Round 8 Day 1 v Parramatta + Metro
1st to 5th Grades – Round 8 v Parramatta (Day 1)
Metropolitan Cup vs Sydney University & Warringah
The Randy Petes headed into the final round before the Christmas break with a massive Round 8 against Parramatta. It was a huge game in the context of both teams’ seasons, with Parramatta just one place ahead in the Club Championship in 4th place. With the Randy Petes on 549 points, we had the chance to get past Parramatta on 568. The Two Blues had experienced a real renaissance in the past 18 months, as the Club won the First Grade premiership last season, and finished second overall in the Club Championship in 2017/2018. With the Randy Petes sitting in the Top 6 in 1st and 2nd Grades, and within striking distance in 3s 4s and 5s, there was plenty to play for over the next two weekends. Plus there was all the action from Metropolitan Cup in another jam packed weekend of cricket.
1st Grade – Randwick Petersham v Parramatta @ Petersham Oval
Team – Warner, Bell-Drummond, A. Sams (c+), Ayre, Chhibber, Matt Calder, Hunter, Semple, Ralston, Hemphrey, D. Singh
Result – Parramatta 7/159 – 62.2 Overs (Bell-Drummond 3/19-9, D. Singh 2/24-10)
http://www.premier.nsw.cricket.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/match.aspx?locx=MATCH&matchID=2926169
First Grade were playing their second game of the season at Petersham Oval, fresh off an outright victory over Gordon, as we took on reigning Belvedere Cup Champions Parramatta. We entered the game in third place on 30 points, 5 points ahead of Parramatta in sixth place. Dylan Hunter made his First Grade debut after some consistent performances in Second Grade, whilst Matt Calder was back in the team after winning the Championship with NSW/ACT in the National Under 19s Championships, having made some strong contributions with the bat.
Randwick Petersham First Grade are on top in this Round 8 game, having reduced the visitors to 7/159 on a rain shortened Day 1. Parramatta were solid at 4/117 before an amazing collapse where we took 3 wickets for just 3 runs to turn the day on its head and swing things in our favour.
With rain and storms lashing Sydney in the lead up to Saturday’s game, the Randy Petes took advantage of winning the toss and inserting Parramatta, with the bowlers getting good seam movement, with some turn for the spinners. English import Daniel Bell-Drummond (3/19-9) continued his fine all-round form taking 3/19 from 9 overs, tying down the middle order and making some key break-throughs, with paceman Daya Singh taking 2/24 from 10 overs. Singh has been the master of the early breakthrough and he once again took a wicket in his first over to have Parra one wicket down without a run on the board.
NSW contracted player and Parramatta Captain Nick Bertus was a one-man show for the visitors, scoring 101 of the visitors’ total of 7/159, as he showed, in tough condition to score, why he has been one of the best players in Sydney Premier Cricket over the past five years.
Next weekend the boys will be keen to try and wrap up the final three wickets of the Parramatta tail for under 200 runs and set up a very gettable run chase with a strong and deep batting line up. A victory could see us move equal second on the table at the Christmas break.
DBD proving he can do it with ball as well as bat!
2nd Grade – Parramatta v Randwick Petersham @ Old Kings Oval
Team – Mahony-Brack, James, Lyle, Holland (c) Burton, Ram, Wood, Powell (+), McKenzie, Jenkins, Loth
Result – Randwick Petersham 10/119 – 43 Overs (Powell 40, James 27, Ram 24) v Parramatta 1/38 – 7.1 Overs (Loth 1/11-4)
Second Grade were looking to rebound from just their second defeat of the season as they made the trek out to Merrylands to take on Parramatta. It was a big game for both Clubs, with our boys in third on 34 points and the Two Blues in fourth place on 27 points having made the grand final last year. It was great to see two juniors in the Second Grade side, with Dylan Powell taking the gloves, and Ashley Burton batting in the middle, after both boys had performed strongly this season. Tom Holland was also back to Captain the side, having done so the previous two seasons, in the absence of Mitch Calder with a broken thumb.
It proved a tough day at Old Kings as we were sent in on a fresh wicket, but managed to cobble together 119, before Parramatta made a bright start sitting on 1/38 from 7 overs when rain brought an early end to the day. It was an unfortunate state of affairs given we had done a lot of the hard work with the bat, sitting on 1/76 before the final 9 wickets fell for just 43 runs.
Twos had a delayed start at 12.15pm due to the condition of the square. The pitch was very green, but relatively hard underneath and baked out throughout the day, turning very good later in the afternoon.
Making his Second Grade debut, Dylan Powell (40) was the opposite of overawed showing what an exciting prospect he is by scoring 40, opening the batting, in very tough conditions against a good bowling attack. Powell has the ability to score off front and back foot, but batted really responsibly here, batting for 115 minutes and facing 91 balls. Jack James (27) shared a really good 54-run second wicket partnership as he negotiated pretty much the entire first session before things went awry. Kushall Ram (24) continued his good form with the bat, as the only player in the middle order to make an impact, with some nice batting in his final game for the Club.
