Randwick Petersham Cricket Round 3 Recap vs Northern Districts

After a rain-affected Round 2 saw just one Randy Petes outfit get a result, Round 3 was always going to be a tough ask against reigning club champions, Northern Districts.

3rd Grade managed to come away with a stellar victory against the Rangers at Coogee Oval, while 1st Grade escaped with a draw at Petersham Oval.

1st Grade also got their T20 title defence off to a strong start, defeating North Sydney at Coogee on Sunday.

Here’s a full rundown of RPC’s Round 3 clash with Northern Districts. 

Lefand 1st Grade: RPC 6/275 drew with Northern Districts 8/327d.

ND’s won the toss and elected to bat first on what seemed to be a great wicket. Tawanda Muyeye was making his first grade debut, and he was not disappointed with the start as Daya Singh took a wicket with the first ball of the match. Taking another wicket a few overs later, with a nice catch at second slip from Ben Mitchell, ND’s were in a bit of a pickle. The scoring rate remained steady despite no further wickets until the skipper was involved in the 3rd wicket, throwing the stumps down for a runout before lunch.

As the wicket flattened out, the scoring rate increased. Jason Ralston took 2 wickets in as many balls to pull it back as he and Riley Ayre combined for a mammoth 58 overs while taking two wickets apiece. ND’s declared at 8-327 which seemed a par total.

Week 2 came around, with the deck and outfield vastly different to Week 1 with the heavy rain playing a factor. The boys started solid with Adam Docos and Cam Hawkins seeing out almost the first hour. Unfortunately, it was one of those days where things didn’t go our way as both Riley Ayre and Anthony Sams were runout in bizarre fashion. Debutant Tawanda Muyeye (84) and captain Daya Singh (75) combined for a crucial partnership, but when that was broken, the runs were hard to come by.

We finished the day 6/275, which isn’t the ideal result we were after, however, lots of positives to take out of the day as we move on to Sutherland at Caringbah next week.

Lefand 1st Grade T20: RPC 7/149 (Ayre 41*) def. North Sydney 8/144 (Sams 3/13)

Randwick Petersham Cricket began the defence of its Twenty20 Cup Premiership in nerve-racking style today with a 5 runs win over UTS North Sydney at Coogee Oval. After early morning showers and in gloomy conditions, the hosts batted first against a keen attack. Camden Hawkins (2) was an early casualty in the first four overs which brought 39 runs. But it was disaster in the 5th over with the two big guns, NSW vice-captain Jason Sangha, out for 12 off 10 balls and Australian World Cup warm-up team all-rounder, Daniel Sams, out first ball. Anthony Sams was next to go for 13 off 18 for a 4-62 scoreline at the end of 10 overs. Kent import and opening bat, Tawanda Muyeye, was the rock but when he departed for 35 off 33, Randy Petes were a shaky 5-78 with 7 overs left. But the big-hitting Basit Ali who smashed 26 off 12 with 3 sixes and Riley Ayre, batting superbly for 41* off 34, got the side back on track. They took 48 off the 4 overs between 14 and 17 enabling a competitive 149 to be posted at the end of the 20 overs.

Suttons 2nd Grade: Northern Districts 7/310d. def. RPC 287 (Widerstrom 61 Montedoro 61)

NDs won the toss and elected to bat on a slow, flat wicket. James Widerstrom bowled good tight lines early and was rewarded with two quick wickets before NDs fought back to be 3/70 at the lunch break. Opportunities were hard to come by, and a couple of dropped catches from Randwick cost them dearly with one player scoring 120 after being dropped on 20. Randwick toiled hard for most of the day before a declaration from NDs gave us 4 overs to bat. Unfortunately at stumps Randwick were one down.

Day two saw an early wicket lost before a fight back got us into lunch at 3/66. Tim Tector departed after lunch for 34, before Ben Montedoro and JMB put on 75 for the fifth wicket, before Monte was out obstructing the field for 61. JMB went soon after for 24, leaving Randwick in a bit of trouble. Angus McTaggart played positively for his 38, before James Widerstrom walked to the wicket. Strommy played an unbelievable innings, hitting sixes to all parts to get the equation to approximately 45 needed from 15 overs with three wickets in hand. We fell short by 25 in the end, Strommy the last man out for 61 off just 35 deliveries.

