Randwick Petersham Cricket Round 6 vs Sydney Uni & Metro
NSW Premier Cricket Round 6 vs Sydney Uni, 1st Grade T20, PGs & Metro Recap
Round 6 wasn’t pretty viewing across the board for Randwick Petersham, losing all five grades to Sydney Uni in two-day fixtures.
1st Grade fell agonisingly short of chasing down Uni’s total at Petersham Oval, while a spirited chase from 3rd Grade at Coogee Oval wasn’t quite enough.
James Mahony-Brack’s effort with the bat wasn’t enough to get 2nd Grade home on the road, while 4th Grade bottled their chance to secure six points.
Luckily, the T20 fixtures for both 1st Grade and Poidevin-Gray saved face for the Randy Petes, with both sides securing their spots in the finals with quality victories. Metro Gold also got up with a maiden win over the Saints at Snape.
Lefand 1st Grade: Sydney Uni 183 (Ralston 4/35 Singh 3/49) def. RPC 172 (Sams 62)
It was a bleak batting performance by the Randwick Petersham 1st Grade team, going down to Sydney University at Petersham Oval.Resuming at 1-47 chasing a below-par 183, the side finished 11 runs short at 172, with only Anthony Sams (62) showing any resolve against a persistent attack, while Camden Hawkins (28) and Ben Mitchell (24) both made starts.
After a promising start last week to be 0-43, early inroads today by the students saw the score slump to 6-85. A series of small partnerships with Sams kept supporters on the edge of their seats. With Mitchell, the score got to 7-124 and with skipper Daya Singh, it was 8-143 when he was caught behind for 9. Jason Ralston then helped Sams add another 19 before he nicked one to the ‘keeper to be out for 3 off 37 balls. He presented the first 32 balls he received with the broadest of bats before scarpering through for 2 off his 33rd. Last man Shivansh Pathak joined Sams who cleverly farmed the strike. But with the total 9-172 and 12 needed to win, a slightly lofted Sams cover drive, which looked like a boundary off the bat, was well intercepted by a highly excited fielder to bring the charge to a halt.
The irony was that two of the stars for University were former Randy Petes. Dylan Hunter, who put on 146 for the 8th wicket with Adam Semple in 2018-19, was the match top-scorer with 66*, while Caelan Maladay, who took 4-50 today, remains the youngest at 17 years and 294 days to take five wickets in an innings (5-15 in 2019-20) for the club.
Lefand 1st Grade T20: RPC 7/181 (Sams 62 Hawkins 54) def. Sydney 7/163 (Ayre 2/23)
Lefand 1st Grade T20: RPC 9/138 (Hawkins 36) def. Eastern Suburbs 5/135 (Ralston 3/20)
The Investment Collective Poidevin-Gray: RPC 6/169 (Tector 66) def. Easts 101 (O’Riordan 3/19 McTaggart 3/24)
Randwick Petersham is into the U21 Poidevin-Gray qualifying finals for the first time since 2015-16! A huge win on Sunday in a Twenty20 match against Eastern Suburbs at Waverley Oval and the defeat of both Gordon and Sydney who were ahead of us on the points ladder, secured the position.
It was a spectacular batting and bowling performance today with the side smashing the Easts bowlers to the tune of 6-169 off their 20 overs. Tim Tector hit 66 off 50 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes while Scott MacBeth scored 40 off 27 with 5 fours and a six opening the innings. Skipper Ben Mitchell’s 20 off just 9 with 4 fours kept the run rate flowing.
MacBeth (2-17) also opened the bowling with his spinners and grabbed 2 wickets in his second over to have 2-4. Mitchell (2-18) and Angus McTaggart (3-24) also chipped in but it was the man of the series with the ball, Connor O’Riordan, who cleaned up with 3-19. That performance saw him step into the club record books as his 18 wickets in the 6 preliminary rounds created a new record, breaking the mark of 15 established by Alex Graham 12 years ago in 2010-11. He could also have the bowling average record if his current figure of 8.67 stands up through the finals. The average record is 9.75. Easts were all out for 101 in 16.2 overs.
Suttons 2nd Grade: Sydney Uni 295 (O’Riordan 4/75 Widerstrom 3/43) def. RPC 209 (Mahony-Brack 86)
Petersham RSL 3rd Grade: Sydney Uni 262 (Deepak 6/66) def. RPC 245 (Segal 68 Murdita 65)
Mellick Wealth 4th Grade: Sydney Uni 8/199 (Singh 6/30) def. RPC 197 (Dodd 58)
RPC fell agonisingly short of a victory against Sydney Uni, going down by two wickets at St Pauls in their two-day clash.
