From The Pavilion – Round 7 vs Manly + Metro Green v Gold
Match Reports
1st to 5th Grade – Round 7 – 50-Over 1 Day Matches v Penrith
Metropolitan Cup – Round 7 Green v Gold Derby!
1st Grade T20 v Eastern Suburbs @ Waverley Oval
Round 7 was upon us and it was time to revert back to the limited overs format, taking Manly in a series of 50-over matches across the Grades. Manly are flying high in the Club Championship, sitting pretty in second spot just 28 points behind surprise leaders Parramatta. Meanwhile, we were in a log jam in 8th spot just 57 points behind 4th position, but only 90 odds points ahead of 16th, so it was important to finish the first half of the season with a couple of strong weeks. In the end it proved a great day for the Club with victories in the Top 3 Grades against a very strong Manly Club, as we continued to keep in touch in the Club Championship. Find out below who starred in Round 7 as the Randy Petes made their presence felt in Round 7.
1st Grade – Manly v Randwick Petersham @ Manly Oval
Team – A. Sams (c+), Eaton, Hughes, Chhibber, Bohannon, D. Sams, Ayre, Semple, Neser, Ram, Warren
Result – Randwick Petersham 8/243 – 50 Overs (Chibber 66, D. Sams 56, Bohannon 31, A. Sams 30, Ayre 22) defeated Manly-Warringah 8/228 – 50 Overs (Ram 2/25-5, Neser 2/48-9, D. Sams 2/59-10, Semple 1/27-10)
http://www.premier.nsw.cricket.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/match.aspx?locx=MATCH&matchID=2623961
First Grade made the trek to another seaside ground in Manly Oval on Saturday for a big game against the Waratahs. Sitting in 4th spot we were flying high, however Manly had the ability to jump us here with the Waratahs sitting in 7th spot, just 5 points behind us on a congested ladder. Finally the boys appear to be getting some continuity in their side with just one change this week, with Alex Kemp unavailable and classy all-rounder Daniel Sams going back into the side after missing Round 6 through playing First Class cricket in New Zealand.
In a really hard fought game, the boys managed to claim an outstanding 15-run victory in what is traditionally a tough ground to win at in Manly Oval. The wicket was a bit two paced all day which led to a moderately scored game. Whilst 8/243 looked a decent score, it really was a fabulous effort with the ball and in the field to restrict a powerful Manly batting line up, especially after they were well in control of the game at 2/169. Then that powerful middle order of Crosthwaite, Beadle, Lenton and Green all fell within the space of 23 runs as the Waratahs slumped to 6/192 before we applied the clamps to restrict them 8/228 from their 50 overs.
It was a real team effort with the ball with just about all the bowlers pitching in with wholehearted displays. Kushal Ram (2/25-5) has made a habit this season of picking up big wickets and he did it again here dismissing Beadle and Green in the space of a few balls to really change the momentum of the game. Whilst Ram did the damage in the middle order it was the experienced Francois Neser (2/48-9) who gave us the impetus up front, claiming the key wicket of both Crosthwaite boys in a great spell up front. Daniel Sams (2/58-9) came back with a great second spell under pressure, bowling both Manly’s Number 7 and 8 batsmen, as his death bowling came to the fore once again. Probably the best bowler for the day was Adam Semple (1/27-10) who despite only picking up one wicket unbelievably only went for 10 runs off his first 7 overs on a notoriously small and free scoring ground.
Earlier in the day with the bat it was our middle order which really came to the fore once again against an experienced Manly attack. Sunil Chhibber (66) and Daniel Sams (56) scored half centuries for the second consecutive week continuing their fine form. Chhibber proved the rock of the innings facing 115 balls from Number 4, whilst Sams scored at an explosive strike rate of 120 in another blitzkrieg innings. The boys came together under adversity with the score at 3/53 and put together a polished 86-run partnership to swing the momentum back our way. Captain Anthony Sams (30) and Josh Bohannon (31) were both in good touch after their exploits last Sunday against Easts in the T20 games, whilst Riley Ayre (20) chipped in with an important contribution towards the end of the innings.