Petersham RSL 3rd Grade: RPC 4/242 (Weymouth 76 Robinson 67 Mellick 50) def. Northern Districts 219 (Chandar 6/78)

3^rd Grade arrived at Coogee Oval week 1 determined to keep ourselves up the top of the ladder, however lost the toss on a road and were asked to bowl first. A few chances went down early, however some tight bowling and solid ground fielding maintained the pressure on NDs as they reached tea 0-103. Straight after tea we struck a few early blows with Guru (6-78 off 32 straight) picking up his first and Dane (2-39 off 15) striking twice. Sadeep (2-26 off 14) picked up where Dane left off whilst Guru spun his web and NDs were bowled out for 219 in the last over of the day. This was Guru’s maiden 5-fa for the club and great to see him reap the rewards he deserves.

Arriving on Day 2 we knew what our roles were and how we were going to go about getting the runs. We had a bit of a stumble with Mahsen running himself out early, however Josh Mellick (50) and Blake Weymouth (76) went about their business consolidating and ticking the score over with a 66 run partnership. Max Robinson (67) then joined Blake in the centre as the two put on 127 for the 3^rd wicket batting beautifully in tandem, absorbing the good balls and the pressure periods with ease and putting it all back on the bowlers and getting us into a winnable position, with Holland (27no.) and Ben Tracey (12no.) finishing off the chase and adding a few more runs on the board to add to NDs misery.

A huge win for the 3^rd grade boys, especially seeing as though this NDs 3^rd grade side hasn’t lost a game in 2 years! A huge performance all round and one we can build upon going forward.

Roll on Sutho next week!

Mellick Wealth 4th Grade: Northern Districts 6/306d. def. RPC 163 (Jordan Segal 51 Josh Segal 43) & 1/46

The toss was lost and the Rangers embarked on their journey towards a respectable score. Tom Gibson (1/21 off 13) and James Apostolakis used pace and tight lines to ensure there was no immediate deluge of runs, while the opposition’s defence prevented a flood of wickets. After 20 overs, Rangers crawled to 1/25. From there, there’s little to add.

The wicket flattened and became quicker. The outfield was now fast. And we replaced our 20-over-old ball with one that was last used in 2017. Alas, despite superb bowling from Harry Schultz, the Rangers’ run-rate began to climb. Scotty Macbeth (2/82 off 20) was equally as excellent with a wicket. The fielding was average-to-good and by day’s end, NDs had reached 6/306.

Day two started well, with the Segal brothers frustrating the Rangers’ efforts to destabilise our base. Josh (43) was dismissed LBW in controversial circumstances, while Jordy reached 51. Other than that, we struggled to blunt the Rangers attack, eventually falling for 160. The NDs skip then decided that if climbing Everest is possible, then anything is. He sent us back in with the hope of achieving an outright win within 45 minutes of play. 30 minutes later his request to leave the field was denied by the Petes’ skipper, and Ryan Lynch (28*) and Joshua Segal (11*) treated the lads to a superb 15 minutes of stroke play that those who witnessed it will seldom forget.

Clovelly Community Bank 5th Grade: Northern Districts 4/331d. def. RPC 178 (Sidney 45)

5s lost the toss and were asked to field on what turned out to be one of the most batting-friendly decks ever produced at Kensington Oval. This is a credit to the work of the groundsman, to have produced such a quality wicket given the terrible weather we’ve had this season. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to make use of it, though our guests from the far north of Sydney were very appreciative. Their skipper and young opener made hay in the shining sun and faster-than-usual outfield, putting on 267 for the first wicket. While the skipper chanced his arm, creating 4-to-5 chances on the way to 154, he also took down the short boundary with impunity. It was left to Jake Myers (1-16) to break the stand with his first wicket for the club, before Freddy Whalebone took 3 wickets in quick succession to redress the scales. Northern District would go on to declare at 4-331, after the young opener brought up his hundred – a commendable performance of battingship having not given a single chance in 71 overs – and their chunky number 6 having some fun in the late afternoon.