Batting first on the opening day, the visitors got off to a familiar poor start, with four out of the top five batsmen falling for single-figure scores. Jordan Segal (46) and Jackson Dodd (58) were able to steady the ship in the middle-order, before the former fell to a questionable LBW decision. Dodd continued to bat with the lower-order bats, as both James Apostolakis and Chaik Hathurusinghe both scored 26 each. RPC would finish with a below-par total of 197, with the Students racing to 0/28 overnight.
The second day of play started in Sydney Uni’s favour, before skipper Nigel Singh (6/30) tore through the batting lineup. Unfortunately, some dropped catches and solid batting from the Students’ tail saw RPC go down by two wickets in a disappointing result.
Clovelly Community Bank 5th Grade: Sydney Uni 7/134d. (Thomas 3/36) def. RPC 121 & 2/71
RPCC won the toss and chose to bat on a dry Kensington wicket that looked like the ball would keep low as the day progressed. The outfield looked green and although the grass was cut boundaries could be hard to get if the ball was hit along the ground.
The team congratulated Nimesh Desai, Archie Robinson, Chris Parthenis and Gregor Aichison for making their debut in grade cricket. Also, the team welcomed Ahsan Syed, Angus Beaumont, Ashish Bhat back to 5th grade after some recent good performances in Metros.
RPCC batsmen were asked to play in the V and run well between the wickets. With the nature of the wicket and slow outfields a total of 150+ would be a great score to defend.
Debutant Nimesh Desai (5) and Ahsan Syed (4) opened for RPCC. Ahsan was first out trying to hit over the infield. Ashish Bhat (23) joined Nimesh and both looked solid but just after 1st drinks Nimesh was unfortunately bowled by a beauty of a ball that pitched outside off stump and took middle stump. RPCC 2 for 31 off 2o overs.
Angus Beaumont (13) joined Ashish and after a cautious start Angus executed some excellent aggressive cover drives and cuts. But, just when Angus looked liked building a big score he was bowled inner edging a ball that kept relatively low.
Green Shield player and grade debutant Archie Robinson (1) joined Ashish. Again, just when RPCC really needed a partnership Ashish who had injured his knee whilst running between wickets on the newly laid turf at the sides of the wicket was out trying to hit a flighted ball from the leg spinner with no foot work. His wicket fell when were only 15 minutes from the tea break. Ashish batted with plenty of concentration and determination and was out in the middle for 30 overs. RPCC 4 for 55 off 35 overs.
Next in to join Archie was another Green Shielder and debutant Chris Parthenis (16). But, there was no partnership as Archie was out soon out LBW not offering a shot to a ball that cut back from off stump. RPCC were now reeling at 5 for 57.
Chris along with next batter in Qasim Omar (33) batted with a lot of maturity and just when they looked set to get us to a decent total Chris was out. RPCC 6 for 94.
With the wicket keeping lower and lower and the Syd Uni bowling a good line on or around off stump the remaining RPCC batmen could add only 27 runs. RPCC all out 121 in 62 over.
The RPCC bowlers were asked to bowl stump to stump and back of a length and with the wicket keeping low there will always be a chance of LBW’s.
Harry Schultz (2 for 30 off 13) and Ben Thomas (3 for 36 off 14) opened the bowling. Harry was bowling good pace and struck in the 9th over getting 2 wickets of consecutive balls. Qasim Ali (1 for 25 off 10) was the other wicket taker on day 1 claiming his 1st grade wicket. Syd Uni 3 for 63 at the end of play on day 1.
With RPCC defending 59 runs bowlers were asked once again to bowl stump to stump and back of a length and make the batman to play at every ball.
Sydney Uni at one stage were on the back foot with Ben Thomas bowling brilliantly and extracting pace and bounce from the wicket. His has work paid off claiming both the overnight batsmen caught by Wicket keeper Heaton with 2 great bouncers.
However, the Syd Uni batsmen gutsed it out and limped past RPCC target of 121 for 7 before declaring at 134 for 7. Green Shielder and debutant medium pacer Gregor Aitchison (1 for 13 off 5 overs) was the other wicket taker claiming his 1st wicket in grade cricket.
Put in to bat for the 2nd time RPCC lost Nimesh Desai (0) and Ahsan Syed (4) early. RPCC 2 FOR 10 in 5 overs.
Angus Beaumont (44 n.o 2 x 6’s) and Archie Robinson (18 n.o) batted brilliantly to ensure the game would be a draw. Angus’ innings was gutsy and aggressive and it was great to see him back in form. Archie’s crisp strokeplay, placement and running between the wickets was great to watch.
Although this was a loss, I am confident there will be many more wins round the corner because we have exceptional talent in the side.
Big big thanks to Glenn Standing for helping us out with fielding drills on day 2. It really helped as we were all great in the field.
