RD 10 MATCH REPORTS V EASTS, T20 SF & METRO CUP

Randwick Petersham are through to the T20 Final, following two amazing wins against St George and UNSW.

Basit Ali belted a huge six over mid-wicket to get RPC home on the Sunday against Saints, before a blistering century from Adam Semple saw RPC overcome an early hiccup against the Bees.

Earlier, RPC struggled against Easts, with only one grade coming away with six points against our local rivals.

Lefand Group 1st Grade @ Coogee Oval 

Randwick Petersham 8-303 (50 overs) R Ayre 64 A Semple 51 def. Easts 6-272 (50 overs) A Semple 2-69

Scorecard link 

There have been some amazing matches this season in 1st Grade Premier Cricket and last Saturday was no exception. It was a day of spectacular batting under sunny skies at Coogee Oval where a total of 575 runs were scored for the loss of just 14 wickets. In the end, Randwick Petersham defeated Eastern Suburbs in the 50 overs a side clash, 8-303 to 6-272. And while the winning margin was 31 runs, it in no way reflected the closeness of the match.
With a little more than 12 overs to go, Easts needed 100 to win. And they looked on track to achieve a stunning victory with the Robson brothers, Sam and Angus, on fire at the crease. Coming together at 2-10 after the team’s opening bats, former Australian Test wicketkeeper/batter, Peter Neville, and Udit Mehta were each dismissed first ball, the pair put on 194 for the third wicket. But the momentum was lost when Sam was bowled by Jason Ralston for a brilliant 103 off 121 balls with 10 fours. The bowlers tightened up and the runs slowed, leaving 64 to get off 36 balls. Angus had dashed to 128 off 127 with 11 fours and a six, but an accurate return from Ralston caught him out of his ground with the total 5-257 and 47 needed off 20. And with two of the best “death” bowlers, Adam Semple and Daya Singh operating, the task proved to be too much and the hosts managed to hold on for their sixth win in succession.
Winning the toss and batting, Randwick Petersham’s 8-303, was its best score of the season. Partnerships of 58, 62, 57, 36 and 44 laid the foundation for the huge total. Camden Hawkins hit 41 off 50 balls at the start. “Mr Reliable” Riley Ayre knocked up 64 off 82 while Anthony Sams smashed three balls over the fence in his 39 off 40. Ash Burton looked good scoring 32 off 42 including two sixes while skipper Daya Singh hit 20 off 14 including one six. And not to be outdone in his 300th match for the club and 299th in 1st Grade, Adam “The Iron Warrior” Semple, thrashed 51 off 27 with three over the fence. But the spectacular performance came from Basit Ali who came in with 10 balls remaining. He hit the first two for six, took a single then faced the final two balls of the innings which he dispatched out of the ground to finish with 25 not out off 5 balls!
Interestingly, the last five overs in each innings may have determined the outcome of the match. After 45 overs, Easts were 4-243 but scored only 29 in the remaining five overs. At the same stage, Randwick Petersham were 6-222 yet belted a remarkable 81 off the remaining five overs (30 balls). Easts hit one six in their innings. Randwick Petersham hit 13. A spectacular match, anyway you look at it. May there be plenty more of it.

Adam Docos debut 146

Lefand Group 1st Grade T20 SF @ Coogee Oval 

Randwick Petersham 8-145 (19.2 overs) P Gaur 36, A Sams 27  def. St George 7-144 (20 overs) J Ralston 4-25