Captain Sams was delighted with the win saying the side are learning to win close games whilst playing nowhere near their best. t’s been an outstanding first seven games for First Grade this season given the side has been much changed from the side that finished in 7th spot last season. Despite having so many injuries and changes each week, this side are learning how to win the close games week in and week out, which makes a huge difference in the context of the season. The boys are now flying high in equal 2nd spot with Eastern Suburbs, just 1 point off the top of the table Campbelltown side. Next week it’s another massive game as we head back to Petersham Oval to take on 9th placed Bankstown in the final game before the Christmas break.
Soumil Chhibber in the runs again!
2nd Grade – Randwick Petersham v Manly @ Petersham Oval
Team – Everett, Tector, James, Calder, Holland (C), Edwards, De Silva, Mahony-Brack, Standing, McKenzie, Jenkins
Result – Manly-Warringah 8/194 – 50 Overs (McKenzie 3/29-7, Standing 3/48-10, James 2/29-7, Edwards 1/27-10) Defeated By Randwick Petersham (Everett 92n/o, Tector 73, Edwards 24n/o)
http://www.premier.nsw.cricket.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/match.aspx?locx=MATCH&matchID=2627741
Second Grade were back at Petersham Oval for the third week in a row as they looked to get back into the winners circle against Manly. Both sides were sitting on two wins for the season and desperate for a win, with Manly in 9th spot and Tom Holland’s men in 14th position. The side had an injection of youth this week with both Jack Standing and Ravin De Silva back in the side after experiencing some 2nd Grade earlier in the season. This is an incredibly young side this season with six players under 21 years of age, so its bodes very well for the future of the Club in the next couple of seasons if some of these boys can develop and push up towards First Grade.
In what was the boy’s best performance of the season, we came away with an outstanding 8-wicket victory against a strong Manly side. On a Petersham oval surface offering a bit more for the bowlers, we restricted Manly to 8/194 from their 50 overs, before the boys cruised home, chasing the score just 2 wickets down in the 48th over. Captain Tom Holland called for a far more energetic and competitive display from his side and that’s exactly what we got here as we put everything together on the day to come away with a dominant victory against a strong club.
The stars of the run chase were clearly our opening pair of Matt Everett (92n/o) and Jack Tector (73). Everett was only denied back to back centuries by the fact we didn’t have another 20 runs to chase as he continued his sparkling form this season. Everett played a typically classy innings facing 132 balls with 15 boundaries, and he remains a real rock once he gets himself set. Everett now has 332 runs at an average of 55 this year as he continues to press his claims for a First Grade spot should one open up. Jack Tector has looked in great touch since arriving from Ireland so it was good to see him really go on with it yesterday scoring a stylish half century. Tector has been working hard on his game since he arrived, and the 145-run opening partnership was a fantastic way to effectively kill off any chance Manly had in the game.
Earlier in the day with the ball it was a fantastic team effort from all the bowlers. There were times when Manly threatened to get a score of 250 plus as they cruised from 0/55 and 2/110 so it was a great fightback from our seamers and spinners. Pace spearhead Tom McKenzie (3/29-7) has bowled with good pace and intent all year so it was good to see him rewarded with three wickets here. Youngster Jack Standing (3/48-10 was the one who turned the game on its head, picking 2 wickets in 2 balls include bowling out key Manly batsman Gainsford for a golden duck. Then it was down to our spinners to toil away and they all did a magnificent job. Left arm orthodox spinners Edwards (1/27-10) and Jenkins (1/43-10) applied the screws, and with the ever-improving Jack James (2/29-7) combined for 27 overs of spin between them. Combined the boys went for less than 100 runs in those 27 overs at just over 3.5 runs per over.
Captain Holland was delighted by the turnaround in his team’s competitiveness and attitude. He described Everett’s innings as chanceless and disciplined considering the amount of verbals being offered up by the Manly boys. It was always going to be a season of highs and lows for this very young side and we now find ourselves with 3 victories and a draw from our opening 7 games. We are now up to 12th spot on 19 points, just 11 points behind UNSW in 6th place. Next week we take on 17th placed Bankstown at Bankstown Oval as we look to finish the first half of the season with back-to-back victories.
