AIC First XI cricket report: Round 1: Wins to Ashgrove, Padua, St Patrick’s and Villanova College
Villanova College and Marist College Ashgrove claimed local derby wins while Padua College and St Patrick’s won in AIC round 1 First XI cricket today.
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Villanova College and Marist College Ashgrove claimed local derby wins while Padua College and St Patrick’s won in AIC round 1 First XI cricket today.
At St Peters Lutheran College, visiting team Padua College wrestled victory from a spirited home side - but only just.
Chasing 155, Padua were home at 2-134 until leg-spinner Matthew Harvie’s (5-28) inspired changed everything. Padua lost 4-1 to tumble to 6-135.
Padua eventually finished at 7-156, with opener Pacey Broadhurst (42 not out) standing between victory and a loss for his side.
This was after Saints scrambled from 7-88 to 155 after Oscar Wright (24) and Tom Johnston (15) hit out.
“Despite some good tailend batting it was not enough runs. Year 10 boy Matt Harvie took five wickets on debut, but we were probably 25 runs short.’’ said St Peter’s director of sport Shaun Nodwell.
It was a funny day for the Padua bowlers.
As a unit they bowled splendidly with little reward early on, but then took wickets when they did not appear to be bowling as well.
But the bottom line - a win - is all that counted and Padua would have taken chasing 155 before the start of play.
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Daniel Matheson (1-34), George Kelsall (2-29), Nathan Singh (1-33), Coby Janas (1-7) and the destroyers Ryan Pembroke (3-17) and Josh Neville (2-21) did a fine job for Padua at the bowling crease.
But arguably the two most influential players were seen in the second innings - Broadhurst for Padua and Harvie for Saints.
In the local derby at Davine Oval, Baiden Parker took a stunning 4-2 as Villanova College claimed bragging rights over Iona College in a match dominated by the bowlers.
Chasing 184, Iona were dismissed for 99 as Benjamin Jeffs, Ben Fingland, Gus Godwin, Bukowski, Parker and Nicholas Fee gave nothing away.
Batting around Mitchell Yarrow (25, 84 minutes), Iona’s reply was slow and steady against a bowling group which built pressure on pressure.
“Villa bowled a good line and length and were disciplined with their bowling,’’ said Iona Head of Cricket Sean Devlin.
“Our bowling was pretty good - we just got out bowled.’’
All this after the Linning brothers, Archer (2-34) and Dan (3-23), took five wickets between them as Iona College dismissed their rivals for 184.
It was a mighty contest as Villanova College openers Benjamin Sciacca (28) and Cameron Bukowski (38) challenged early to add 69 for the first wickets.
Then Parker (37, 41 balls) fluently gave his side momentum around tight Iona bowling from Bodie Richardson (2-24), Thisal Peiris (1-23), Lachlan Piket (2-24) and the Linning boys.
Dimitri Horton’s run-a-ball 27 and Benjamin Fingland’s 15 were also handy additions to the Villa cause.
At Curlew Park, spin twins Charles Moore and Harrison Clench spun St Patrick’s College (171) out of trouble as the home side beat a gallant St Edmund’s College (108).
It was a game for bowlers as the Eddies’ attack of Lachlan Skull (2-29), Ben Naish (3-37), Patrick Schmidt (2-23), Harry Sammut and Isaac Jordan (1-30) swarmed over their rivals, playing their part in restricting Paddies’ to 171.
Then in reply, St Patrick’s bowlers fought back hard from the outset, leading to off-spinner Clench (2-8) and wrist spinner Moore (2-30) turning the match around.
Paddies’ seamers Bailey Reed (0-28), Hayden Vickers (3-26) and Joel Heinrich (3-16) also played their part in a complete team performance.
St Patrick’s College director of sport Daniel Nethery said his bowler did well and built pressure, and in the end the run rate proved too much for the opponents.
But he praised St Edmund’s bowlers and some of the catching efforts.
Batting first, St Patrick’s were under pressure at 4-27 before all-rounder Benjamin Buechler (59, 46 balls) and his partner in crime Chris Marshall 42, (27 balls) swung momentum away from the visiting team.
Buechler attacked for all he was worth, lofting three sixes and pounding five fours before being last man out.
When St Edmund’s batted, the St Pat’s new ball attack of Bailey Reed, Hayden Vickers and Joel Heinrich maintained pressure ahead of contributions from Moore and Clench.
Harry Sammut and Shaun Costello then tried to steer Eddies back on course with a gutsy lower order stand.
At Ashgrove, Marist College Ashgrove’s attack defended an imposing 240 which could have been an even higher score had St Laurence’s College not rallied like they did.
The run out of Laurie’s No. 3 Oliver Lunt (35) after sharp fielding by Ashgrove’s Nathan Armitage proved crucial in the run chase, and despite Nicholas Parrott’s enterprising 43, it was a bridge too far for St Laurence’s who made 188.
“It was a great run out by Armitage in the ring - it was a game changer,’’ said Ashgrove coach Tom Gibson.
“Two times they came back, but we bowled tight and started to put the squeeze on.’’
Ashgrove bowlers Jacob Kumaru and Waite set a high standard early, but it was very much a collective bowling effort by Mackie, White, Muir and Zipf, with White ending up with 3-28.
Earlier in the morning, Ashgrove openers Jakub Bennett (86, 93 balls) and Jaxon Barwell (35, 64 balls), both on debut, added 83 for the first wicket.
Barwell played second fiddle to Bennett, but if the ball was short Barwell rolled onto the back foot and hit square.
The fluent Bennett then pushed on to add 99 runs with Cooper Mackie (44, 47 balls) who was a run-a-ball contributor.
“We batted well but did not bowl well enough in the morning during the first session,’’ said Laurie’s coach Cameron Wigan. “We did not create enough chances and were always behind in the game and chasing.’’
Indeed Ashgrove were 1-182 but rather than wain in the western suburbs heat, Lauries’ gathered strength.
Callum Reidy (2-29), Lochie Josefski (0-30) and Max Peapell (2-38) were to the fore as Ashgrove came to rest at 240.
When Lauries’ batted, Toby Harris (31) was positive alongside Lunt in taking the score to 1-64.
But Ashgrove’s Armitage claimed the Harris and the St Laurence’s innings lost some momentum as the new batsmen attempt to establish themselves.
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