Then a storm came and that was it for the day, meaning a 9.30am start next week to get through 110 overs. It’s a big hill to climb, but 2’s are confident they can pick up the poles and put pressure back on Parra next week. We will need a fast start with the ball, with Doug Loth (1/11-4) already with his tail up having taken an early wicket with Parramatta still requiring 75 runs for first innings points.
3rd Grade – Randwick Petersham v Parramatta @ Coogee Oval
Team – Montedoro, Eldridge, Murdita, B.Stares (c), Graham, Mullins (+), Kenzie, Fox, N Stares, Dellar, De Silva
Result – Randwick Petersham 10/120 – 42.3 Overs (De Silva 25, Murdita 24) v Parramatta 1/32 – 16 Overs (Fox 1/12-8)
Third Grade were shooting for three victories on the trot as they look to go into the Christmas break with a wave of momentum, as they took on Parramatta at Coogee Oval. It was a big game for both Clubs, with us on level pegging with the Two Blues on 24 points, sitting in 7th behind them on percentage only. Kel Mullins took the gloves with Hayden Fox and Bailey Kenzie two youngsters in the bowling line up.
A theme of some of the lower grades for the Randy Petes was losing crucial tosses and having to battle hard with the bat, and it was no different here as 3s managed to just cobble together 120 after being sent in to bat. The boys, under Captain Ben Stares, came out with plenty of intent to defend a small total in the field and were unlucky to only make one breakthrough as the visitors finished on 1/32 from 16 overs as we threw everything at them in the final sessions.
After a couple of early wickets for the visitors, Jaya Murdita (24) and Ravin De Silva (25) combined nicely for a 47-run partnership to have things looking bright at 2/60 with the wicket starting to flatten out. Both players played positively, working the singles and getting through the new ball, before falling just when they looked like building a big individual innings.
Mullins (17) and Fox (12) both made decent starts, whilst Kenzie batted really responsibly to remain not out with wickets falling around him to some big shots. With the ball, youngsters Dellar and Fox bowled really well early, with Dellar bowling with really good pace to get the visitors opening batsmen hopping around. Next weekend we will require early breakthroughs to be a chance of first innings points, with Parramatta requiring another 89 runs with 9 wickets in hand.
4th Grade – Parramatta v Randwick Petersham @ Merrylands Oval
Team – Jedwood, Lopes, Crawford, Sach, Ahmed (c+), Sultan, Kashyap, Coombs, Standing, L O’Loughlin, M O’Loughlin
Result – Randwick Petersham 10/36 – 26 Overs v Parramatta 0/70 – 27.3 Overs
Fourth Grade hit the road out West to take on Parramatta at Merrylands Oval, looking to bounce back after a great effort with the bat last week that ended in narrow defeat. It was a big challenge for the Randy Petes, with Parramatta sitting in third place, thirteen places ahead of us on the ladder after seven rounds. Mitchell O’Loughlin was back in the side to add to the pace attack after impressing last week.
Unfortunately it was a nightmare day for the boys, as they got sent in on a sticky track at Merrylands Oval, and were bundled out for 36 losing a toss we would have loved to have won. On a stinking hot day out West, the wicket somewhat flattened out in the afternoon and the hosts took complete control of the game, sitting on 0/70 with already a lead of 34 runs in the first innings.
Defending such a small score like this is never mean to be easy. Especially when the wicket was under the sun long enough to get dry and made it easier for the batsman to bat on as the ball started coming in nicely to the bat. They have made 70 runs without losing any wicket before the storm came in and made umpires to call off for day one
Despite the nightmare day there will still be plenty to play for next week, as we look to avoid an outright defeat and also a much improved batting display.
5th Grade – Randwick Petersham v Parramatta @ Kensington Oval
Team – Heaton (+c), Gibson, Segal, Iosifidis, Sapariya, Hutchison, Apostolakis, McNamara, Mahajan, Saady, Grogen
Result – Parramatta 7/114 -58 Overs (Saddy 2/17-16, Mahajan 2/22-7)
Fifth Grade were looking to grab their 4th victoryof the season, as they hosted Parramatta at Kensington Oval. We had the chance to move closer to the Top 6, sitting in 10th spot, whilst Parramatta were struggling in 17th spot on the ladder after seven rounds.
On a humid Saturday morning, the wicket at Kensington Oval looked flat and hard, with one of the ends having a tinge of green. Parramatta won the toss and immediately said “bat”. The team congratulated Emmanuel Grogan on making his debut in Fifth Grade. Fabian Heaton’s young side did a good job of holding Parramatta to 7/114 from 58 overs, in a typical slow grind type of day at Kensington with scoring proving difficult.
With eight Green Shield players in the side, the plan was to bowl them in short spells of 4 to 5 overs each and try and bowl line and length to frustrate the Parramatta batsmen. Medium pacer Nick Saady (2/16-17) led from the front and bowled splendidly in three spells. Jack Gibson (0/13-9), Reid McNamara (1/13 – 8), James Apostolakis (1/11-8) and Will Hutchinson bowled their hearts out on a flat Kenso wicket.
