Wins for One Day Sides Going into Christmas

Our 5ths put in another good showing with the ball on Saturday to keep themselves at the pointy end of the competition heading into their Christmas break. Bowling first against Newcastle City, our boys kept them to 7/80 from the full 40 overs. Wickets were shared around with Matthew Penglaze (2/23 off 8) the multiple wicket taker, and Joshua Deakin (1/9 off 6) and Tom Davies (1/7 off 6) showing impressive economy. The batting was finished off quickly by Harry Compton (32*) and Nathan Grabham (34) to get there 3 down in the 20th over.

The C5s finally had a full complement of players for the first time in weeks, and the extra fielders were put to good effect as they rolled The Gardens for 83. Dak Doyle (3/11), Anthony Fernandez (2/15) and Michael Loehr (2/3) got amoungst the wickets. Michael Monroe (55*) made sure it was an early afternoon, belting them to the win in the 13th over.

The D2s also had a good win, beating longtime rivals Adamstown Buds. Batting first we were able to set 6/171 from our 35 overs and were well on top early with the Buds collapsing to 5/19. But from there it became a close game, with the Buds rebounding to fall just 18 short, bowled out with 2 overs remaining. Bear's boys are now 5th on the ladder in a very close competition.

In the Grades we took on Belmont for day one of the two day fixture. At home at Waratah Oval, First Grade bowled first and created chances all day to eventually dismiss Belmont for 174. Through the middle passage of the day the chances stuck to spark a collapse of 6/17 for the Belmont middle order. Nathan Hudson continued his bowling form after his sensational 9-for last week to back it up with 4/50 off 23.3 overs. But it was Ben Sullivan who was key to the bowling success, with the opening bowler charging in for 20 overs to claim 5/26 and a well deserved first 5-for in the top grade. Unfortunately the batting unit didn't back up the efforts from their bowlers, falling to 6/36 in the final overs of the day and leaving a massive job for the second week as they look for back-to-back wins.

Second Grade had a torrid time early in the day at Cahill Oval after being sent in by Belmont. Josh Brackenbury (51) was the only batsman in the top order to get going as we fell to 7/101 inside the first 30 overs of the day. Skipper Dean Marjoribanks (69 off 140 balls) and James Foster (43 off 131) put up a big partnership of 95 there and batted us back into the game and into the final 10 overs. Jack Dundas (63* off 33) then cashed in on their hard work, clearing the fence 5 times to push our score up to 285 all out in the 79th over. That gave Jack one over to bowl, and he made it count, picking up a wicket to leave Belmont 1/1 overnight.

Third Grade went into their fixture keen to make amends for a poor showing last week, and contributions from the whole batting order allowed them to set 204 batting first. Liam Wilson (64) and Singh Satnam (44) were the top scorers. Ryan Moorcroft picked up a wicket at the end of the day to have Belmont 1/9 overnight.

Fourth Grade will rue dropped chances as they let Belmont escape and reach 155 batting first. Nick Onslow picked up 3 wickets and Steve Christie got 2, but the control shown by young offie Jimmy Skelly (1/25 off 13 overs) was perhaps the most pleasing aspect of the day. We are 0/16 in the chase, with a big week ahead next week to try and keep themselves in the race for the minor premiership.