Round 5 Match Reports v Fairfield-Liverpool + Metro
MATCH REPORTS (Liam ‘LJ’ O’Loughlin)
1st to 5th Grades – Round 5 v Fairfield-Liverpool (One-Day Matches)
Metropolitan Cup – RPC Gold v Sydney University & RPC Green v UNSW
Poidevin-Gray Shield – Round 3 v St George (One-Day Match)
Lefand Group 1st Grade @ Rosedale Oval
Result: Randwick Petersham 4/200 (Bell-Drummond 93, Affleck 60) def. Fairfield Liverpool 9/196 (Singh 3/31, Ayre 3/44)
On the road at Rosedale Oval and missing three of their big guns, First Grade did it with relative ease against Fairfield-Liverpool on Saturday in their 50-over clash. Winning by six wickets, the Randy Petes now move to second spot on the ladder and are also looking like a massive threat in the 2019/20 competition. The hosts batted first and at 3/30, the visitors were in complete control after a couple of quick poles from Daya Singh (3/31 off 10). Daniel Bell-Drummond (1/25) came on to replace Adam Semple after the veteran went down injured, and the Pom showed he is more than just a one-trick pony as he claimed the Lions opener.
The injection of Riley Ayre (3/44 off 10) was perfectly timed as he tore through the middle order, and was well-supported by Jason Ralston (2/26 off 8) as the Randy Petes restricted Fairfield to 9/196 at the close of their innings. An early wicket had the visitors 1/17, but a 131-run stand between opener Will Affleck (60) and Bell-Drummond (93) put the Randy Petes well and truly in the box seat as they flew to a six-wicket win.
Next weekend they return to Coogee and will be even further boosted by the likely returns of NSW duo Jason Sangha and Daniel Sams.
3 – Daniel Bell-Drummond
2 – Will Affleck
1 – Daya Singh
Sutton City 2nd Grade @ Coogee Oval
Result: Randwick Petersham 5/257 (Chhibber 111, Dohney 92) def. Fairfield-Liverpool 205 (Mahony-Brack 4/30, Affleck 3/60)
Second Grade returned to the familiar sight of Coogee Oval, looking to turn their season around against the Lions on the back of a couple of losses . After winning the toss and batting on a slightly softer than usual deck and sandy outfield, Stephen Doheny (92) and Soumil Chhibber (111) put on a clinic, working the ball into all areas and showing aggression when required. Their 2nd wicket partnership ended on 178 when Doheny was caught on the boundary trying to up the tempo. Chhibber fell in the last few overs trying to force the pace for a well-made century, with our innings finishing on 5/257.
Fairfield started well and stayed in the contest throughout, at one stage being 5-185, but lost regular wickets and none of the batsmen reached 50. Eventually they were bowled out for 205 in 48. Tim Affleck (3-60) and Jacob Wood (1-38) bowled well in the middle overs to stall the run chase, with James Mahony-Brack (4-30) and Tom McKenzie (1-30) stepping up to close the game out.
The win gives us a slight bump up the ladder to 12th with 2 wins from 5. We’ll be hoping to take the momentum into Saturday’s game against the 13th-placed Tigers at Drummoyne Oval.
3 – Soumil Chhibber
2 – Stephen Doheny
1 – James Mahony-Brack
Petersham RSL 3rd Grade @ Fairfield Oval
Result: Randwick Petersham 167 (Montedoro 42) def. Fairfield-Liverpool (Deller 3/24, O’Loughlin 3/30)
Akin to Gordon Bombay leading a rag tag group of youngsters to the division five pee-wee hockey title in the film Mighty Ducks, Ben Stares’ Third Grade side has recorded their first win of the season after an impressive bowling and fielding display at Fairfield Oval on Saturday. Stares won the toss and once again batted first as the team looked to set a competitive total on a pitch that would not doubt slow in the afternoon. The Randy Petes reached 2/51 at the first interval but once again continued to lose wickets without building any significant partnerships. Ben Montedoro (42) batted patiently as he top scored, while Bailey Kenzie (26) provided a counterattacking innings – however run outs and a few of our middle order players only recording scores in the teens saw the visitors all out for 167, short of their target score.
