Tavs’ cricket top performers: Six wicket hauls abound in round two stunners

Taverners Qld Boys: The top Under-17 cricket talents stood out on Sunday with six wicket hauls abound. Catch up on who starred in round two here with the top performers uncovered.

Ellis McCarthy (Gold Coast) and Gurkirat Singh Behl (Toombul) helped bowl their respective sides to sensational victories as round two of the Taverners Queensland Under-17s competition unfolded at the weekend.

Pace bowler McCarthy pounced to have Redlands all out for less than 60 while Behl brought up his 10th wicket of the season in his team’s toppling of Sunshine Coast.

Harrison Klatt, a Valley young gun, also snared six wickets in a match where he did not deserve to be in a losing side.

Who else shone across six blockbuster matches played on Sunday? All is revealed below.

Wynnum-Manly 7-283 def South Brisbane 10-182

Joshua Ritchie (Wynnum-Manly)

Iona batsman Joshua Ritchie. Picture, John Gass

The beast was akowen on Sunday and it was just what the doctor ordered for the Sea Eagles.

After getting out for naught in the first round, Iona College opener Josh Ritchie took care of business with a 68 run knock featuring nine boundaries.

Hayden Hamilton (Wynnum-Manly)

Ritchie’s partner in crime was his vice-captain and No. 3 batsmen Hayden Hamilton, a mighty all-rounder who can produce on any day.

He scored 85 at run-a-ball pace, belted nine fours and alongside Ritchie, took the Sea Eagles from 1-1 to 2-160 in a monumental partnership.

Luke Biddle and Kethmin Meegasdeniya (Wynnum-Manly)

Kethmin Meegasdeniya.

They had different mindsets in the middle but their efforts were equally as important in their team’s pursuit of victory,

Biddle looked classy in his 53 run knock (78 balls) before Meegasdeniya made quick work of the Souths bowlers to smash an unbeaten 42 from 29 balls and notch an unassailable total of 283.

Meegasdeniya continued to sprinkle magic dust over his home ground with a four wicket haul sending the South Brisbane batting innings hurtling.

Ishaan Sandhu and Deacon Hunt (South Brisbane)

The Southport School maestro Ishaan Sandhu.

Chasing 284 runs was a daunting task in itself, let alone trying to score quickly against the likes of Shoubhit Jain, Meegasdeniya and Toby Hall.

Ishaan Sandhu and Deacon Hunt relished their time at the crease and an opportunity to give their foes a fright.

Sandhu’s 44 run effort against the new ball was to be admired, while Deacon Hunt, coming in at No. 8, was seeing them clear as day.

He scored 44 from 40 balls and hit three fours and two sixes.

SPECIAL MENTIONS:

+ To South Brisbane bowlers Ryan Beatty (2-33, 10 overs) and Dushyant Thaman (1-28, 10 overs) who were excellent.

Not one wide was bowled between them and they set a high standard for their bowling teammates.

+ To Wynnum-Manly’s Shoubhit Jain who snared three wickets.

University 5-263 def Wests 5-262

Ryan Atley (Wests)

Brisbane Boys’ College batsman Ryan Atley. Picture, John Gass

The Brisbane Boys’ College young gun produced a knock for the ages, a 98 run feast off 93 deliveries that gave onlookers a glimpse of his promising future in cricket.

Against some of his First XI teammates from school, Atley was strictly business, putting away 12 boundaries and being the rock his team needed.

He was cool, calm and collected in a 64 run partnership with Sohaan Sharma and a 106 run partnership with Callum Pamenter.

Callum Pamenter (Wests)

Ipswich Grammar School will be contenders again when the GPS First XI cricket competition rolls around in the new year. Why?

They have blokes like young Callum Pamenter, an express paceman capable of forming an innings wielding the blade.

He did just that with an inspired 47 run knock against the benchmark team of the competition.

Sohaan Sharma (Wests)

The Wests opener protected his wicket like his life depended on it and he paved the way with his thorough shot selection.