Thanks to Jake Myers for helping out with fielding as a substitute and fielded brilliantly.
Thanks to Ashish for taking us through the warm and fielding drills.
Mr Taxman Metro Gold: St George 123 (D Brar 5/11, M Tape 2/20) & 6/82 (M Tape 3/23, D Brar 2/8) defeated by RPC Gold 151 (R Rajesh 49, A Rasheed 27)
Gold lost the toss in their first ever clash against St George in Metro Cup, and were invited to field first knowing that batting would get more difficult as the day went on. The young left-handed dragons opener blazed away and made the decision to bat look a good one, though Mark Tape’s (2-20) marathon opening spell kept Gold in game. At 2-70, Ryan Rajesh (1-8) in only his third game took out the opener to break the game open, while Rishabh Goyal (1-8) also bowled tightly. However, it was Daman Brar’s ripping off-break from way outside off that took out middle just before tea that sent a shudder through the Saints. At 5-98, 14-year-old Ethan Fong (1-22) on debut took his first wicket for the club and could have had a few more, but his tight support allied Daman’s ripping off-breaks well, as he hit the stumps 4 more times en-route to 5-11 – his first ever 5-wicket haul – and Saints all out 123. With 34 overs left in the day, Dr Asif (27) blazed away before being taken by a screamer, while Rishabh setup stall and battled through many tricky moments to finish the day on a gallant 17 not out.
Starting day 2 on 2-57, the instruction for the batsmen was that it didn’t matter how long it took, but the primary goal was to get the remaining 67 runs. Unfortunately, the plan didn’t quite go as we wanted, as two wickets fell in the first two overs. Thankfully, two of the Green Shield potentials – Daman and Ryan – shelved their attacking instincts and played the long game. They added 38 runs in 24 overs, which ground the patience out of the young Saints. While Daman fell with 28 runs to get, Ryan was joined by the skipper, and with the target in sight, ramped up the run rate to shock the opposition. With two runs to get, the skipper was castled by a traditional Snape-snake, but Ryan’s ice-like temperament took the team over the line. In chasing a target to set, he fell for 49 runs that belied his age, unselfishly going out to help the team.
Even though the Golds only held a 28 run lead, they rolled the dice and sent the Saints in again. For a moment it looked like the decision might lead to an early close as the openers blazed away, but the Eveready Mark Tape backed up his first innings efforts with 3 wickets – all bowled to set up a riveting finish. Unfortunately, without an official umpire, it was always going to be a struggle. However, Daman was able to add two more scalps for his match tally, while young Ethan also took another scalp to send one last shudder through the Saints – who had just lost a Metro Cup match for the first time.
Cartwright Insurances Metro Green: Penrith 8/297 dec. (B Chaplin 5/76, S Singh 2/40) defeated RPC Green 271 (B Chaplin 63, C Litchfield 63, S Singh 50, A Jayapragash 29)
Penrith won the toss and batted at a pristine Petersham, putting a patchwork Green team to the sword. The returning Samarpreet Singh (2/40) took a few wickets early, but with Penrith having a number of players backing up from 5th grade, it was always going to be a challenge. At 2/180, Ben Chaplin’s cameo appearance took shape, as he affected a solo run out and ran through the wickets in the afternoon session, picking up 5/76 off 23 overs and his first 5-wicket haul for Randwick Petersham. Penrith finished the day at 8/297, which could have been a lot more had it not been for Chappo’s experienced intervention.
Penrith declared overnight, knowing that they’d need all 80 overs to affect a result. Their hunch proved correct, as the young top-order stuck to their task well – Ashane Jayapragash was rock-solid for his 29 while Julian Rutkis was also positive. The experience of Ben Chaplin (63) and aggression of Cotter Litchfield (63) swung the game back to Green, cutting down the deficit to less than 100 runs. Unfortunately, a flurry of wickets left target 86 runs adrift and only two wickets left. Samarpreet Singh made good use of the open spaces and kept all the game’s possible results available, and putting 40 runs on for the last wicket with skipper Jay Patel and bringing up his maiden 50 in the process. Unfortunately, with 26 runs and 4 overs to play, the Green resistance fell at the last hurdle. All said and told, it was an excellent match where almost 600 runs were scored over 2 days and all 4 results were possibly at 6pm on the second day.
The Round 6 match reports are brought to you by:
Temple Bay gives diners the experience of the Irish culture. Located in the heart of Coogee, you can get a taste of mammy’s kitchen with a selection of traditional Irish dishes. Encounter Irish Dining at a new level with their specialty dishes, Irish beverages and live music events. So what are you waiting for? Explore the Irish culture and make a reservation today!
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!