Scorecard link 

The winning runs – Ali and Docos

Coogee Oval is fast becoming known as the “Excitement Hub for 1st Grade Cricket” with another edge-of-the-seat match last Sunday. The occasion was the Kingsgrove Sports Twenty20 Cup semi-final between locals Randwick Petersham and St George. The hosts ended up winning 8-145 to 7-144 in a real thriller with just 4 balls remaining.
And what a finish, with Basit Ali, who hit 4 sixes in 5 balls yesterday to help steer the side to a win over Easts, coming in with just a handful of balls to go, hitting 2 sixes in 3 balls to seal the win! In two days he had faced 8 balls and hit 6 sixes and 2 singles for an unconquered 38 runs! At that rate he’d have made 100 in 22 balls!
Saints batted first and were away like a house on fire, belting 62 in 6 overs. When yesterday’s century-maker Blake Nikitaris and former England Test opening bat, Mark Stoneman, departed for a 2-77 score-line, it was Randwick Petersham fast bowler, Jason Ralston, who quickly stole the limelight with 3 wickets. Runs were also at a premium and by the end of their 20 overs, the Dragons had lost 6-77 to finish at 7cc-144. Ralston had 4-25 off 4 overs.
The Randy Petes were away to a shocker in the run chase, with Camden Hawkins bowled for a duck second ball. Anthony Sams was his usual attacking self, hitting 27 off 19 balls with one six but others couldn’t match him, and at 6-82 things looked bleak. But enter 21 year old Puru Gaur, who hasn’t had the best of seasons, to join Ash Burton who made 17 off 14, in a partnership of 44. With Burton gone at 7-126, 19 were needed off 13 balls. New bat Basit Ali hit a six first ball and with 6 balls remaining, 6 runs were needed. Gaur went to a skied catch off the first ball of the final over for top-score of 36 off 27 with one four and a six, leaving Ali on strike. But the medium-pace all-rounder needed just one ball from Luke Bartier to send the ball flying for another maximum and a great win for his team. Sensational stuff! It was Randwick Petersham’s 49th win from 67 played T20 matches.

Lefand Group 1st Grade T20 PF @ Coogee Oval 

Randwick Petersham 4-168 (19) A Semple 100* R Ayre 29 def UNSW 5-167 (20) J Ralston 1-16 R Ayre 1-20

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Adam Semple 100* (54)

In two words. Simply amazing! And while they apply to the big win by Randwick Petersham over University of NSW in the Twenty 20 Cup Preliminary Final at Coogee on Australia Day, they more appropriately refer to Adam Semple.
We have regularly claimed him to be Randwick Petersham’s “Iron Warrior”. And for good reason. He never gives up. He is never beaten. And today he proved that once again in his 16th season and just a few months out from his 40th birthday. On the last ball of Chris Tremain’s final over, the 19th, he took a single to win the game for his team. It also gave him 100 not out off just 54 balls with 5 fours and a massive 8 sixes! It was his first century in T20 cricket, his 6th in 1st Grade and his first since 2014-15. He has hit 24 sixes so far this season and 164 in his career with the club.
It was a spectacular innings in more ways than one. He came to the crease when our “big guns”, Jason Sangha, Daniel Sams and Anthony Sams were all back in the pavilion with just 11 runs on the board off 11 balls. He and Riley Ayre calmed the situation and played regular cricket shots as they built their innings. That said, Adam hit his first six when he was 5 and his second at 15, to get the score to 3-42 off 6 overs. Riley eventually went in the 13th over for 29 off 33 when the score was 4-87. Semple was joined by Ben Mitchell and the pair took the attack to the bowlers. Adam hit 3 sixes across the 14th and 15th overs while Mitchell took 19 off the 17th, including a straight drive over the fence. When the win came after taking 20 off the 10th over, the pair had scored 81 off 36 balls to meet the target of 168.
Earlier, Uni. won the toss and batted in perfect conditions on a dry Coogee strip. Randwick Petersham started in brilliant fashion with Sydney Thunder star, Matt Gilkes, stumped off the first ball of the second over by Anthony Sams from spin bowler, Riley Ayre. But the students batted superbly after that, with Thomas Scoble (82* off 58 with 4 fours and 5 sixes) and Jack Attenborough (60 off 38 with 7 fours and a six) putting on 131 for the second wicket. Jason Ralston eventually got through Attenborough’s defence at 2-134 with 6 overs remaining. But the experience of the Randwick Petersham bowlers kicked in and they kept the scoring to just 33 runs with 3 wickets off the final 36 balls for a tally of 5-167. An excellent total, but not enough to prevent Randwick Petersham notching up its 50th win in T20 cricket and cementing a spot in the 2021-22 Kingsgrove Sports T20 Cup Grand Final against Sydney University (who chased down Parramatta’s 191 with one ball to spare) on Sunday 6 February, at a venue to be advised. You gotta love the cricket being played this season!

Suttons City 2nd Grade @ Waverley Oval 

Randwick Petersham 120 (48.5 overs) R Sachs 29, D Dubey 23 def by Easts 125 (40.3 overs) D Dubey 3-1, A Hussain 2-18, M O’Loughlin 2-19

Scorecard link 

Dave Dubey

RPC took on local rivals Easts in round 10, but unfortunately fell in an absolute nail-biter.

