Randwick Petersham went into the Christmas break with a solid 1st Grade win over Sutherland today in very hot conditions at Coogee Oval. Calling correctly at the toss, skipper Daya Singh had no hesitation in batting first.

The opening pair quickly put on 62 for the first wicket before Camden Hawkins was caught for a brisk 32 off 24 balls with 28 of those runs coming from 7 fours. Will Affleck hit his 3rd half-century from 7 bats this season confirming he is one of the most solid openers in the competition. He went for 60 off 108 balls, following Riley Ayre (29 off 44) and Anthony Sams (17 off 13 with 2 sixes), for a 4-158 scoreline. A 61 runs partnership for the 6th wicket between Ben Mitchell (21 off 25) and Adam Semple (41 off 34 with a signature six) helped the score to a final tally of 9-261 from the allotted 50 overs.

In the run chase, the Sharks bats struggled to hit the ball off the square against some tight bowling. After 6 overs the score was only 8 runs with the first wicket coming in the 10th, when fast bowler Jason Ralston trapped skipper Chris Williams in front for a 1-29 scoreline. In a brilliant spell, Ralston went on with the job, grabbing 2 more to have 3-9 off 4 overs with the tally 3-44. Spin bowler Ryan Ninan then got into the act, rounding off his 10 overs with figures of 3-41. Brought into the attack in the 45th over for a second spell, young leg-spinner Shivansh Pathak picked up 2 wickets to finish with 2-18 while Ralston cleaned up, bowling the last man, to complete a fine display with 4-28 off 6.2 overs.

The Sharks were all out for 196 in 45.2 overs. The win was the side’s 5th in the 7 rounds, placing it in 5th place on the competition points ladder.

Suttons City 2nd Grade @ Coogee Oval 

Petersham RSL 3rd Grade @ Petersham Oval

Sutherland 7/196 (Chandar 2/21 Dubey 2/43) def. Randwick Petersham 105 (Murdita 35) 

Third Grade arrived at the home of cricket, Petersham Oval to take on the sharks with a point to prove after last rounds match was abandoned in farcical circumstances. The Sharks captain called correctly and chose to bat on what looked to be a pitch with some life in it.

We were able to make some early inroads to have the sharks 3/57 after 14 overs however the wickets were mixed in with plenty of wayward bowling which made it hard to set fields and sustain pressure. Dane Coombs (1/20 off 7) was the pick of the bowlers early doors. The introduction of spin from both ends in the form of Vivek Mahajan (0/30 off 10) and Guru Chandar (2/20 off 10) mixed with some excellent fielding in the ring put the breaks on the sharks. Something had to give, and it did with a run out quickly followed by the Sharks trump swinging wildly for the fences and having his castle disturbed by Guru as the Randy Petes spin twins turned up the heat on the sharks, 6/110 after 35 overs. Some intelligent batting and a lack of execution with the ball saw the Sharks number 6 & 7 put together a handy partnership to guide them to 7/196 after their 50 overs. Probably 20-30 short of a par score at Petersham with honours shared heading into the lunch break.

The Sharks came out breathing fire with the rock in hand and the Randy Petes top wilted under the pressure, as we lost early wickets and were reduced to 4/57 after 15 overs. Murdita (35) and Mahajan (17) attempted to stage a fight back, however it was short lived. Once they both fell the Randy Petes were all out for 105 after 30 overs. A poor batting display in a chase that was more than achievable had we batted the 50 overs. All in all, it was a disappointing display with both bat and ball from a team that was unbeaten this season heading into the match. We went away from the disciplined bowling which had been a cornerstone of our start to the season with a whopping 39 extras bowled including 29 wides which did not help our cause. Furthermore, with bat in hand we showed a lack of grit and desire to stick out tough periods and find a way to get through good bowling to set up a successful run chase in pursuit of a modest score.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish the Randy Petes Family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, stay safe and enjoy the time with family and friends. Looking forward to seeing everyone back at training in the New Year as we continue to build on what has been a great start to the season for the club.

A Christmas Miracle!!! 4th Grade pulled a rabbit out of the hat on Saturday, managing to claim an incredible victory on the road against last year’s premiers, Sutherland.

Batting first, RPC were 4/12 after the Sharks opener took a hat-trick (fair effort, to be fair) and a couple of overs later were at 5/25 and in all sorts. A fantastic knock from the big-hitting Damo Sidney (46) and some other solid middle-order contributions helped us scramble our way to 119 in the 34th over. Similar to the previous week against Penrith, 4th Grade left a stack of runs out there, not even coming close to batting out their 50 overs.

With a low total on the board, RPC were always going to need to strike early – and that’s exactly what they did. With the very first ball of the innings, Charlie Howard (3/40 off 10) bowled the Sutherland opener, before taking his second just moments later to have the hosts 2/5 early doors. Some strong power-hitting from their No.4 bat – who doubles as the Kenso Oval groundsman – was stopped as soon as co-captain Liam O’Loughlin (2/26 off 7) entered the attack, trapping him LBW with the first ball he faced. RPC were able to apply the squeeze for a while, but at 5/81 the Sharks look to be cruising to a victory.