After finishing the first day at 0-12, the 5s batting line-up were well geared to batting long and seeing where the day would take them. Unfortunately, we lost two early wickets, before Freddy and Jake bedded in for the long haul. Freddy was impressive in his composure to make 31, while Jake’s innings saw him face a lot of balls, before each needlessly gave their wickets away. Damian Sidney, much more at home batting at 5, made a considered counterattack, batting at a run-a-ball with barely a shot in anger. With 4 wickets down at tea and 46 overs to go, the break wasn’t kind to our batters as 3 wickets fell in relatively quick succession, with Damo’s innings of 45 ended by one that stayed low. Randy Petes newcomer Qasim Ali (39) and stand-in skipper Jeremy Jastrzab then bedded in for the long haul, frustrating the trees for more than 25 overs, so much so that their first grader opening bowler on an injury comeback resorted to bowling left arm spin. Unfortunately, after the 8th wicket partnership made 50 runs and with 15 overs to go, skipper Jez was errantly fired LBW, and with one batsman having not shown up, we fell short in the dying light. While the size of the result doesn’t show it, there are a number of positives to be taken from the game, particularly for players challenging a return to the higher grades.

Mr Taxman Metro Gold 9-266 (A Rao 73, A Rashid 47) def. Blacktown Mounties Black 154 (E Khoo 4-24, B Thomas 3-34)

On a weekend where all 7 captains lost the toss, the Gold team was the only one asked to bat. Not that they complained, as Dr Asif Rasheed set off like a firecracker to take the score to 60 in the first seven overs. The scoring rate slowed down from there and our lower grade players got to enjoy a rare outing on the hallowed turf at Coogee Oval, with debutant Aman Rao making the most of the opportunity to hold the innings together with a composed 73. Archie Robinson (20) and Glenn Standing (38*) made a solid partnership at the backend of the innings to push the score to beyond 200 and eventually set an imposing 9-266 at the end of the agreed 60 overs.

In reply, the Gold team required patience and luck to grind down the Blacktown batting, as a large number of LBW shouts were turned down. After an errant first spell, Ben Thomas  (3-34) breathed fire in subsequent outings, while E-Young Khoo (4-24) continued his fine form with the ball to squeeze the batting and finish off the tail. Eventually, the boys from the west were bowled out well short of the target for 154, with 12 overs left in the day. While it was a long and exhausting day, all players appreciated the efforts to ensure that a game was played, given the unavailability of Blacktown’s home ground from the weather that has been wreaking havoc across the season so far.

Cartwright Insurances Metro Green 180 (C Parthenis 54, N Tucker 51) def by. Sydney University Gold 8-318 dec (R Goyal 4-55 – inc. hat trick)

Despite being asked to bowl first at an idyllic looking Petersham Oval, the Green team made early in-roads against the students, reducing them to 4-60 on the back of a Rishabh Goyal hattrick – which is only the fourth hattrick ever recorded by a Randwick Petersham Metro Cup player. From there, the students dominated on the back of a big hundred from their number 3. Despite some errant bowling, great fielding from Ryan Di Blasio ensured that a couple of run-outs from the outfield would make sure that the students didn’t get too far ahead. After Sydney Uni Gold declared on 8-318, Green would go on to finish the day at 3-32, proving a tough lesson for a lot of the younger players who haven’t played two-day cricket for a while.

Disaster struck early on the second day, as the Green team were reduced to 6-39 in early proceedings, losing a few of their more experienced batsmen along the way. From there, the Green team mounted one of the most valiant rear-guard actions ever seen from one of our Metro teams. Nate Tucker begun the counterattack with Chris Parthenis (each in their 3rd game for Randwick Petersham), with the former being more attacking, and the latter holding shop. The pair put on 70, with Nate (51) making his first fifty for the club, in a partnership that spanned 29 overs. Despite a couple of quick wickets, Chris found an able partner in Gregor Aitchison (also 3 games old), who would go on to stall the students for more than 30 overs. Chris (54) also brought up his maiden fifty and showed composure of steel in spending 63 overs out in the field. Despite departing with 17 overs to go, skipper Jay Patel called on all his experience to hold the fort with Gregor (24), before the team finally running out of steam with 7.3 overs left in the day. 

In a time were we, as a club, having been crying out for batters to occupy the crease, the efforts of our young players today are beyond commendable and despite the results saying we lost, we will have ‘won’ on the long-term for the attitude and effort shown by these players in almost staving off certain defeat. It is just hoped that players who had given up on the chase and expected the team to bat again to learn a lesson in never giving up on the cricket field.