Round 4 Match Reports vs Penrith + Metro (Day 2)

MATCH REPORTS (Liam ‘LJ’ O’Loughlin)

1st to 5th Grades – Round 4 v Penrith (2-Day Matches) Day 2

Metropolitan Cup – RPC Gold v Mosman & RPC Green v Penrith

Kingsgrove T20 v UNSW

Lefand Group 1st Grade @ Howell Oval 

Result: Randwick Petersham 7/430 (J Sangha 138, D Bell-Drummond 93, R Ayre 73*) def Penrith 385 (A Semple 4/52)

Scorecard link

With a massive total posted on day one, the Randy Petes set out to cement their spot in the top six by taking 10 wickets on day two – and that is exactly what they did.

Veteran Adam Semple (4/52 off 17.5) was the star with the ball and tore through the Panthers middle order. It has been a fantastic start to the season for Sempy, and it is amazing to see how well he continues to perform with bat and ball.

Daya Singh (2/69 off 19) and Jason Sangha (2/59 off 13) chimed in and bowled well in their respective spells, while Shaun Eaton (1/18 off 4) continues to prove why he is a valuable commodity with the ball and can often jag a pole.

The win moves us to 4th spot in the First Grade ladder, and with a clash against 19th-placed Fairfield-Liverpool in Round 5 that will likely improve our position.

3 – Jason Sangha

2 – Adam Semple 

1 – Daniel Bell-Drummond

Lefand Group 1st Grade T20 @ David Phillips South vs UNSW 

Result: Randwick Petersham 5/241 (B Abbatangelo 75, D Bell-Drummond 67, D Sams 56) def. UNSW 87 (R Ayre 5/14, R Ninan 4/21)

Scorecard link

This had to be seen to be believed.

Going into a clash with local rivals UNSW on Sunday undefeated, it was easy to believe the Randy Petes would come away with another victory – but not in the fashion that they did it in.

The visitors batted first at David Phillips and were off to flyer with Shaun Eaton (28 off 16) and Ben Abbatangelo (75 off 41) dominating from the first ball. After Eaton departed it was more of the same as Daniel Bell-Drummond (67 off 36) scorched the Bees attack to all parts and showed why he is a class above in First Grade.

Daniel Sams (56 off 22) came in to join him and did what he does best – hit horns. The Thunder star hit six maximums and three fours before he departed. Adam Semple (10 off 3) made sure we got to 241 and the Students were no doubt very concerned at this stage.

And it showed in their batting, as they were completely dominated by the Randy Petes. Spinners Riley Ayre (5/14 off 4) and Ryan Ninan (4/21 off 4) tore through the batting lineup as we dismissed them for just 87 runs on their own turf in just 11.5 overs.

Not a bad result at all, and it has certainly announced us as competition heavyweights in the T20 format.

Sutton City 2nd Grade @ Coogee Oval

Result: Randwick Petersham 284 (D Hunter 87, M Everett 69) def by. Penrith 348 (L Radford 6/42)  

Scorecard link

Second Grade returned to Coogee Oval facing the tricky task of chasing down 348, having already lost opener Adam Docos in the dying overs of the previous week.

With the pitch not quite the road we saw last week, we lost nightwatchman Luke Radford to the 2nd ball of the day edging behind. Matt Everett and Tim Affleck came together to see out the morning session leaving us in the solid position of 2-90 at lunch.

While Affleck continued to play cautiously, Everett took on the aggressor role hammering 12 boundaries before falling for a well-made 69. Affleck and Dylan Hunter saw us through to tea leaving us needing around 165 in 30 overs. Straight after tea Affleck departed for 63 and while Stephen Doheny and Jack Lyle showed glimpses of kicking-on and reviving the run-chase the middle order didn’t fire as we’d hoped.

Huge credit to Dylan Hunter for taking the game on and dominating the Penrith attack, combining power hitting with great composure to keep us in the hunt – only undone by a poor LBW call for 87. Once Hunter went the tail quickly followed, leaving us 64 short.

