Adelaide Cricket Club top of grade cricket ladder while Glenelg starts season with a bang
Shaun Tait’s new grade cricket side looks a force and Glenelg found a new opening pair as it knocked over a competition powerhouse on its own deck. Reports from every match.
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There were some early-season statements made on Saturday as Adelaide grade cricket entered round two with one-day action on Saturday.
Glenelg was missing its opening pair from last season but the new duo set up a big win over a competition powerhouse, while new Adelaide coach Shaun Tait has the Buffalos flying on top of the ladder.
GLENELG 5/305 TEA TREE GULLY 150
Travelling to Tea Tree Gully’s Pertaringa Oval fortress with a new opening partnership could have spelt danger for Glenelg on Saturday but Liam Scott and Ben Bullimore were more than up to the task.
A 229-run opening stand between the Seahorses’ new top-order pair led them to an emphatic grade cricket victory at the home of the powerhouse Bulls.
Winning the toss and batting in their first game of the season proved a winning move for the visitors, who piled on 5/305 from 50 overs.
Bullimore and 18-year-old Scott, who played for the NSW under-19s last year, attacked from the start with Bullimore blasting 152 from 147 balls including 13 fours and three sixes.
Scott’s 115 came off 131 balls with 10 fours and two sixes.
Seahorses coach Grant Francis said the new opening pairing and the whole side stood up well to the pressure.
“Tea Tree Gully out there has been a very strong side for many years,’’ Francis said.
“With Liam Scott coming into the side and Ben Bullimore moving to opening it gave us a good chance to have a look at them.
“With our leading rungetter from last year, Jake Winter, due to have hip surgery later this month and due to return to play in January the chance is for others to fill the gap.
“This week we will have to be at our best against Southern which is a very competitive side.’’
In what was an even team effort in the field, six players took wickets for the Seahorses, with Harry Cunningham returning the best figures of 3/17.
The Bulls were never in the contest, slumping to 7/81 in reply before being rolled for just 150.
TTG player/coach Matt Weaver said the side was disappointed in the fashion it lost the match. He also lamented missed opportunities to remove Bullimore and Scott.
“It was probably the flattest wicket I’ve seen up at Tea Tree Gully for a long time, but credit to Glenelg they batted really well,” Weaver said.
“There were a few chances that went down – we dropped Ben Bullimore a couple of times – and at this level you can’t do that because the good players will make you pay.”
There were some positives for the Bulls.
Youngster Fletcher Pannell made his A grade debut and took 2/47 before making 33 with the bat. Josh Macey topscored with 34 for the hosts.
“It’s good to give young guys coming through an opportunity,” Weaver said.
“That’s something we haven’t really done in recent years, purely because we’ve had a strong group of guys for a while.”
PORT ADELAIDE 6/205 ADELAIDE 2/209
Adelaide remain unbeaten and top of the ladder after cruising to an eight-wicket victory at Glandore Oval, overtaking Port Adelaide’s 6/205 with more than nine overs to spare.
Skipper Cam Valente (109 not out) and Ben Pengelley (82 not out) came together at 2/18 and finished with an unbeaten third-wicket stand of 191.
Valente is in hot touch to start the campaign.
The Redbacks-listed all-rounder hit 78 in the season-opener against Sturt last week as part of a 191-run unbroken third-wicket stand alongside Patrick Page.
Port Adelaide’s inability to build momentum proved costly, according to Magpies coach Matthew Weeks.
Stuart Coles continued his fine form to make 49, backing up his round-one score of 71, while Damon Kerr added 39.
Austin Umpherston (26), Adam Dilley (25), Alex Garlick (25 not out) and Zac Worden (21 not out) made handy contributions.
Nick Benton suffered a double whammy, dismissed lbw by Ben Pengelley for one and was injured after he was struck on the back foot by that ball.
Benton is in doubt for this Saturday’s home game against Adelaide University.
Weeks said his side was always under pressure after falling short of what he thought was a reasonable score on Glandore Oval.
“We wanted at least 250 on that wicket,” Weeks said.
“It’s happened two weeks in a row where we have been short of our target.
“One of the problems is that we build momentum and then we get caught in a bit of a lull where nothing much is happening.
“There is no fluency at the moment. We need to put pressure on opposition teams and good sides like Adelaide are very hard to contain.
“We were probably hurt when Nick (Benton) couldn’t bowl after being hit on the foot but that’s not making excuses.”
WEST TORRENS 5/275 KENSINGTON 6/276
A classy 86 not out from Redback’s Alex Ross guided reigning premiers Kensington to an impressive four-wicket victory, reeling in West Torrens’ more than competitive 5/275.
Struck off just 84 balls on a wicket which slowed up in the second innings, Ross said a refined mental approach was paying off so far, saying: “(I’m) really just owning what I want to do. Taking ownership for my own game.”
Ross said a large chase under pressure was the ultimate confidence booster for the Browns.
“The boys are rapt, that’s two from two from us, hopefully we keep on rolling and keep on improving,” he said.
“The guys are happy but not glossing over any of the issues that we still need to address.”
