Week 4 – ‘The Opening Spell’

First ball – MVP!

Gordon’s Sara Chun has produced one of the all-time great first-grade performances to see her side take the points against a powerful Parramatta outfit. Chun dismissed the Parramatta top three comprising of two Big Bash signings and an underage National Champion, before going on to claim the middle-order via means of a hat-trick to finish with figures of 6-19. Chun’s spell would see her team claim a 14-run win.

_{Gordon's Sara Chun in action for the Stags // Gordon Women's Cricket Club Facebook}

Second ball – Faultless formula!

Winning isn’t too hard when you have one teammate put together a batting performance worthy of player of the match and another produce a fixture-winning spell:

• Randwick Petersham’s third-grade side did just that against the Hawks, with Reuben Sachs notching an unbeaten 127* (102 balls) before Lachlan Skelly claimed figures of 6-31. Randy Petes would achieve a 105-run victory.
• Similarly, Sutherland third-grader Kobey Freer launched 107* (not out) before teammate Zac Philipson snared figures of 6-20 as the Sharks ran out 108-run winners over Penrith.

Third ball – Let him Cook!

Gordon’s Connor Cook twice took two wickets in the space of three balls, and finished with bowling figures of 6-38 against Parramatta, restricting the Two Blues’ first-grade squad to 109 all out. Gordon lost two wickets in getting to 113 in 26.3 overs.

Fourth ball – Now that’s an opener!

Campbelltown Camden’s Brewer Shield side have lost just one wicket in two winning innings, largely thanks to opening bat, Lily Hreszczuk. After posting a match-winning 1/140 against Blacktown last weekend, where Hreszczuk top scored with an unbeaten 81*, the emerging Ghost helped her side chase down their opponent’s 80-run total on Sunday, tallying 51* (not out) from just 32 deliveries.

Fifth ball – If that’s the middle-order, I’d love to see the tail-enders!

Parramatta may have been feeling a little nervous when their fifth wicket fell with only 105 runs on the board in their fourth-grade clash against Gordon. Well, whatever they were feeling at that stage of the match doesn’t matter, as batter six, Yusof Brown, and batter seven, Rory Grieve, both notched centuries at better than a-run-a-ball to put the Two Blues on 7/346 at the end of their allotted 50 overs. Brown finished unbeaten on 131* (118 balls), whilst Grieve fell for a well-made 115 (87 balls). Parramatta won the match by 108 runs.

Sixth ball – Consecutive Centuries!

• Blake Macdonald produced 103 runs from just 54 balls (8 sixes, 6 fours) as his St George side totalled 7-352 in a win over Sydney on Saturday. Macdonald scored his eighth first-grade century, and second in consecutive weeks to take his aggregate to 443 at 73.85 for the season.
• Similarly, Penrith’s Chris De Kretser amassed 117 runs coming in at the top of the order against Sutherland, after also reaching triple figures last weekend. Though De Kretser’s team would be unable to restrict the Shark’s batters from hunting down their target.

Second Over

First ball – More common than you’d think!

Three players from three McDonald’s women’s premier cricket divisions finished with figures of 5-6 in winning sides over the weekend.

• St George Sutherland’s Rhiannon Dick v Sydney University | First-grade
• Sydney’s Skye Halmarick v UTS | Second-grade
• St George-Sutherland’s Sophie Clark v Sydney University | Brewer Shield

_{Sydney's Skye Halmarick got in on the wickets // Gavin Zauch}

Second ball – Never in doubt!

• Tomas Cordingley (73*) and Bryan Handunneththi (63*) led their Bankstown third-grade side to a 10-wicket win over Northern District. The opening pair reached the 152-run target with ease, leaving 23 overs to spare.
• Gordon Brewer Shield teammates Jorja Horan (61*) and Victoria Marsh (28*) kept their wickets intact to help their side chase down Parramatta’s 114-run total with one over to spare. Though, Horan and Marsh met at the crease in the sixth over, when their side was sitting at 5-14.

Third ball – Must be nice being that talented!

• Gordon’s Mitchell Lole struck 76 runs from 55 deliveries in an innings that included nine 4s and three 6s, before snatching figures of 5-44 to bring home the points for his second-grade team against Parramatta.
• Jessica Robertson accumulated 71 runs (not out) from just 69 balls and followed this up with figures of 2-14 in a 31-run Brewer Shield win over Penrith. 

Fourth ball – Speed and spin secure short-format semi-final spots!

• Randwick Petersham secured safe passage into the Kingsgrove Sports T20 Cup semi-finals after paceman Jason Ralston ripped through a UNSW batting line-up. Ralston snagged 5 wickets whilst allowing just 17 runs from four overs as his team in green ran-out 6-wicket victors at Coogee Oval.
• Cameron Frendo, from Fairfield-Liverpool, spun his way to figures of 5-25 to eliminate last season’s finalists, Sydney University, from the short format competition, and send the Lions into the penultimate fixture.

Fifth ball – Raising the bat!

The third-grade clash between Gordon and Manly saw five batters raise the willow in acknowledgement of achieving a half-century! Gordon’s Katie O’Sullivan, Jenni Flanagan and Lisa Chan along with Manly’s Elizabeth Cambridge and Daisy Addison reached the milestone.  

Sixth ball – Best with the bat – week 4!

• Sydney University first-grader Jordan Gauci carried his bat through the Students’ innings, reaching 139* (137 balls) in a 54-run win over Blacktown.
• Nick Carruthers tallied 134 runs (103 balls) together with opening partner Jaydyn Simmons (82) to successfully chase a Western Suburbs target. The Fairfield-Liverpool pair put on 225 before Simmons was run out making the stand the second-best 1^st wicket partnership in the clubs’ history.
• Eastern Suburbs third-grader Oliver Maxwell (117) reached triple figures in a win against Mosman.
• St George third-grader Manraj Singh Kahlon reached 108 (101 balls) to set his side up with a win over Sydney.
• Damien Guild scored 130 for his Western Suburbs fourth-grade side to lead them to an insurmountable total against Fairfield-Liverpool.
• Pruthviraj Khairnar raised the bat after scoring 101 for his UNSW fourth-grade team against Manly.
• Jack Melchiore (107*) continued Manly Warringah’s streak of having an unbeaten centurion on their fifth-grade scorecard as they overcame UNSW.
• Maeve Martin put on 53* (not out) for Bankstown’s second-grade side against Penrith whilst Claire Jones added 53* (not out) for Bankstown’s third-grade squad against Parramatta.