3rd Grade – Manly v Randwick Petersham @ Graham Reserve
Team – B. Stares (C), Eldridge, Burton, Hart, Montedoro, Graham, Mullins, N. Stares, Budwee, N. Singh (c), Flanagan
Result – Manly 8/144 – 50 Overs (Flanagan 3/23-10, N. Singh 3/28-10, B. Stares 2/43-10, Burton 2/15-4, Hart 0/14-10) Defeated By Randwick Petersham 6/145 – 42 Overs (Eldridge 45, Graham 31n/o, Mullins 27 n/o, B. Stares 20)
http://www.premier.nsw.cricket.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/match.aspx?locx=MATCH&matchID=2628370
Third Grade were looking to keep the momentum rolling as they headed north to take on Many at the refurbished Graeme Park. The boys have been performing outstanding well over the past three rounds with two big come from behind victories, and a draw last week in a game against Penrith in a game where we looked well poised for victory. This has been done despite an amazing amount of change to the side. Personally, I think the side this week is the strongest side 3’s have put on the park all season. Skipper Ben Stares was back, along with Burton, Montedoro, and also joined by Joe Hart who would provide another great all round option.
Third Grade are a great side to write about at the moment because they are playing great cricket and that continued here with a really hard fought 4-wicket victory in another close game. The boys have forged a great team spirit this year under captain Ben Stares and the experienced Nigel Singh, so it’s no surprise that we are getting over the line in the close games as the team are playing for each other and develop a synergy and confidence that only good sides have.
This game was really a low scoring war of attrition on a two-paced wicket and a slow outfield that was not conducive to fast scoring. Having restricted Manly to 8/144 from their 50 overs we looked to be in a spot of trouble at 6/94 when youngsters Corey Graham (31n/o) and Kel Mullins (27n/o) came together. The home side had taken a few quick wickets and were really fired up in the field, so for the boys to steer us home under pressure with an unbroken 57-run 7th wicket partnership was great to see. Both Graham’s and Mullins’ natural game is to counterattack and to put pressure on the bowlers by scoring boundaries, so the fact they stuck to their natural games and didn’t go into their shells here shows the confidence they are playing with. Mullins has now made three straight key contributions with the bat and remained not out in two tense run chases, whilst Graham continues to impress as a versatile all-rounder. Jackson Eldridge (45) has proved a bit of a rock at the top of the order this year and his 45 was impressive against a good attack on a ground he likes scoring runs at, given he scored a century at Graeme Park last season.
Earlier in the day with the ball it was our two pace spearheads who really led from the front with Nigel Singh (3/28-10) and Padraic Flanagan (3/23-10) both picking up 3 wickets and going at less than 3 runs per overs. Captain Ben Stares will be desperate to keep hold of both quicks given they have now picked up 17 wickets for the season each, with Singh averaging 13 with the ball and Flanagan 16. Whilst the quicks took the honours in terms of wickets the real ussung hero of the day was Joe Hart (0/14-10) who, despite not picking up a wicket, bowled an outstanding spell of leg spin bowling. Hart went for less than 1.5 runs per over, which is practically unheard of for a leg spinner, and the relentless line and length he hit allowed us to build pressure and pick up a number of wickets at the other end. Captain Ben Stares (2/43-10) and Ashely Burton (2/15-4) both chipped in with a couple of wickets in another great even team display with the ball and in the field.
Captain Stares fired his troops up for this game and was delighted with the response in a game where the home side offered plenty of niggle. He praised the maturity of his young batsmen under pressure towards the end as well as the whole bowling effort as a group. Most enjoyable for Stares was enjoying beers on the opposition’s field after another great win.
This side has now put together four wins from their last five games, and the game they didn’t win was last week when we were well on track for a victory. If you had said after Round 3 where we had been belted in consecutive rounds that this team would be sitting in 6th place, people might have laughed at you, however that is the case right now. Ben Stares’ men are now on 25 points, just 13 points off the competition leader, but with a number of teams nipping at their heels close behind them in a condensed ladder. Next week we will be gunning for five wins from our last six when we host 16th placed Bankstown at Coogee Oval in the last game before the Christmas break.