He bagged a half century and got his side into triple figures before Ashton Clark and Alex Walduck combined in the field to remove him.

Theodore Bacalakis (University)

One week he is moving mountains with the ball in hand (four wickets in round one) and the next he is scoring centuries.

Gregory Terrace ace all-rounder Theodore Bacalakis delivered in spades on Sunday scoring 118 against the new ball and flourishing in a 140 run partnership with Blake Armstrong.

He hit eight fours, a six and the chances of University winning were slim had he not turned up.

Blake Armstrong and Luke Alexander (University)

BBC batsman Blake Armstrong. Picture, John Gass

While Bacalakis was the game’s leading scorer, Armstrong and Alexander also played a big part in University’s second successive win.

The ultra-reliable Armstrong scored an all-important 64 (74 balls) and alongside Bacalakis, he restored hope after Wests snared two early wickets.

On the other hand, Alexander was a late game king.

The No. 6 batsmen went on a scoring blitz in a match-defining 59 run partnership with Bacalakis, Alexander putting the Wests bowlers through hell with an unbeaten 43 from just 28 balls.

He hit two sixes, two fours and made sure University reached the total in time - only just.

SPECIAL MENTIONS:

+ Alex Walduck, the University wicketkeeper, was involved in the first three breakthroughs for his side with his glovework something special.

+ Rushi Kakkad, the Wests first drop batsmen, who got off to a nice start before falling for 34 runs.

Toombul 6-172 def Sunshine Coast 10-171

Ben Gordon (Sunshine Coast)

No. 8 batsmen Ben Gordon arrived at the crease with the team total still shy of triple figures and in this context, his gutsy 31 runs (40 balls) was impressive.

He hit five boundaries in an innings of tenacity.

Gurkirat Singh Behl (Toombul)

Behl was at his best again on Sunday after snaring four wickets in the opening round.

The prolific St Paul’s School bowler snared a stunning six wickets, making his average just 7.6 on the season.

A Met North representative last year, the brilliant Behl has been at the epicentre of Toombul’s winning start to this season and on Sunday he was a man possessed.

Spencer Green (Toombul)

Also in his element was first class Brisbane Grammar youngster Spencer Green who, this time around, was rewarded for bowling in the right areas.

Against Valleys in round one he bowled well for no wicket (0-25, 10 overs) and in round two had his way picking up three wickets and leaking just 19 runs from his 10 overs.

Malakai Pearce (Sunshine Coast)

Rising Sunshine Coast cricketer Malakai Pearce.

Scorchers skipper Malakai Pearce backed up his quality first round performance with another do-it-all type showing.

The No. 4 batsmen scored a quick 21 before Green swooped LBW and then in the field he was the Sunshine Coast’s most dangerous bowler.

His figures were 10-2-30-2 (overs-maidens-runs-wickets).

Fraser Judd (Toombul)

No. 4 batsmen Fraser Judd was in charge of rewarding his bowling teammates and he did just that with a match defining knock.

He scored an unbeaten 47, seeing his team to victory by outlasting the Sunshine Coast bowlers.

Judd knew he had time and he made sure of things which cannot be taken for granted.

SPECIAL MENTIONS:

+Jason Bakshi got Toombul’s chase off to a steady start with his 34 run effort keeping momentum in his team’s favour.

Northern Suburbs 6-205 def Ipswich 9-204

Eli Brain (Norths)

Emerging Brisbane Grammar all-rounder Eli Brain had his finger prints all over Norths’ first success of the season.

He picked up the prized scalp of Ipswich’s Rhys Johnston (65), the first of three wickets he snared in quick succession.

After producing 10 overs with the ball, he contributed a valuable 32 runs (38 balls) under extreme pressure after entering the crease with his team 1-1.

Lachlan Cullen and Rhys Johnston (Ipswich)

Ipswich opener Lachlan Cullen (40, 65 balls) had another start after scoring 26 in the first round, cementing himself as the man for the job this season.

He had a cracking 88 run partnership with No. 3 batsmen Rhys Johnston who protected his wicket well for a 65 run innings that featured six fours and a six.

