from 96 overs.

Psarakis’ 98 was a new record being the highest score by a 1st Grade debutante.

Last Sunday James was involved in four new records in the under 21 Poidevin Gray competition including a highest score record when he made 154 against North Sydney at North Sydney Oval.
In just 6 days James Psarakis has been involved in 6 new club records!

Link to scorecard: http://www.sydneygrade.nsw.cricket.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/match.aspx?matchID=2106754&entityID=4

2nd Grade: RPC 242 vs Fairfield-Liverpool 0-14 @ Petersham Oval

After being sent in to bat at Petersham Oval, things were looking a bit dicey at 4-68. However, Tom Holland (40 from 80) was able to combine with skipper John McLoughlin to take the score to 141 before Holland fell. This left McLoughlin with the lower order, and together were able to drag the score to 242 before the last wicket fell, leaving McLoughlin stranded on 98*, a great captain’s knock.

The Lions survived a tricky 5 overs to finish at 0-14, leaving the game evenly poised going into day 2.

Link to scorecard: http://www.sydneygrade.nsw.cricket.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/match.aspx?entityid=4&matchid=2110326&gradeid=62_1

3rd Grade: Fairfield-Liverpool 8-244 vs RPC @ Fairfield Oval

Randy Petes were in the field, and at 0-80 things were not looking good. The fightback came from James Tyson (3-77 from 25), and he was well supported by Reehan Nawaz (1-30 from 12), Will Pereira (1-32 from 13) and skipper Rod Stafford (1-39 from 13), and the boys did well to contain the Lions to 8-244 at stumps.

Link to scorecard: http://www.sydneygrade.nsw.cricket.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/match.aspx?entityid=4&matchid=2110775&gradeid=63_1

4th Grade: Fairfield-Liverpool 8-244 vs RPC @ Fairfield Oval

Skipper David Bourke lost the toss and the Randy Petes found themselves in the field on a flat Coogee Oval track. A runout early has the boys flying, but then some missed chances and numerous play and misses saw the Lions go into tea at 1-98. Post-tea, the runs flowed as they do with wickets in the bank, with the Lion racking up 7-328, despite the best efforts of Tom Evans (2-82 from 20) and Nathan Stares (3-70 from 13).

Link to scorecard: http://www.sydneygrade.nsw.cricket.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/match.aspx?entityid=4&matchid=2111128&gradeid=64_1

5th Grade: RPC 186 bs Fairfield-Liverpool 3-16 @ Don Dawson Oval

The Fighting Fives arrived at Don Dawson Oval salivating at the chance to play cricket after a washout against the Saints. Luis Siddall won the toss and elected to bat on a hard wicket that offered something to the seamers. The Farifield-Liverpool bowlers were up to the challenge and soon had Randy-Petes on the back foot at 3/28. However, Ed House and Luis Siddall consolidated the innings and then play some positive cricket and managed a 110-run partnership. However, the removal of both batsmen in the hour after tea, saw another flurry of wickets, with Omair Ali (20) offering the only resistance. S. Undries also chipped in with 55.
The skipper asked for a big effort in the 13 remaining overs of the day and the Fighting Fives delivered. Mark Wall, Jack Standing and Omair Ali all bowled with pace, which was backed up with some wily spin from Sahil Sekhon. Wickets to Wall (1/2) and Ali (2/1) have the Randy-Petes on tops and counting down the days until we can get back to Don Dawson Oval.
Luis Siddall

5th Grade Captain

Link to scorecard: http://www.sydneygrade.nsw.cricket.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/match.aspx?entityid=4&matchid=2111284&gradeid=668_1

Poidevin-Gray Round 3: Bankstown 5-246 vs RPC 9-215 @ Bankstown Memorial Oval – Lost by 31 runs

Randy Petes lost the toss, and on a flat wicket the Dogs were able to post 5-246 from their 50 overs, the pick of the bowlers being Soumil Chhibber (2-32 from 10), Sam Wood (1-37 from 7) and Tom McKenzie (1-24 from 6).

The run chase got off to a solid start with Max Moran (45) continuing is good form at the top of the order, however the loss of a few quick wickets had Randy Petes under the pump. However, James Psarakis (82) kept RPC in the fight, however his dismissal put the game to bed despite the best efforts of Chhibber (26), to see RPC fall 31 runs short, finishing at 9/215.

The boys first loss of the season, however they still retain equal first on the competition ladder leading into Round 4 against Parramatta at Coogee Oval on Sunday 13th December.