Bowling first, RPC were able to restrict the hosts to a score of 125 from 40.3 overs – 71 of which were scored by opener Max Glen. Easts lost an early wicket as Mitch O’Loughli (2/19) struck, but began to rebuild and got themselves into a decent position. Once Glen was dismissed by Akhter Hussain (2/18 off 10), RPC gained control and took the final six wickets for just 23 runs.

Chasing a lowish total, RPC got off to a strong start as James Mahony-Brack (15) and Reuben Sachs (29) combined for a 46-run opening stand. Unfortunately, the visitors collapsed from there despite the best efforts of Hussain (16) and Dave Dubey (23) to get them over the line.

Petersham RSL 3rd Grade @ Petersham Oval 

Randwick Petersham 82 (33.2 overs) V Mahajan 26 def by Easts 179 (48.5 overs) S Deepak 2-21, V Mahajan 2-29

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Vivek Mahajan

Cross town rivals Easts won the toss and elected to bat on what was a drier than usual Petersham Oval wicket and with the score reading 2/102 aided by some poor bowling it looked the right decision and Easts were well on their way to a big score with their opener flaying the RPC attack to all parts of Petersham oval.

However, the introduction of Sadeep Deepak (10 overs 2/21) and Viv Mahajan (10 overs 2/29) saw RPC claw their way back into the game and begin to squeeze the Dolphins batters reducing them to 7/138. Some intelligent batting towards the end saw the Dolphins find their way to 179 all out after 48.5 overs. In the end a great effort with the ball and in the field to peg back the Dolphins batting line up after it was looking ugly early on due to a poor first 10 overs with the ball.

Heading into the chase we were confident of chasing down the Dolphins score of 179 on a fairly placid Petersham deck and with the outfield quickening up compared to the morning session. Unfortunately, the run chase never got going as we struggled to find a way through good pressure bowling from the Easts bowlers as they reduced us to 5/28.

We never recovered from this point as we were soundly beaten, bundled out for 82 after 33 overs with only Mahajan (28) and Murdita (11) reaching double figures in what was a dismal batting display on a fairly docile pitch.

Mellick Wealth Management 4th Grade @ Trumper Park

Randwick Petersham 126 (34.1 overs) D Hackney 49 def by. Easts 5-129 (33.5 overs) S Stirling 4-50

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Scott Stirling

On the road against local rivals Easts, RPC won the toss and batted first but were in a bit of trouble early on. At 2/21 and two lads gone for a duck, Luca Lopes (31) was seeing them well before getting knocked over.

Continually losing wickets at 5/57, Dale Hackney (49) arrived at the crease and produced a quality innings and got RPC to a defendable total of 126.

RPC were able to take two wickets in quick succession as Scott Stirling (4/50) tore through the top order, and at 5/71 the visitors were right in the game. Unfortunately, a strong partnership from Easts saw them chase the total five-down.

Community Bank Clovelly Bendigo Bank 5th Grade @ Kensington Oval

Randwick Petersham 9-154 (50 overs) H Schultz 48, A Ramakanth 41 def. by Easts 9-224 (50 overs) C Litchfield 4-26

Scorecard link 

Eastern Suburbs won the toss and elected to bat on a wicket that looked hard on the surface but could break up later in the day. The outfield looked fast as the grass was cut low so there would be value for runs hit on the ground.

The RPCC team congratulated young Jake Myers on making his debut in Grade cricket.

With the wicket looking hard and fast the RPCC medium pacers were asked to bowl back of a length on the off stump and nothing short to pull or cut. Fielding would have to be tight in the ring to cut off the singles and put pressure on the Eastern suburbs top order with dot balls.

Harry Shultz (0 – 42 of 9) and Samarpreet Singh (1 for 45 of 8) started of proceedings. Harry bowled with good pace and Samarpreet bowling against the wind bowled to the plan. However, the Eastern Suburbs young openers cleverly kept rotating the strike by taking quick singles and turning 1’s into 2’s and 2’s into 3’s. Freddy Whalebone (1 – 2 of 10), Matthew Adam (1 for 28 of 5) and Cotter Litchfield (4 for 32 of 10) were brought on in the first session. But, the Eastern Suburbs openers stuck it out to be 0 – 55 of 17 overs at 1st drinks.