4th Grade – Randwick Petersham V Manly @ Coogee Oval
Team – Gracias Flor, Powell, Murdita, Radford, Frith, House, Stafford(C), Fox, Kenzie, Deller, Tsalikidis
Result – Manly Warringah 8/255 – 50 Overs (Kenzie 2/34-10,Dellar 2/44-10) Defeated Randwick Petersham 10/187 – 49 Overs (Murdita 41, Radford 29, Stafford 24, Kenzie 23, Fox 21)
http://www.premier.nsw.cricket.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/match.aspx?locx=MATCH&matchID=2629168
Fourth Grade wanted to bounce back with an improved performance after escaping with a draw last week against Penrith in a match where we were on the back foot for the majority. The side was forced into a reshuffle with veteran skipper David Bourke missing a rare game through being in Fiji. Luckily Rod Stafford was back in the side to take the reins as we looked to stay in the Top 6 approaching the Christams break. This really was a blockbuster clash, with Manly leading the competition, whilst we sat 7 points behind them in 4th spot. The side was also boosted by the return of Savio Gracias Flor and Tom Frith to strengthen the batting line up.
Unfortunately, it was not to be our day, with Manly running out fairly comfortable winners by 68 runs. Despite the sizeable difference in the scores, this was a game that was closely contested with a few key momentum swings in the field against us. The boys could have easily restricted the Waratahs to around 200 with some even luck the field, which would have made for a much tighter finish. Credit goes to Manly though as they showed why they are currently occupying top spot on the competition ladder by racking up an impressive 8/255 before restricting us to all out 187 in the 49th over of our run chase.
With the bat we had a number of contributors with five boys scoring over 20, however the key aspect to the run chase was none of them managed to go on and gain half centuries. Jaya Murdita (41) continued his form resurgence with the bat by top scoring in an impressive innings at number 4. Murdita has made a great transition to being a top order player in the last 18 months after largely being considered a bowling all-rounder before that time. Murdita is a key cog in this side given his ability to gel with both the older and younger boys, as this side, like 3rd Grade, forges a great team spirit despite the forced changes most weeks through injury and unavailability. Radford (29), Stafford (24), Kenzie (23), and Fox (21) all did a good job, however with the run rate spilling towards 8 and 9 per over, they were all forced to really chance their hand.
Earlier in the day with the ball, the two stars were our two AWGS players in Bailey Kenzie (2/34-10) and Alex Deller (2/44-10). Both boys picked up a couple of wickets with Kenzie going at less than 3.5 runs per overs, whilst Deller wheeled away at good line and length going at less than 4.5 runs per over on a day when Manly scored over 5 runs per over for the innings. Kenzie is an accurate and canny left arm spinner, whilst Deller is a very intelligent seamer, and the theme of this year at our Club has been boys stepping up a Grade or two in some cases and really producing the goods, so it was great to see that was the case again here. Both Kenzie and Deller will be key cogs in our AWGS season which kicks off this Thursday.
Captain Stafford was happy with the fight showed by his lower order and said the game could have gone right down to the wire if we had executed in the field. The loss is far from a disaster for 4th Grade with it only being our second defeat from 7 games this season. We are now in 6th spot on 25 points, however the Waratahs are now 13 points ahead of us at the top of the table. Next week we head to Jensen Park with Captain David Bourke back available as we look to bounce back with a victory against 7th placed Bankstown in a massive Round 8 clash before the mid-year break.
3 – Bailey Kenzie
2 – Hayden Fox
1 – Alex Deller
5th Grade – Manly v Randwick Petersham @ Mike Pawley Oval
Team – Crawford, Hodges, Andonopoulous, Sapariya, Wall (c), Lopes, Geraghy, Sidney (+) O. Sach, M. O’Laughlin, Fowler, Waugh
Result – Manly-Warringah 4/339 – 50 Overs Defeated Randwick Petersham 8/162 – 50 Overs (Hodges 30, Andonopoulous 28, M.O’Loughlin 27, Lopes 26)
http://www.premier.nsw.cricket.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/match.aspx?locx=MATCH&matchID=2632478
Fifth Grade went in search of their elusive win when they travelled to Mike Pawley oval to take on 7th placed Manly. The side have been dealt many blows at the selection table, this year losing some of their more experienced players up the grades, however this week they managed to get a few back. The trio of Sidney, Lopes and Andanopluous would have all gained confidence from their stints in 3rd and 4th Grades so the side was looking stronger this week.