Kensington’s batting depth again was on show with opener Jake Brown making 41, Sam Rahaley adding 40 at number five, while Elliot Opie hit a quickfire 36 from 21 balls which included three sixes.
The target was reached with seven balls to spare.
Earlier, 19-year-old Bailey Capel made his second first-grade century and Callum Ferguson carved 75 runs of his own but it wasn’t enough for West Torrens.
Capel was impressive as he hit eight fours and two sixes on his way 107 in a 155-run opening stand alongside Ferguson.
The Eagles then capitulated but finished with a defendable 5/275 from their 50 overs.
Josh Dascombe toiled hard to take 3/51 and lead West Torrens with the ball.
NORTHERN DISTRICTS 8/240 SOUTHERN DISTRICT 4/243
Southern District showed poise under pressure to account for Northern Districts in their one-day clash at Bice Oval.
The Stingrays were chasing the Jets’ 8/240 but reached 4/243 in reply after 48.5 overs.
Sunam Gautam led the charge for Southern with an unbeaten 59 at No.5, while Brendan McCormack (52) and Cameron Russo (51) provided stability at No.3 and No.4, respectively.
Five players took wickets for Southern – Huw Stone, Tom Hynes and Trent Riddle claimed two each.
Stingrays captain Josh Barrett said his side was hungry to do well and was thriving under new coach Carl Hooper.
“Carl has been awesome,’’ Barrett said.
“To have someone like Carl with his Test experience has been great and to have a fresh face there too.
“He’s very relaxed and hasn’t changed too many things. He has also been a very big help to the batters which has been good.
“I think we have more experience now and a bit more depth. It’s going to be healthy competition for places in the team.’’
Southern is expected to have former Sussex player Lewis Hatchett back in the team this week.
For Northern, captain/coach Mark Cosgrove topscored with 63 from 73 balls and Kabir Luthra chipped in with 41.
WOODVILLE 233 PROSPECT 121
Woodville’s new found force with the ball has sprung it to a perfect start in grade cricket.
The Peckers took a convincing 112-run victory away at Prospect on Saturday to move to 2-0 ahead of a big clash against last year’s grand finalist Adelaide this weekend.
Keeper Harry Nielsen (68) and No.4 Mitchell Fuss (65) made half centuries and Conor McInerney added 45 at Prospect Oval as Woodville posted 233 batting first.
It could have been more if not for a middle order collapse.
The Peckers were cruising before losing their last six wickets for 43 runs.
But fast-bowling recruit Aaron Summers ripped through the Pirates’, taking 4/35, and Harry Thoman snared 3/13 to roll the hosts for 121.
Ross Richardson made an unbeaten 45 for Prospect, while Will Daniel (4/34) and Humraj Singh (3/41) led the bowlers.
STURT 9/206 ADELAIDE UNIVERSITY 6/207
A quickfire half century from skipper Ben Wakim and a brilliant unbeaten 79 by all-rounder Sam Kerber secured the points for Adelaide University over Sturt.
The Blues did well to make a game of it after batting first but slumping to 5/51 at Park 12, eventually going down by four wickets to the Blacks.
Through a pure captain’s knock from Brad Davis (95 not out off 133 balls) and 37 from number seven Zyggy Kulesza, the Blues set a competitive 9/206.
But that was reeled in with five overs to spare after Wakim set the tone early with seven fours on his way to 51 from 53 balls, before Kerber’s steady hand saw Uni home with 79 not out.
New recruit Will Bosisto starred with the ball for the Blacks with 4/26.
WOMEN’S WRAP
Amanda-Jade Wellington marked her arrival at West Torrens with a quickfire 60 runs from 43 balls to lead her new side to a T20 victory over reigning premiers Sturt in women’s grade cricket on Sunday.
Wellington and opening partner Tahlia McGrath (40 from 38) put on a 103-run unbeaten first-wicket stand to fly past the Blue’s total of 5/99 in 13.2 overs.
Earlier, Ellen Falconer snared 2/22 and Wellington, skipper Jess Joseph and Emily Hinze took singles in an evenly-spread bowling performance.
Sturt’s Annie O’Neil made 45 runs from 56 balls to lead her side.
Southern District will need to respond quickly if it wants to turn its women’s grade cricket Twenty20 season around against West Torrens this Sunday.
The Stringrays, who have lost their opening two games, take on the in-form Eagles at Kensington Reserve.
A poor performance with the bat was to blame for Southern’s 72-run loss last Sunday at home to Kensington.
The Browns made 6/117 as Callie Wilson (2/19) and Gemma Kennedy (2/24) were best with the ball for Southern.
But the Stingrays struggled to score runs as they ended the 20-over innings on 9/45. Kelly Armstrong topscored with 15 runs.
THIS WEEK
■ Sturt v East Torrens @ Price Memorial Oval
■ Northern Districts v West Torrens @ Salisbury Oval
■ Woodville v Adelaide @ Woodville Oval
■ Port Adelaide v Adelaide University @ Port Reserve
■ Glenelg v Southern District @ Glenelg Oval
■ Kensington v Prospect @ Parkinson Oval
■ Tea Tree Gully – bye