Enter the veteran Nigel Singh (4/26 off 9), who was able to take four crucial poles after almost ruling himself out after warm-up with a back complaint. Adam Coombs (1/18 off 9) also chimed in as RPC managed to bowl out the hosts for 111 with 15 overs remaining.

After a tough start to the season against Manly, Sydney Uni and Penrith, RPC should take plenty of confidence into the break and are now just one win outside the finals picture. With some less challenging (on paper) results on the horizon and some players hopefully returning after the break, there’s reason to believe they can go on a run on finish in the top six in 2021/22.

Congratulations to Matthew Adam and Daman Brar on making their debut for RPCC in 5^th grade.

Sutherland won the toss and decided to bat on a wicket that look hard and flat but could start to keep low in the second session. With the outfield heavily dressed with sand, shots hit around the field was definitely going to be difficult to reach the fence. A target of 140 + would be a good score with the conditions. defend.

The RPCC medium pace bowlers were advised to keep the ball up on the off stump and make the batsmen to drive and be alert in the ring to cut off singles and make the batsmen to play out of their comfort zone with consistent dot balls. .

Opening bowlers Ashish Bhat (0 for 10 of 6 ) and Matthew Adam (1 for 19 of 5) started off the proceedings. In the last ball of the Ashish’s first over Marley Whitcombe pounced on a ball cut to  point and through to the keepers end to run out Sutherland’s opening batsman. 1 for 0

Next over Matt struck with his very 1^st ball on debut for RPCC enticed the Sutherland opening batsman to go for a flick of the pads for Heaton to take the nick diving on down the leg side.  Sutherland 2 for 0. Dream start for RPCC. Both opening bowlers repeatedly beat the bat and Matt especially was terribly unlucky not to get 2 more poles with 2 caught behind’s turned down.

Jack Gibbens-Johnson (0 for 13 of 4) was next on and bowled tightly but with the wicket beginning to flatten out and the Sutherland’s number 3 and 4 settling in it was time to turn to introduce spin.

Spinners Tanush Gowda (1 for 26 of 10), Atharv Ramakanth (3 for 24 of 7.4), Marley Whitcombe (2 for 1 of 3) and Daman Brar (1 for 10 of 3) bowled splendidly and did not let the Sutherland batsman settle. Daman Brar claimed his first wicket in grade cricket and for RPCC when he got the vital scalp of the Sutherland number 4 bat who was looking extremely dangerous caught and bowled. The RPCC quartet of spinners really spun a web around the Sutherland batsmen and kept Wicket Keeper Heaton busy. Heaton claimed 3 catches and 1 stumping. Marley affected another runout once again running in from point and throwing the ball at the keeper’s end for Heaton to complete. Sutherland all out 103 in 38.4 overs.

With a small total to get but the wicket beginning to keep low and the slow outfield it was important for RPCC to take the 1’s and 2’s by hitting the ball in the gaps to keep the scoreboard ticking. It was decided that at  1^st drinks the team would analyse if the bonus point was gettable.

Unfortunately, the RPCC’s top were put under pressure early with Sutherland opening the bowling with spin. With the ball not coming onto the bat, good line/length bowling by the Sutherland and good fielding in the ring the runs were drying up. RPCC’s top order batsmen Armaan Sidhu (10), Daman Brar (4), Krish Patel (9 run out), Jack Gibbens-Johnson (15) and Luke Takacs (4) tried at times to lift the scoring rate but in the process were out. At 56 for 5 in the 31^st over Heaton (13) joined MOM Marley Whitcombe (30) and stabilised the situation with a 36 run partnership. With only 11 runs to get in 4 overs 3 wickets fell in the space of 2 overs. However the finisher Ashish Bhat (6 not out) brought us home. Marley was the pick of the batsmen and played with lots of patience and responsibility.  RPCC win by 2 wickets

It was a great feeling singing the team song again. It was a fantastic team effort and more enjoyable with 2 debutants getting a wicket each in their first outing in Grade cricket. Looking forward to all of us training hard as a team again in the Newyear and pulling off some more wins.

Big thank you to all the wonderful parents who helped us with putting on the covers at the end of the day and supporting all the team when we were bowling and batting. Really appreciate all your help and the time taken to support.

After winning the toss and bowling, Gold dismissed Georges River for 181 on a very slow Snape Park pitch. Despite a valiant chase, the target was a bit too much to haul in following a slow start.

An inexperienced Green side lost the toss and was put in to bowl on what could have been City Rd. With half their 5th grade side backing up from the previous day, Sydney Uni Blue put the young team to the sword and piled on a big score. A brief storm almost gave some respite, but it wasn’t enough to make the target any easier. Despite this, the line up battled hard to take the score to 185, with the last wicket falling on the last ball of the innings.