Although the end result was disappointing it was a decent team effort in a tough chase, the boys showed a lot of fight where so often before we’ve allowed the innings to crumble early. The general vibe was that while having set a good platform and keeping some wickets in hand, we may have left ourselves too much to do in the post-tea session through lack of early intent. Ultimately dropped catches on day 1 killed us gifting the Penrith bats an extra 60-80 runs.

We’ll be hoping for a momentum shift coming into a couple of one day games after a tough few early rounds, starting with 15th placed Fairfield on Saturday at Coogee Oval. Big thanks to Stan Beale and Mick Wood for helping out at Coogee.

3 – Luke Radford

2 – Dylan Hunter

1 – Matt Everett

Petersham RSL 3rd Grade @ Bill Ball Oval

Result: Randwick Petersham (R Sachs 71) & 3/69 def by. Penrith 7/284 dec. (B Kenzie 5/90)  

Scorecard link

Third Grade began the day needing a fast start with Penrith needing 150 to win with a full complement of wickets in the shed. After a steady start from the hosts, Mitch O’Loughlin (2/66 off 18) took two wickets in quick succession, deserved reward after a great spell through the first hour of play. 

A wicket to Bailey Kenzie (5/90 off 15.5) had Penrith 3/99 with the game in balance, however a dropped catch halted our momentum and the two Penrith players eventually put on another 52 before Kenzie once again made a breakthrough. In an outstanding 15 minutes Kenzie claimed another two wickets to have Penrith 6/169 still requiring 20 runs. 

It wasn’t to be for the Randy Petes as the two Penrith players saw them over our score and into tea still six down. After the interval, Penrith kicked on with their number four recording a well-deserved century. They eventually declared on 7/284 with another thirty overs remaining in the day with Kenzie recording his first five wicket haul for the club. 

Despite losing a few quick wickets, Randwick batted out twenty overs to be 3/69 before both captains shook hands, with captain Stares remaining not out with 29 and Eldridge (22) the other contributor to our second innings.

3 – Bailey Kenzie

2 – Reuben Sachs

1 – Ben Stares

Mellick Wealth Management 4th Grade @ Kensington Oval

Result: Randwick Petersham 136 (A Hussain 27) def by. Penrith 7/202 (A Hussain 3/33, L O’Loughin 3/52)

Scorecard link

After posting a sub-par total on day one at Kensington and the visitors already sitting pretty at 1/48 overnight, things were never going to be easy for the Randy Petes. A wicket early from yours truly (3/53 off 16) gave us a quick sniff, with Ryan Miskella (1/28 off 18) putting it on a 10-cent coin from the other end consistently.

Eventually Penrith were able to up the run rate and begin scoring freely and quickly, and it looked as though it was going to be a tough day when they passed the score just two wickets down.

After a good chat at drinks, the Randy Petes were able to claw their way back into things and falter any chance of a second innings. Akhter Hussain (3/33 off 12) bowled really well and frustrated the Penrith batsman as we spread the field. Lewis Barnes (0/44 off 10) bowled well without luck and continues to improve in the early stages of his grade career.

The lads will regroup and be back at Kenso again this weekend for a one-day clash with Fairfield-Liverpool. 

3 – Akhter Hussain

2 – Ryan Miskella

1 – Liam O’Loughlin

Bendigo Clovelly Community Bank 5th Grade @ Rance Oval

Result: Randwick Petersham 177 (R Connolly 56) def by. Penrith 9/303 dec. (W Deller 3/29)  

Scorecard link

The wicket at Rance Oval on Saturday looked greener than the previous week. The Penrith team also had much cooler conditions to bowl in compared to last week. The mantra in the sheds for all batsmen was to bat, bat and bat and guts it out till the end. It was great that everyone was focused and ready to play hard.

Deakin Antaw (11) and Angus Beaumont (15) battled through the first 10 overs before Deakin who was resolutely blocking deliveries and frustrating the Penrith bowlers and looking really well set, but unfortunately missed a ball that was pitched up and was out LBW. Ryan Connolly (56) joined Angus and together they looked set for a big partnership. But it was not to be as Angus went to cut a ball that came through just a bit quicker and was out caught behind in the 28th over. 