Captain Heaton described it as fantastic to see such young players put on such a mature bowling performance, and sticking to the plan to just dry up all scoring options, bowling 19 maidens. Vivek Mahajan (2/22 – 7), our main spinner, bowled cleverly and was rewarded with both the main stay batsmen. He bowled Parra’s top scorer and then got the Captain plum LBW. Both wickets were off his cleverly disguised faster ones, and just when these batsmen were trying to hit their way out of a rut.
Besides disciplined bowling, Captain Heaton mentioned that the ground fielding and catching were also of a high standard. In the fifth over, Jack Gibson, who had just bowled the previous over, chased a flick from the Parra opening bat which looked like a certain two runs, but not on Jack’s arm, as he turned and threw down the stumps at the keeper’s end with a direct hit to catch the batsman short going for the second run. BRILLIANT!! That really pumped the team up as they knew taking these half chances was our only chance to make inroads.
Two fine catches were then taken in the gully by Emmanuel Grogan, who had to dive forward for both catches taking them inches from the ground. Chintan Sapariya in deep cover took a sharp catch off the middle of the bat, and then Vivek Mahajan at cover point took a catch that was flying over his head when the batsman swiped a wide ball from the off stump.
With Will Hutchison allowed to leave at the break during the storm we needed a substitute fielder. It was a tough choice between Belinda Gibson, Mr Segal and Sandip Mahajan. Belinda would have made her debut fielding in Fifth Grade, but accurate scoring took precedence so it was between Sandip and Segal!
The honour was given to Sandip Mahajan and immediately had success for the team with the first ball after the storm break a wicket to the Randy Petes. Unfortunately only 1 over was bowled and we were off again with lightning sighted. At 58 overs, both skippers in consultation with the umpires called it stumps.
Thanks to Belinda Gibson once again for her meticulous work and an additional helpful task that enables anyone checking the scorebook to easily identify maiden overs bowled and at what stage in the game. AWESOME in one glance. Also thanks for putting out the cones in the field.
Big thanks to Sandip for making up the drinks and arranging the afternoon tea. Also, to all the parents who helped to put away the furniture and helped the team put the covers on the wicket after the game when it was blowing a gale. It is not only team work from players on the field but all these helpful tasks from the parents which is what we call real “TEAMWORK” and every win we manage if for all of you.
Metropolitan Cup – Randwick Petersham Gold v Warringah @ Mike Pawley
Team – Stewart (C), Wanzare, Rushton, W Deller (+), Khoo, Bugti, Robertson, Boyns, C De Silva, Small, Lau, Partol
Result – Warringah 3-179 – 41.1 Overs v Randwick Petersham Gold
http://www.smcc.nsw.cricket.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/match.aspx?matchID=2963723&entityID=2318
Gold travelled across the Bridge and Spit to take on Warringah in the final round before Christmas at Mike Pawley. Stewart called correctly and sent in the opposition to utilise his bowlers on a greenish deck in humid conditions. Boyns (1-22) and Bugti 0-40. Boyns made the early breakthrough, bowling quick and an unplayable line. But as the wicket flattened out the opener and number 3 capitalised. Both went onto 50 and 100 respectively.
Following tea Yogesh Wanzare claimed a double breakthrough in 3 balls before the heaven’s opened and heavy rain and lightning put pay to anymore play leaving Warringah 3/179 (41.1) overs. Gold look to resume early Day 2 with quick breakthroughs and to chase the deficit.
Metropolitan Cup – Randwick Petersham Green v Sydney University @ Marrickville Oval
Team – Jastrzab (C+), Grills, Besgrove, Hussain, Awati, Sherriff, Brennan, Thomas, Bird, Robinson, Smith
Result – Randwick Petersham Green 8-60 (dec) – 18 Overs v Sydney University 3-119 – 35.4 Overs (B Thomas 2-29)
http://www.smcc.nsw.cricket.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/match.aspx?matchID=2963719&entityID=2318
Having survived the chaos of the weather, a ground change and a couple of hours super-sopping on Friday and Saturday, play actually got under way on time at a Marrickville Oval that was in remarkably playable and pristine condition. Losing the toss, the Greens were sent into bat, and the skipper was unfortunately run out in the first over. Marley Besgrove and William Grills managed to put on a solid partnership against the undermanned students, displaying patience and initiative in slow conditions. But Grills was bowled for 19, and Besgrove had one pop on him, which led to an uncharacteristic collapse, as the team slid to 8-60 after 18 overs. With conditions still conducive to bowling, a bold declaration was thrown at the students with 45 minutes till tea.
The bold move almost paid off, as the students spluttered to 3-22 at tea, with a brace of wickets to an improved Ben Thomas and Akther Hussain’s usual early strike sending a shudder through the match. Unfortunately, the tea was clearly too good, as Uni crawled their way to the target, before prospering in the afternoon, as is the wont at Marrickville. Just as they were getting away, the game was called to a halt with lightning and storms around. Despite their lead, the magnanimous opposition put in a good effort to help with the covers at the end of play. The Greens on the other hand will look to put up an improved performance next week to ensure that they take some momentum into the new year.
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