Comfortable wins for Queanbeyan, Weston Creek Molonglo, and ANU means just one win separates the three teams atop the 1st Grade Douglas Cup Two-day standings, while Ginninderra have roared into finals contention with a big win in the penultimate round of the season.
1st Grade Round 20 Two-day Match Summaries
At Kippax, Eastlake resumed on day two at 1/10 and still trailing Ginninderra by 319 runs, after the home side declared late on the first day at 5/329. Opening bowler Jak Wilcox did the damage with two early wickets to have Eastlake reeling at 3/24, before Andrew Glover (48) and Nick Kent (39) provided some resistance.
Young gun Tom Hogan had the ball on a string, however, ripping through the rest of Eastlake’s order to claim 5-22 from 14.3 overs, and securing the first innings win by 158 runs. The Tigers then sent Eastlake back in with 35 overs remaining in the day, with the Demons Eastlake responding positively to finish the day 2/80, Jack Sanson standing up with the bat to finish 40 not out.
Runs were plentiful on day two at Chisholm, with ANU resuming on 4/86 after bowling Tuggeranong out for 197 the previous week. Felix Bennett and Lachlan Simpson picked up where they left off on day one, combining for a 95-run stand to put ANU in the driver’s seat by lunch, and piling on the runs after the break to surpass Tuggeranong’s total and secure first innings points.
Felix Bennett battled patiently to bring up his maiden grade century with a boundary through the covers, while handy contributions from ANU’s lower order saw ANU bowled out for 291 after 89.2 overs. Young gun Sam Meyer was the pick of Tuggeranong’s bowlers, with figures of 3-23 of his eight overs.
With the tight points congestion in the middle of the two-day ladder, Tuggeranong were still determined to force an unlikely result on second innings. Tyler Hays (56) and Craig Devoy (45) lit up Chisholm Oval, with 10 boundaries and 8 sixes between them, before Tuggeranong were bowled out for an entertaining 204 late in the day. With no time for an outright result, ANU settled for the 195-run 1st innings win.
Western District had their work cut out for them at Stirling after Weston Creek piled on the runs the week before, posting a huge score of 387 on day one. Unfortunately, Wests got off to a slow start losing both openers to young quick Jeet Mehta, but responded with handy contributions from their middle order. Wests’ no.5 Lachlan Malcom and wicket-keeper batter Jesse Reed looked the most promising of the Lions batters, both reaching 57.
Weston Creek’s total was ultimately too much for Western District, who were bowled out for 250 in 72.5 overs. The ‘Creek bowlers shared the wickets around, with Sam Myburgh (3-36) and Jeet Mehta (3-41) the pick.
And Queanbeyan enjoyed the weekend off, entering the history books the week before after becoming just the fifth team in Cricket ACT’s 101-year history to win outright on the first day of a two-day fixture.
Tyler Van Luin took six wickets across the two innings and Zac Beveridge eight, as the Bluebags bowled North Canberra-Gungahlin out for 64 and 124 in a day. Esam Rahman’s first innings 56 for Queanbeyan remained the highest score for the match.
Women’s Grade Competition Round 14 one-day matches:
- Suzanne Rebus starred for Queanbeyan with five wickets in their six-wicket win over Ginninderra. Natalia Egan finished the job off with the bat with a patient 36* off 71 balls to guide the Bluebags home to an important win, with Queanbeyan sneaking into fourth place to play Eastlake in next week’s one-day semi-final.
- ANU skipper Aimee Slocomb (60*) and an unbeaten 94 from Neve Lynch put Weston Creek Molonglo to the sword with a dominant 142-run victory. After the Students made an imposing 1/223 from their 40 overs, Alison Riley struck with the ball in hand, taking 3-6 from three overs as WCM were bowled out for 81.
- In a rematch of the Glenda Hall Shield T20 final, Western District reversed the ledger over Eastlake with a 74-run victory. It was the Montefiore-Gardner pair that shone for Wests, Alessia with a handy 41 with the bat while Genevieve took 5-20 with the ball, the pair ensuring Wests a spot in next week’s semi-final against ANU.
- Lynne O’Meara Cup semi-finals this Saturday: Eastlake host Queanbeyan at Forestry Oval in Yarralumla, while Wests host ANU at Aranda.
Lower Grade Standouts
- Wickets tumbled at Keith Turner Memorial in Ainslie; Guy Randell from Queanbeyan 2nd Grade picked up where he left off last week with another four wickets (4-11) in Norths second dig. Harry O’Rourke also stood out with 4-13 of his eight overs. Despite Norths defeat, Nabeel Aslam bowled admirably to finish with 5-29 and keep his team in the fight.
- Grant Miller stood tall for Tuggeranong 3rd Grade, as they nearly bowled ANU out twice in a single day. Miller took six wickets for the day, picking up 4-34 in the first innings and 2-8 in the second, as ANU narrowly avoided outright defeat.
- In 4th Grade, North Canberra-Gungahlin’s Thomas O’Riley picked up 5-37 off 16 overs in his side’s loss to Queanbeyan.
- Ginninderra 5th Grade skipper Andrew Fitzpatrick led his side to a dominant 7-wicket win over Queanbeyan with 74* from 75 balls.
This weekend sees the final two-day round for the season, with 1st to 4th Grades playing both days of the final weekend before the semi-finals on March 9 and 10.
Article by UC Sports Media student Oliver Nguyen