The boys came up against a really strong Manly side on the day going down by 177 runs, despite fighting all the way to the end. Manly showed exactly why they are sitting in the Top 6 this season by scoring a very impressive 4/339, before restricting out boys to 8/162 from 50 overs. Whilst we didn’t have too many highlights with the ball, we showed plenty of character for the second week running with the bat to bat out our 50 overs.
Usually when a side are not winning games and not in the contest it’s easy to throw in the towel and get bowled out in 30 overs. However Mark Wall’s side dug in and at least made the Waratahs work for their wickets. Hodges (30) and Andanoupolous (28) made strong contributions in the top order, before youngsters Lopes (26) and O’Laughlin (27) continued to show some quality and fight later in the day.
Captain Wall wanted to give Give Luca Lopes a big wrap for his performance as well as Liam O’laughlin who bowled very well without much luck at all. Whilst we have not managed a victory through 7 rounds, we have a couple of draws which puts us is 19th spot in a rebuilding season for 5th Grade. Next week we head across the road from Bankstown Oval to Don Oval to take on 9th placed Bankstown as we look to finish the first half of the season on a high.
Metropolitan Cup – Randwick Petersham Gold v Randwick Petersham Green @ Kensington
Gold Team – Stewart (c), Siddall, A Hookey, N Crawford, Kashyap, J Hookey, T Crawford, O Sachs, J Segal, G Small, J Jastrzab (+), R Gandhi
Green Team – Coovre(c), Rushton, Wanzare, Mohan, Mahajan, Chaudhary, W Deller (+), Miller, Melukote, Robertson, S Singh, C De Silva
Result – Randwick Petersham Gold 7/175 – 50 Overs (N Crawford 63, Miller 4/37, Mohan 2/18) defeated Randwick Petersham Green 8/117 – 50 Overs (Mohan 37, O Sachs 2/13)
http://www.smcc.nsw.cricket.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/match.aspx?matchID=2778364&entityID=2318
This season’s Metropolitan Cup Derby saw the continued dominance of John Stewart’s Gold team, with a big win that will hopefully kick start their season. Kensington Oval played host this year’s only derby, with a painfully slow outfield and comatose pitch making for trying conditions for both batsmen and bowlers. Going against form, John Stewart finally won a toss and elected to bat. The big skip, the returning Luis Siddall and Adrian Hookey all got starts but fell to the skiddy offerings of Tim Miller and Yogesh Wanzare, leaving the Golds 3/47 after 18 over.
Neale Crawford and Pratulya “does like a 22” Kashyap steadied the ship and played themselves in for an 81 run stand. While Kashyap wasn’t able to carry on, “Big Cindy” had a welcome return to form with 63 as his booming drives finally started coming off and provide the late innings with some much needed impetus. Jarrod Hookey (21) and Oscar Sachs (6*) put a few big blows through but tight death bowling from Miller (4/37) helped restrict some of the damage. The final score tallied 7/175, with Green needing 176 for a win in trying conditions.
The Golds sprung a surprise by opening the bowling with Luis Siddall, and it paid immediate dividends as another returning favourite, Sean Rushton, was caught at point first ball. After a few attractive drives and flamingo flourishes, Green captain Alexis Coovre was bowled by searing inswinger from Oscar Sachs to have the Greens 2/20. Bala Mohan and Yogesh Wanzare rebuilt the innings steadily with smart and patient cricket. The Golds were up to the task though with economical bowling strangling the middle overs and the least amount of wides seen in a lower grade game in ages. This included an impressively tight spell from Metro debutant, 12 year old Gus Small.
At 2/64, Pratulya Kashyap finally got a breakthrough, beating Wanzare with an offie through the gate. After 4 games of toiling with no reward and watching several chances missed for him, Rohan Gandhi broke through the Mohan (37) resistance to take his first wicket for the club. After a few attractive blows from another debutant, Vivek Mahajan, and the run out of the Green lower order trump, Raj Chaudhary, the rest of the innings subsided with the young guns playing out the overs with valuable time in the middle. ‘The Grouch’ heads back to the CEO’s garage for another season but overall it was an encouraging and enjoyable day for many of the club’s younger players.
Jeremy Jastrzab
MVP Gold:
3 – Neale Crawford
2 – Tom Crawford
1 – Pratulya Kashyap
MVP Green:
3 – Bala Mohan
2 – Tim Miller
1 – Yogesh Wanzare
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!