Nudgee College and Brisbane Boys College produced Houdini like escapes in GPS First XI cricket
A matchwinning bowling effort turned around one school’s sliding fortunes in miraculous circumstances, while a Houdini-like escape maintained another school’s winning ways in a thrilling round of GPS cricket.
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Nudgee’s Tom Balkin breathed life into his team’s campaign with a matchwinning bowling effort while Brisbane Boys College somehow found a way to win – yet again – in a thriller with Ipswich Grammar School.
St Joseph’s Nudgee College were sliding out of premiership contention after being dismissed for just 141 against Toowoomba Grammar School.
But Balkin, a junior Australian representative, took four late wickets as Nudgee somehow found their way to an unlikely 23 run win.
In a round where host schools turned their ovals pink to support the McGrath Foundation’s Pink Stumps Day, there was also excitement aplenty at Oakman Oval as BBC (177) climbed marginally above IGS (166).
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BBC is like a magnet for dramatic finishes and so it was the case yet again in a thriller with Ipswich Grammar School.
Set 178 to win, IGS were initially glued together by Danny Young (40) as IPS edged to 0-41 and then 1-74.
But like an old windmill out the back of Bourke, the BBC bowlers just keep churning away, churning away.
Lachlan Marschke (3-21) produced a special effort while Max Daldy (4-42) chipped away in support.
From 1-74 IGS skidded to 6-116 before Noah Emmerson was joined by Shahzaib Farhan (14) to take the score to 7-145.
Lucas Sefont then joined Emmerson to take the score beyond 150, but Emmerson became Daldy’s fourth wicket.
Ipswich Grammar’s last pair then scampered and scurried until BBC’s Bayley Judson claimed the last wicket to fall, presenting BBC with another win for the ages.
Ipswich had been put into a sound position by an outstanding bowling contingent.
You would not meet a more disciplined attack in a day’s march than the bowling group that wore the Ipswich Grammar School cap onto Oakman Parkagainst Brisbane Boys College.
From the moment Riley Denny stood at the top of his mark, pink ball in hand, the chorus of support around the field indicated IGS were up for the No. 2 versus No. 3 contest.
IGS took the honours early when Denny’s pace bowling partner in crime, Shahzaib Farhan, dismissed openers Daldy and Goffage to have BBC 2-7.
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BBC batsmen Archie Bromell (25) and Tom Kelaart (39) then mounted a steady revival to add 71, but Denny broke the partnership when he returned for his second spell.
Denny was all business, walking back to the top of his mark with urgency and scampering in with gusto.
Bowling left arm around the wicket, he pushed a ball down the leg side but was delighted to hear Kelaart get a faint edge which wicketkeeper Jacob Anderson gloved with precision.
Gloveman Anderson was in the game again a few overs later when he produced a lovely stumping off spinner Lucas Sefont.
From 2-78 it became 4-85 and, not for the first time this season, BBC pair Taq Annan and Ali Zaidi were called on to do some heavy lifting.
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Not long after Annan’s arrival, IGS introduced an all-spin attack.
After Lachlan Bell finished his spell (10, 0-24), Noah Emmerson joined fellow slow bowler Sefont at the bowling crease as Annan and Zaidi confronted the cross roads of the innings.
The tall Anna plays with intent and a mouth watering battle ensued against the guile of the spinners.
When Sefont slightly over pitched, Annan pounced to thump the ball to the cover boundary, but loose deliveries were few and far between.
The fleet-footed Zaidi was good against the spinners, using his crease to work the ball square.
You could see Annan was itching to drive, but Emmerson and Sefont were ever so accurate.
Quick bowlers Farhan and Denny were then ushered back into the attack, with Singh bowling 11 consecutive balls to Annan without conceding a run.
With the 12th delivery Annan aimed to work the ball toward mid-wicket, but missed and was bowled for a steady 15.
Zaidi was also restricted by the disciplined attack, but he still managed to implore his trade mark pull to the square leg boundary from Emmerson.
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Again Zaidi looked up to the challenge, so it was with great delight that IGS roared approval when Emmerson trapped him LBW for 22. At 6-119 in the 41st over BBC were in trouble.
