Week 13 – ‘The Opening Spell’

_{Scott Rodgie raises the bat for the Rangers // Ian Bird Photography}

First ball – 😄 (Eastern Suburbs and Manly Warringah coaching staff on Monday)

• Eastern Suburbs produced a ‘Dolphwash’ in the men’s competition over the weekend, winning five out five fixtures against Sutherland, as well as their AW Green Shield opener against Fairfield-Liverpool.
• Manly Warringah did the same in the women’s competition, claiming wins over Bankstown and Sydney University across their four grades.

_{Manly Warringah Women's Cricket // Ian Bird Photography}

Second ball – Rodgie rewrites history…again!

Scott Rodgie opened the batting for Northern District against Gordon in their first-grade clash on Saturday. Not only did he score his 22nd first-grade century, but he also went past 11,000 runs, becoming the 13th player to do so in NSW Premier Cricket history.

Rodgie batted throughout the innings to finish unbeaten on a career high 165* (157 balls), striking four 6s and 17 4s. He now sits at 11,100 runs at an average of 35.23.

Third ball – Backing up!

• Parramatta’s Blake Noorbergen put willow to leather over the weekend, striking a century (100 from 103) in his club’s third-grade thriller against the Ghosts on Saturday, which they would lose by 6 runs.
  
  However, Noorbergen backed up with the bat on Sunday to lead his Two-Blues to an AW Green Shield season opening win against Gordon. He raced to 145 runs from just 114 deliveries, propelling Parramatta to 10/338 and a 241-run victory to kick start their title defence.
  
  
• Gordon first-grade skipper, Tym Crawford, recorded his third straight century, adding 119 runs (92 balls), including five 6s and 11 4s in a loss to the Rangers. Going into Round 9, Crawford sat in fourth for leading first-grade run-scorers this season on 561…he now leads with 680 runs and seven regular rounds to go!

_{Blake Noorbergen bowls for Parramatta // Jeremy Ng}

Fourth ball – Saskia and Shivani steal the show!

Electing to bat first against Bankstown in first-grade, Manly Warringah’s opening pair of Saskia Horley (99*) and Shivani Mehta (57*) finished with their wickets intact. The duo combined for an opening partnership of 170 runs from their allotted twenty overs.

Manly would secure a 16-run victory over Bankstown, despite a valiant knock from Sydney Sixer, Erin Burns, who was run out just five runs shy of a century.

Fifth ball – Bad day to be a set of stumps!

Bankstown’s Madison Rutherford tore through the Manly Warringah second-grade middle-order, claiming figures of 5-11. All five dismissals were by way of clean bowled.

However, Manly Warringah would walk away with the win, restricting Bankstown to 28 runs less than their target.

Sixth ball – Don’t let the tail wag!

Western Suburbs set Manly Warringah a target of 144 runs from 50 overs in their fifth-grade match at Graham Reserve on Saturday.

Manly were 3-64 after a few overs and on track to make a game of it, before West’s Sree Sista claimed seven straight wickets in a matter of overs to completely derail the Waratah’s chase.

Of Sista’s seven wickets, four were claimed by lbw whilst the other three were out bowled. Even more impressively, the last four of Sista’s collection came without the addition of a run (7/85, 8/85, 9/85, 10/85)

Second Over

First ball – First of many!

• Sydney University Brewer Shield captain, Nadia Carvalho, claimed the club’s first hat-trick since its recent inception. Carvalho grabbed 3-10 as Sydney Uni claimed their second Brewer Shield win of the season over Campbelltown Camden.
• The Southern Swans Brewer Shield side also had two reasons to celebrate on Sunday, running out 78-run winners over St George-Sutherland at Glenn McGrath Oval. The match featured the first ever Swans half-century, achieved by Ella Yates, who tallied 50 runs from 43 balls.

Second ball – Real Deal!

Bankstown were in a precarious position in their first-grade limited-overs match on Saturday, sitting at 5-122 against a rampaging Bears bowling attack.

That is before Bulldog’s middle-order batter, Ethan Deal, struck 111 runs from just 103 deliveries, including 11 4s and four 6s.

Deal, together with NSW Country U19 representative, Angus Campbell (79*) ran the away sides’ total up to 7/305, and in doing so helped secure an 86-run victory over UTS.

Third ball – Places to be!

• Manly Warringah’s third-grade opening batter, Gabby Dunnage, raced to 60 (not out) from 27 deliveries, striking 10 4s and two 6s along the way. Manly would win the fixture against Sydney University.
  
  
• Sydney Cricket Club’s third-grade opener, Kylie Hocknell, would also fly past the half-century mark, totalling 56 (not out) from 35 balls, in an innings that included nine 4s and two 6s. Sydney would sneak past their opponent, Parramatta’s, target with two balls to spare.

Fourth ball – Runs in the family!

UTS’s fifth-grade pairing of Michael Lloyd and Christopher Lloyd put on an unbeaten, match-winning partnership to push their Bears across the line against Bankstown at Tunks Park.

Michael (104*) reached triple figures whilst Christopher (51*)  raised the bat for a half-century as UTS claimed an eight-wicket win over the Bulldogs.

Fifth ball – What’s better than one centurion?

• Eastern Suburbs’ Tom Marchant (131) and Ben Revai (117*) put on a wonderful partnership, that saw them both raise the bat, in an 84-run fourth-grade win against the Sharks.
  
  
• Mosman’s Jonty Snyman (115) and Lachlan Roughley (102) combined for over 200 runs as the Whales fifth-grade side chased a Lion’s target with three overs to spare.

Sixth ball – Limited-Overs legends!

• Brock Fitton, from Fairfield-Liverpool’s second-grade squad, scored 124 (not out) from 141 balls to carry his Lions to victory over Mosman at Allan Border Oval.
  
  
• Carter Margetson, from Sydney Cricket Club’s fourth-grade outfit, finished with figures of 5-10 to disassemble any hope of a Hawks run-chase.