Pratulya Kashyap (20) joined Ryan and together they punished the loose deliveries and were looking comfortable until PK tried to pull a ball that surprisingly came through really quick of the deck and smashed into the wickets. Fabian Heaton (12) then joined Ryan and both looked comfortable, with Ryan switching to top gear. It was a pleasure to watch his on drives and cover drives both of the front and back foot. But, 5 overs after the tea break unfortunately the 43 run partnership came to an end when Fabian was cruelly adjudged LBW playing well forward to the Penrith Leg spinner in spite of the ball hitting the full face of the bat first. Will Deller (8) joined Ryan but 3 overs later Ryan was clean bowled by a jaffa of a delivery from the Penrith part time bowler that cut back sharply. Birthday boy Adam Lee (36) playing his first game in 5th Grade this season joined young Will in the 61st over. There were 31 overs until end of play. Adam was aggressive on the loose deliveries and cover drove with immense power and grace and had the Penrith captain scratching his head. With Will at the other end showing great determination and commitment not to get out Adam had a perfect partner to bring us home with a draw.

As expected Penrith took the new ball at the end of the 80th over. Unfortunately Will left the first ball bowled which seemed to be well outside off but it somehow boomeranged in to crash into middle stump. We only had another 11 overs to play out. Anis Bugti (0) in the same over was adjudged LBW to a ball that was swinging down leg but because it hit him low and full on the pad the umpire felt convinced with his decision. Ben Thomas (5 not out) joined Adam to battle the new ball to face out the remaining 11 overs. Ben was super impressive and gutsed out the new ball and was aggressive when the ball was pitched up by driving over the top. But, the first over of spin with the 2nd new ball brought about the demise of Adam who was clean bowled by a ball that skidded of a good length.

Although this game was lost, the attitude of the players and the grit they showed left us much to be proud of. Plenty of wins round the corner if we can continue with this spirit.

Big thanks to all the parents, Alan Wright and supporters who came to the game. It was a long way to travel and apologies we lost but I am sure there are going to be plenty of wins along the way.

3 – Ryan Connolly

2 – Will Deller

1 – Adam Lee

Metropolitan Cup: Cartwright Insurance Green v Penrith @ Marrickville Oval

Result: Randwick Petersham Green 43 (J Stewart 19) & 9/89 (V Dharman 60) def by Penrith 5/277 dec. (E Khoo 2/56)

Scorecard link

Metropolitan Cup: Titan Fitness Gold v Mosman @ Snape Park 

Result: Randwick Petersham Gold 9/214 (A Shahid 87, J Genner 28) def Mosman 179 (S Sandhu 4/46, F Whalebone 2/19, T Gowda 2/22)

Scorecard link

Gold turned up confident but not cocky about their chances of chasing the further 104 required for their first win of the season. Ahsan Shahid resumed on 51, but was patient enough to play like he was starting again, while Whalebone looked solid up the order against disciplined bowling and fielding. After a partnership that took the score to 113, Whalebone fell to the snappy wrist of the 2nd change bowler. While the returning Sunny Mehta looked solid but couldn’t convert on the promise, it would be the other returnee, Josh Genner, who would help accelerate the run rate in the second half of the session. Just as he was looking to three figures, Shahid couldn’t keep one out skidded on and the cursed 87 had struck. When Jaspreet Gill fell the next over, things were looking precarious at 6/155 as the skipper walked in, hoping to prevent last season’s heart stopper. 

Genner fell with 19 runs still required, as Jastrzab and Simran Sandhu played out a few scoreless overs. Just as the tension could be felt rising from the sidelines, Sandhu broke the shackles with a boundary to mid-on. A few steady boundaries and the Mosman bowlers lost their lines and it seemed that victory was taken with a single to deep backward square on the last ball before tea… only for a count back to show that the scores were still tied! Having taken the team to the precipice, the skipper retired and allowed youngsters Thanush Gowda and Atharv Ramakanth some valuable time in the middle to help develop their games as they get used to batting on turf. With 6 points in the bag, the drive back down Military Road was that little bit more enjoyable. 

3 – Ahsan Shahid

2 – Simran Sandhu

1 – Freddy Whalebone