But BBC have made a habit of fighting hard and Lachlan Marschke (21), Harley Lammi (23 not out) and Blake Davis (12 not out) defiantly block-aided Ipswich’s march through the innings.
Not only did the trio prevent IGS from dismissing their rivals, they combined to add 58 from the last nine overs.
At East Brisbane, Anglican Church Grammar School stood up to the challenging St Joseph’s Gregory Terrace pace attack to bat out 50 overs and post a more than competitive 8-189.
But Terrace proved too good, winning by seven wickets after Cory Eglinton produced an old-fashioned opening effort to carry his bat (56 not out, 152 minutes).
Around Eglinton, Dylan Kritzinger (63) batted with authority to hit eight fours while Aubrey Stockdale (41 not out, 34 balls) finished the game with a flourish as Terrace reached the winning target with just over 10 overs to spare.
Hats off to Churchie’s Campbell Corrigan (22), Reuben Burger (43) and Angus Archer (22) for placing value on their wickets against a highly skilled Terrace attack.
Terrace fast bowler Jeremy White (10 overs, 1-23) is a real handful alongside the tall Jack Pilgrim (2-39), but the Churchie trio showed plenty of ticker.
Their reward was to see captain Flynn Thomasson (39, 45 balls) flourish with the blade until White, one of the bowlers of the competition, returned to bowl him.
Churchie’s Jesse Sia then continued the counter-attack with a quickfire 28 from just 24 balls, but as he threatened to send Churchie hurtling beyond 200, Sia was run out.
On the Village Green at Southport, The Southport School overcame a fantastic spell by Brisbane Grammar School’s Hugh Weibgen (0-13, overs) to post a winning score of 210.
In reply the BGS (8-151) batting could not hold up against TSS as Jack Sinfield (2-18, 10 overs) and Austin Billing (2-16) kept TSS on target for a win – and possibly another premiership.
BGS challenged hard through Matthew Lockhart (23), Mitchell Labrom (39 not out) and Angus Tolhurst (36) who, at one stage, had BGS 4-130.
Earlier TSS produced an even batting performance after Justin Faber (29, 22 balls) took on the bowling early around the loss to batting partners Hocart and Gossett – both victim to a fired-up Robbie Sanders (3-56).
After Faber’s dismissal 38 minutes into the morning, Jack Sinfield (32), Lachlan Crump (18), Louis Chabert (43 not out, 99 minutes) and Finn Smith (21) consolidated before tailenders Judd Markham (21) and Austin Billing (11) hit out to take their side past 200.
Weibgen received outstanding support from Daniel Skoien, Angus Tolhurst and Griffith Adams in what was an excellent team bowling effort frustratingly undermined by conceding 13 wides – effectively giving TSS two extra overs.
At Ross Oval, Balkin’s four late wickets saw Toowoomba Grammar tumble from 0-40 to all out 118.
Nudgee paceman Rupert McDonald claimed the prized scalp of Mitchell Doolan while swing bowler Noah McFadyen (0-22) and off-spinner Jack Mills (2-18) kept things ever so tight.
TGS’s Thomas Sippel (28, 104) resisted for a long time, but Balkin was involved in running him out.
Then came Balkin’s fast and furious spell as he attacked the stumps to twice bowl batsmen.
Earlier, Doolan continued to display his class – this time with the ball – as Toowoomba Grammar School skittled Nudgee for 141.
Doolan, one of the players of the competition, bowled first change to claim 2-28 in an outstanding team bowling effort by the boys from the Darling Downs.
Doolan and Daniel Brown (4-27) had Nudgee 3-30 before they could blink and behind them Wood, Singh and Draheim bowled tightly.
But an unsung hero was Brown’s new ball partner Jem Ryan whose eight overs conceded just 1-17.
It was a bowling effort which evoked memories of Toowoomba Grammar’s upset win over Terrace earlier in the season.
Nudgee’s Nick Glass (29) tried to etch out a recovery with Tom Balkin (15), but Glass was run out by Draheim.
That left Jake Robertson to counter attack with a spritely 30 (36 balls) to give the Nudgee attack something to bowl at.
Ultimately Robertson’s innings proved the difference, giving Balkin enough runs to play with.
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