The lads came out with great intensity in the field and in their best session of cricket, had Fairfield reeling, claiming 5 wickets in the first ten overs. Alex Deller (3/24) and Mitch O’Loughlin (3/30) bowled with pace and aggression first up to tear through Fairfield’s top order. Consistent bowling by Hayden Fox (1/18) and Bailey Kenzie (1/13) saw the run rate slow through the middle overs, and once Jackson Eldridge ran out Fairfield captain and former Big Bash player Luke Doran, the result was going the way of the good guys. The Lions were all out for 120 in the 36th over handing third grade their first points of the season and an opportunity to belt the team song out. Despite struggling to find results early in the season, third grade have shown patches of great play and will look to record two wins on the bounce next week at Royal Kensington.
3 – Mitchell O’Loughlin
2 – Alex Deller
1 – Ben Montedoro
Mellick Wealth Management 4th Grade @ Kensington Oval
Result: Randwick Petersham 174 (Powell 43) def by. Fairfield-Liverpool 6/176
It was a chance to get their season back on track after a disappointing loss to Penrith in Round 4, and things looked very promising early doors for Fourth Grade on Saturday at Kensington. Openers Luca Lopes (30) and Dylan Powell (43) put on a solid partnership from and looked confident at the crease, until Lopes ran himself out to leave the score at 1/61. Another 30-runs for the second wicket before Powell departed should have laid a strong platform for a score of 200-plus, but yet another batting collapse in the middle order left us well and truly reeling.
A crafty knock from Ryan Connolly (30) at No.8 took us to a defendable total of 174 and the game was in the balance as we went out to bowl with a strong attack. Ryan Miskella (1/40 off 9) dismissed one of their openers LBW, and a ball later a stunning run-out from Akhter Hussain at mid-wicket had the boys up and about. However, dropping their other opener (who made 69) multiple times really hurt our chances and even though the spinners toiled hard, the missed chances put a red line through the six points.
The batting will need a massive improvement next weekend against Sydney, as 4s can ill-afford to continue to lose wickets in clumps. The fielding and bowling has been there, but if the lads are to turn their season around we need to take every chance that comes our way.
3 – Dylan Powell
2 – Luca Lopes
1 – Ryan Connolly
Bendigo Clovelly Community Bank 5th Grade @ Don Dawson Oval
Result: Randwick Petersham 119 (Beaumont 37) def by. Fairfield-Liverpool 9/244 (Bugti 4/54)
RPCC won the toss and decided to bowl on a deck that had a bit of grass and looked a bit under-prepared. The medium pacers were advised to bowl back of a length and outside off. However, it was not smooth sailing for us as the experienced Fairfield-Liverpool batsmen pressed on the accelerator from the 2nd over and raced to 67 off 10 overs, specifically targeting our young medium pacers. Anis Bugti (4/54 off 10) on the other hand had the batman tied to the crease and was unlucky not to get a break through early. Corey Graham (1-15 of 3.2 overs) was brought on in the 11th over and clean bowled the opener with his very first delivery. It looked like it was going to be Corey’s day until a full-blooded uppish drive hit Corey on the right thumb and unfortunately for us he was ruled out for the rest of the game from the 15th over.
Adam Lee (1- 15 off 5) bowled cleverly varying his line and length and got the big hitting experienced batsman mistiming a lofted drive to be out caught at cover by Angus Beaumont. Pratulya Kashyap (2/28 off 10) bowled superbly and tied the young 3,4 and 5 Lions batsmen with a miserly spell that only allowed singles. Fairfield-Liverpool finally finished with an impressive 9/244 from their 50 overs. With Graham and Lee injured it was left to the top 6 in the team to bat conservatively and not lose early wickets. The situation would then be assessed at the end of each 10 over spells and batting order changed if required. Unfortunately, our batting did not get off the ground and both openers were out without scoring. Anis Bugti (15) and Alan Willmore (24) stemmed the rut and when they tried to push for runs both were dismissed in quick succession.
Angus Beaumont (37) and Fabian Heaton (26) tried to stabilise the situation but the run rate was blowing out and after a partnership of 45, Beaumont went for a slog and was stumped. The next challenge was for us to try and avoid Fairfield getting a bonus point and we needed to reach 147. But a quick succession of wickets meant that would not be the case as the Randy Petes were bowled out for just 119 runs.
