By David Nagel
TOORADIN’s Callum O’Hare, Devon Meadows Peter Zauner and Cranbourne Meadows Lee Murdoch were all inspirational on the weekend as they led their Cranbourne-based teams to victory in round 12 of West Gippsland cricket.
In Premier division O’Hare (6/37 off 23) turned the Beaconsfield Tigers (111 and 77) into lost little kittens when he led the Seagulls (198) to outright victory at Beaconsfield.
The Seagulls’ win made them the third team to confirm a finals booking and brought an end to the Tigers’ premiership defence.
O’Hare’s output in recent times has been sensational. In his last five games the blonde-bomber has scored a century, two half-centuries, taken three wickets twice, a bag of five wickets once and Saturday’s 6/37 gave him nine wickets for the match in a consistent display of brilliant cricket.
Tooradin resumed overnight on 7/151 and added 47-runs to its total with Brad Sauer (66) and Jay Wilson (44) the stand-out contributors. Beaconsfield all-rounder Jordy Andrews (6/67) can hold his head up high after returning career best bowling figures in a defiant one-man stand against the Seagulls.
Beaconsfield’s second innings started badly at 2/5, recovered somewhat to 2/40 before the explosive O’Hare went “BOOOM”, and the Tigers season was left in ruins. From 2/40 the home side lost 5/9 and eventually 8/37 in an innings that ended in its 55th over. Skipper Aaron Avery (1/16 off 13) and Lukas Hoogenboom (1/15 off 13) were miserly in support of O’Hare.
@BT Sub Sport News:DISTRICT
DEVON Meadows’ (7/346cc) defence of its mammoth first innings total was never in doubt against SFX Old Collegians (115 and 5/70) after Zauner (5/56 and 3/22) ripped the heart out of the X-men’s top order.
The wily campaigner took five of the first six wickets to fall as he moved past his team mate Mick Floyd (1/26) as the competitions leading wicket taker. With 32 and 27 wickets respectively it’s obvious where the Panthers’ hopes will rest when the calendar flicks into March.
With the sniff of outright victory in the air and the third placed Panthers needing outright points to climb into a coveted one-two position, they invited the X-men back to the crease. At 2/4 then 5/46 the Panthers almost cracked its opponents resolve but couldn’t quite finish off the job.
SECOND placed Merinda Park (388) met stronger opposition than expected against seventh-placed Catani (281) but still had too many runs in the bank for the courageous Blues. Outstanding all-round performances are normally a thing of rare and exquisite beauty but the Cobras had three in one match. Centurion Adam Newstead (108 and 3/73), Uma Rattan (86 and 3/30) and skipper Jamie Smith (48 and 4/44) all had matches to remember as the visitors kept a firm grip on second spot.
LYNDHURST Vikings (243) can hold its head up high this week after it gave top-of-table Nar Nar Goon/Maryknoll (299) a run for its money at the Goon on Saturday.
The Vikings never really challenged the home side but were well served by Trevor McGeachin (34), Adam Baumgardner (48), David Greensmith (50) and Aaron Straughair (32). At 7/145 they would have been easy for the visitors to surrender but they soldiered on well with their last three wickets contributing 98 runs.
@BT Sub Sport News:SUB-DISTRICT
IT was an unusual round in Sub-District this week with the top two sides being beaten and by far the worst of those performances came from ladder-leaders Clyde (96).
Resuming at an overnight score of 5/40 and chasing Upper Beaconsfield’s 148, the Cougars were never in the hunt in an uncharacteristic display with the bat. Joel Avard (20) and Nic Miles (31) saved some face after five of the Cougars top six bats contributed 11 runs between them.
With fire in the belly, the Cougars bounced back strongly in Upper Beaconsfield’s (112) second innings with Avard (4/16) and Adrian Buller (3/32) the chief destroyers. The loss won’t affect the Cougars too much with a top-two position already locked in.
CRANBOURNE Meadows (187) claimed its biggest win of the season when it knocked over second-placed Lang Lang (179) eight runs short of its target in a thrilling match. The balance of the match swung in the breeze throughout the afternoon with the Swamp Tigers desperately trying to recover from their overnight score of 5/56. The Rebels looked home when they converted that to 7/113 but as good sides do the home side fought back. At 7/172 the Rebels efforts looked to be in vain but they lifted to claim the last three wickets for just seven runs. It was fitting that Lee Murdoch (5/62) claimed the last wicket to fall as he led the attack all day. Jason Poole (2/31) and Adrian Savage (2/50) also claimed multiple wickets.
TOORADIN (6/278cc) jumped into the top four and kept its chances alive for three consecutive premierships when it beat NNG/Maryknoll (226). The Seagulls had the perfect start when Luke Adams caused a run-out with the score on one but from there it wasn’t easy for the Seagulls. A steady stream of wickets from Rory Alder (3/64) at the top and Matt Thompson (4/32) towards the end kept things under control for the home side in what shapes as a season-defining victory.