Link to scorecard: http://www.sydneygrade.nsw.cricket.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/match.aspx?entityid=4&matchid=2112917&gradeid=1224_1 

Metropolitan Cup: RPC Gold 8-322 (dec) vs Mosman 0-6 @ Kensington Oval

As the saying goes, a win is a win, but the RPC Gold team would prefer a win without the rain rules interfering. In their way this round was the perennial prankster from Mosman, Jay Patel, and a crew that had comfortably beaten Sydney Uni earlier in the season.

It seemed though that Dr Death (as he’s become known on the Metro circuit) had botched another procedure, by winning the toss and electing to field with 6 players. Thankfully for Mosman, the rest showed up just as the teams came on to the field. Mind you, with the form that the Irish openers were in, having a full team didn’t seem to matter. Dale and Paul (the self-proclaimed Strauss and Cook 2.0) continued where they left off last week, with a stand of 100 in 18 overs. While the two provided a valuable lesson in running between the wickets, some of the Mosman fielders probably wished they had arrived on time for fielding practice as a few chances went begging. Paul continued to look the effortless aggressor and glided to 74 out of 124 until a wild slash was finally held at slip. A second wicket followed for Mosman, but any thoughts of comeback were scuppered by the RP comeback kid, Jono Liapis.

Looking even better than when he last played, Jono and Dale set about making use of a typically lifeless Kensington pitch and made a push towards 200. Dale didn’t quite make it, after charging a Chris Harris impersonator and losing his middle stump, but not before finally cracking the half century (67). From there, Jono took smart runs and thumped the boundaries as they were offered in solid partnerships with Karthi Bala and Metro manager Jez to take the score to 277 before losing his stumps to a swipe across the line, top scoring with 77.

At 6/277, the stage was set for Charith De Silva to take us to the elusive Metro mark of 300. With the field converging, the big man took advantage with some piercing drives through cover and tower swipes over mid-on. It took a run-out to finally send the big man back to the pavilion with his highest score for the club next to his name, 11. Big skip John Stewart finally put Mosman out of their misery with the score on 8/322, off 69 overs. Jez was the last man out for 27, having finally conquered the stranglehold that Dr Jay had held over him.

With 9 overs left in the day, the Mosman openers only just survived the inquisition by the fires of Sam Boyns’ pace and Charith’s surgical precision. Unfortunately, one opener’s hand did not survive a Boyns bouncer, leaving the rest of the Mosman line up questioning whether they should come back next week… Still, on a pitch without much assistance, Gold will have their work cut out for them if they are to take all 10 wickets and continue their ascent up the Metro ladder.

Link to scorecard: http://www.smcc.nsw.cricket.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/match.aspx?matchID=2211832&entityID=2318 

Metropolitan Cup: RPC Green 254 vs Georges River 1-36 @ Bland Oval
Probably the most exciting thing about going to Bland Oval, is the prospect of hitting the ball into the M5. However, Georges River seemed to know something beyond this superficial excitement by sending in the RPC Green visitors to bat on their home turf. Green’s latest opening pair, the evergreen George Frazakis and the enthusiastic Rohan Batra, put on a solid stand of 44, before George was out, not LBW but caught. Fresh out of finishing the HSC, Rav De Silva and Jackson Eldridge couldn’t quite rekindle the Metro magic they’ve shown in the past, but Saurov Barua showed good touch in getting to 23. After Alexis Coovre was dismissed with the score on 5/143, the Greens were in danger of squandering their strong start. Through out it all, Rohan stood tall with a half century that made up for the one he missed last round.

Enter skipper Adam Lee. Fresh of finishing university and clearly playing with a mind free of obligation, Adam set about destroying the Georges River attack like few others in Metro can, and with Rohan playing the perfect foil, the two crashed the score past 230. Unfortunately, with a century beckoning, Rohan was dismissed for 81. With the tail looking a bit precarious, Adam looked to monster his way to the century, but fell agonisingly close on 89, which contained 8 boundaries and 6 sixes. These efforts took Green to a competitive total of 254.

Georges River faced a tough period before the end of the day’s play, with the Green pace armada keeping a tight lid on the scoring. However, in a final roll of the dice for the day, Rav De Silva snared one of the openers, to leave the game evenly poised. RPC Green need 9 wickets, and Georges River need 220 runs to win. It’s on for young and old, with Green being particularly happy that last round’s top performer, Mitch Hunt, will be back in the ranks to help push for their first win of the season.

Link to scorecard: http://www.smcc.nsw.cricket.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/match.aspx?matchID=2211832&entityID=2318