The RPCC players were asked to dig deep and stick to the bowling plan and chances will come when dot balls build up in the form of run outs or catches in the deep.

After couple of missed run out chances the first breakthrough came when leg spinner Atharv Ramakanth (2 for 42 of 10) beat the Eastern suburbs opener in flight when he went for a big hit to be stumped by Heaton. Eastern Suburbs 1 for  82 in 23.1  overs.

Skipper Heaton rotated the RPCC bowlers and at the 2nd drinks break managed to restrict Eastern Suburbs to 130 for 2 in 34 overs. Matt Adam getting the vital wicket of the Eastern Suburbs opener for 61 who was looking dangerous.

RPCC Were asked to bowl tightly and outside off and hopefully can restrict Eastern Suburbs to under 190. RPCC bowlers Freddy, Atharv and Cotter bowled their heart out and reduced Eastern Suburbs 6 for 170 in the 45th over.

However, in the last 5 overs with Harry and Samarpreet bowling against the wind the Eastern Suburbs batsmen through their bat and scored 54 runs that included 7 fours and 2 sixers. Eastern Suburbs 9 for 224 in 50 overs. Cotter and Freddy were the pick of the RPCC bowlers.

The RPCC batsmen top order batsmen were asked to be conservatively for the first 10 overs and to rotate the strike so the scoreboard would be ticking as we needed just 4 runs per over. If we had 5 wickets in hand in the last 10 overs to get 80 or 90 runs we could pull off a win.

Openers Armaan Sidhu (3) and debutant Jake Myers (4) started their innings watchfully but both fell in quick session and Azaan Syed (0) our inform batsman followed. RPCC 3 for 13 in 7 overs.

Daman Brar (5), Freddy Whalebone (7) and Cotter Litchfield (0) followed soon after. RPCC 6 for 33 in 22 overs.

With RPCC in dire straits the remaining batsmen were advised to bat out the innings to ensure we do not give Eastern Suburbs a bonus point and to take the game to the 50th over. Youngster Atharv Ramakanth (41) was promoted up the order by skipper Heaton to hold the fort and bat out the overs. Youngster Atharv showed extreme skill and batted superbly. He ran beautifully between wickets, pounced on bad balls to hit them to the boundary and rotated the strike. Atharv was involved in 2 good partnerships with Matthew Adam (18) 41 runs and Harry Shultz (48) 69 runs to get RPCC to 154 in 50 overs. Harry was absolutely the demolisher and showed how much depth we have in our batting.

Cartwright Insurance Brokers Metro Green v Warringah @ Snape

Randwick Petersham Green 124 (48.5 Overs) A Beaumont 31, N Desai 30 def. by Warringah 4-125 (39.1 Overs) A Robinson 1-15

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Angus Beaumont

Winning the toss and electing to bat on a good looking surface but slow outfield almost paid dividends. Our batsmen all looked comfortable but struggled to pierce the field and could have been more aggressive between the wickets. At 5-107 going into the final 10 overs, we were unable to capitalise on the death overs and were bowled out for 124 – with notable contributions from Angus Beaumont (31) and Nimesh Desai (30).

While short of a desirable score, the opening and first change bowlers put in a sterling effort before the first drinks to keep Warringah in check. Once the batting applied the pressure on the fielders at the 25 over mark, their smart running and ability to find the gaps led to bowlers making mistakes and the Northern Beaches players passing the target with 10 overs to spare. A few late wickets ended some respectability to score.

Mr Taxman Metro Gold v Penrith @ Kensington

Randwick Petersham Gold 136 (46.4 Overs) J Trueman 37, R Steinberg 30 def. by Penrith 9-170 (50 overs) M Liguory 3-18

Scorecard link 

Gold won the toss and elected to bowl, and despite taking wickets across regular intervals and sharing across bowlers, a solid foundation from the Penrith opener and contributions through out took Penrith to 9-170 in their 50 overs.

Gold took the batting slow and steady in order, but went deep to ensure they needed 50 runs in the last 10 overs. Jarrod Trueman (37) and Rory Steinberg (30) carried the team to a positive position but the chase ran out of steam in the dying light late on Sunday afternoon.

Jay Patel

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