Big thank you to Mike Deller (Will’s Dad) who donned his whites and substitute fielded from the 17th – 50th over and kept up the chat encouraging the bowlers and fielder every ball. If Mike was not in the field we may have been chasing an embarrassing 300+.
3 – Anis Bugti
2 – Angus Beaumont
1 – Alan Willmore
Metropolitan Cup: Cartwright Insurance Green v UNSW @ Marrickville Oval
Result: Randwick Petersham Green 46 def. by UNSW 6/314 (Y Wanzare 3/50, E Khoo 2/65)
The toss went against Green for the first time this season and UNSW had no hesitation to bat first. On a slow wicket the bowlers toiled hard and a few chances fell short or wide of the fielders. The introduction of spin brought about the breakthrough at 145. Late order hitting brought a number of breakthroughs with Pingu finishing with 2/65 and Vijay Dharman took 2 outstanding catches in the ring.
With a target of 315 the chase never got started with Green limping through the innings with Stewart top scoring with 11 and Pingu striking them clean late in the day. Green now look to turn it all around next round with a return match v Georges River at Bland.
3 – E-Young Khoo
2 – Yogesh Wanzare
1 – Josh Genner
Metropolitan Cup: Titan Fitness Gold v Sydney University @ Snape Park
Result: Randwick Petersham Gold 7/198 (A Shahid 78, M Besgrove 42) def. by Sydney University 3/200 (S Sandhu 2/54)
The skipper’s lack of acumen continued at the toss, but students failed the first exam by misreading a green Snape wicket. With an undermanned team behind them, Ahsan Shahid and Marley Besgrove played out their skins to give the Gold team an ideal start. Shahid played the aggressor, and Besgrove the anchor, as their accumulation frustrated the students over across two drinks breaks. Their partnership went for 36 overs and piled on 128 runs, before Shahid was dismissed for his 2nd consecutive half century (78) while Besgrove fell just short on 42. Finlay Munro used the platform to belt a breezy 23, while the old guard of Jeremy Jastrzab and Ed House recombined for run the opposition ragged and almost push the score to 7/198 at the innings close.
Simran Sandhu (2/54) and Ahsan Shahid (1/21) send a shudder through St Pauls College, as they reduced the students to 3/28, before their left-handed number three lived a charmed existence – surviving a clear caught behind, several close LBW shouts and a missed catch – to slog his team’s way towards the target. Freddy Whalebone and 13 year old Atharv Ramakanth were unlucky not to nab a wicket in between the umpire-sanctioned onslaught, but a brave effort from the Golds was not enough to get them over the line. Thank you to Ed House, Alexis Coovre and Ramakanth Rajogopal for filling in, the latter of who must have enjoyed playing with his son.
3 – Ahsan Shahid
2 – Marley Besgrove
1 – Simran Sandhu
Poidevin-Gray Shield: CEM Randwick Petersham v St George @ Coogee Oval
Result: Randwick Petersham 204 (L Lopes 75, V Mahajan 44) def St George 72 (J Ralston 5/25)
Needing a win to get their season back on track and make a run for the semi-finals, PG’s struggled early with the bat at Coogee Oval on an overcast day. At 4/59 and their most experienced sticks all sitting on the sidelines, it was up to two of the younger lads in the squad to make sure we posted a competitive total. 18-year old Luca Lopes (75) and 16-year old Vivek Mahajan (44) put on a fantastic 118-run partnership to help steer the home side to a competitive total of 204 from 47.4 overs, but there was no doubt the boys were going to need to be at their best with the ball.
And that is exactly what they did from the get-go, as openers Jason Ralston (5/25 off 8.2) and James Mahony-Brack (3/17 off 5) tore through a weak Saints top order with pace and aggression. Not a single St George batsman recorded a score of 20 or above as the Randy Petes looked to be on another level, and only required 26.2 overs to bowl them out for just 72 runs. Bailey Kenzie (2/19 off 8) and Mitchell O’Loughlin (0/11 off 5) supported the boys up-front well.
They will take on North Sydney next weekend as part of a double-header with the First Grade T20 in the afternoon. It should be a fantastic day of cricket at North Sydney Oval, and the circuit afterwards could be on for the ages if both sides can get the chocolates.
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