Joey Laner (Norths)

Joey Laner. AIC First XI cricket between St Peters Lutheran College and Marist College Ashgrove. Saturday February 24, 2024.

What a player.

The Marist College Ashgrove prodigy produced 86 runs under a pressure cooker atmosphere.

This was after collecting two poles across a tireless 10 overs the innings prior.

Year 11 student Laner arrived in the middle with his team 4-68 and a world away from the winning total of 205. By the time he left, 11 fours and two sixes later, Norths were within 20 runs of victory with more than 40 balls to spare.

It was an epic innings.

SPECIAL MENTIONS:

+Norths captain Finn Thallon scored 11 runs before an unfortunate run out and before this he was a prime mover with the ball, the Villanova College all-rounder picking up three crucial wickets.

+Ipswich bowler Patrick Rose who backed up his economical figures of 2-30 in round one with 2-34 in round two.

Sandgate-Redcliffe 10-164 def Valleys 9-159

Harrison Klatt (Valley)

Wow.

Valley’s have unearthed a hidden gem in Harrison Klatt, a Year 10 student at Gregory Terrace who has been on a steep incline over the past few years.

Klatt was a C grade player at Terrace a few years ago. Fast forward to Sunday and Klatt claimed the most prized wicket in junior cricket of Sandgate-Redcliffe’s Steven Hogan.

In a memorable outing, that was the second of his six, yes six, wickets.

He finished with figures of 10-1-41-6, Klatt claiming the first seven wickets of the Gators innings with one a run out of his doing.

Jules McAllister (Sandgate-Redcliffe)

After Klatt had rolled the Gators top order, McAllister was quickly thrown into the deep end at 3-14 and few would have expected him to survive.

He didn’t just survive.

He thrived.

McAllister, with wickets tumbling around him, rescued the Sandgate-Redcliffe innings with a courgarous 57 run knock that featured six boundaries.

He joined in partnerships with Cooper Stahmer and Hayden Dalmazzo and he gave his teammates something to bowl at.

Will Hawkins (Valley)

Hawkins opened the batting for Valley and despite two wickets falling in quick succession on the other end, he pushed through the pressure to deliver a determined 60 runs.

Hawkins worked hard for his runs, guided his team towards a position that they could have won the game from and had a wonderful 51 run partnership with Daniel Desmet (20, 27 balls) before the bowling brilliance of Gurvir Singh Sidhu (10-1-24-2) turned the Valley chase on its head.

SPECIAL MENTIONS:

Lakshdeep Singh. Picture: Pat Hoelscher

+Sandgate-Redcliffe weapon Lakshdeep Singh held up his end of the bargain with a very important 22 run cameo at the back end of his team’s batting innings.

With the ball in hand he created wickets for his teammates with his 10 overs on-the-money.

+ Gurvir Singh Sidhu, Luke Sentance and Preston Lovell (two wickets apiece) bowled their hearts out and reaped the rewards.

+Valley No. 7 batsmen Harry Morton made inroads in a gallant 44 ball innings where he scored an unbeaten 29 with time escaping him.

Gold Coast 3-59 def Redlands 10-57

Ellis McCarthy (Gold Coast)

Ellis McCarthy. Picture: Richard Gosling

The Dolphins dazzled and it was all because of one man.

That young man is The Southport School First XI young gun, baggy No. 877, Ellis McCarthy - a fast bowler who on Sunday had the Midas touch.

McCarthy sent a tremor through the Tigers batting order, six wickets and two maidens eclipsing a dominant spell that was responsible for having Redlands all out for just 57.

McCarthy had his radar working and it gave the Gold Coast boys a hefty early mark.

Tom Vaseo (Redlands)

Queensland Under-15s fast bowler Tom Vaseo.

Vaseo only had 57 runs to defend and yet he still managed to snare three poles.

The elite St Laurence’s College Year 10 was just last week named in the Under-15 All Australian Cricket side and showed why he is so highly thought of with his pace bowling a shining light in a tough loss for Redlands.