AW Green Shield: Round five wrap from NSW’s premier U16 cricket tournament
There was more rain, but once again the players delivered in spades during a chaotic round five of the Green Shield. With the finals race heating up, check out how all the action unfolded.
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With the finals looming large, round five of the AW Green Shield just about had it all.
Once again the rains came, but apart from the Blacktown and Hawkesbury clash all other contests produced a winner. A couple of frontrunners took a hit, while several emerged from the pack as genuine contenders.
Hurstville was the only venue that saw a full allocation of 100 overs. Out west, Merrylands hosted a T20 shootout, while at Penrith there was a mad scramble as chaos reigned supreme.
With two preliminary rounds remaining, the race for top eight spots couldn’t be any closer. Unbeaten Northern District top the ladder on 22 points with Mosman rounding out eighth, just three points behind. Click HERE for full table.
Round five wrap.
SYDNEY HOWELL’ER
Penrith have swept aside the disappointment of a delayed start to sink a shell shocked Sydney in a remarkable comeback at Howell Oval.
Xander Carstens (35 off 33) led the Panthers to 6-157 from 35 overs, but with Sydney cruising at 4-133 with five overs remaining it appeared all for nothing.
But when skipper Daniel Craig was caught behind square for 28, chaos reigned.
In a stunning collapse, Sydney lost five wickets in 11 balls to ultimately fall eight runs short.
“I was digging holes in the bench and scratching my eyeballs out,” said Penrith coach Shannon Finemore of the period leading up to Craig’s dismissal.
“Sydney were doing it easy, they had the rate under six per over and looked in control.
“Captain Alex Kerkham continues to improve and he was able to create pressure with his field placements. He moved Vishaal Kudupudi up from fine leg, and the momentum shifted when he caught Craig.
“All the fielding practice paid off too, the boys made three run outs with direct hits.”
Coming off a heavy defeat to Gordon, Finemore was delighted with his side’s response and also singled out the death bowling of Chase Hayward (2-20).
“Chase’s bowling has come on in leaps and bounds,” he said of the tall right-arm medium pacer.
“Even under pressure he was able to land his wide yorkers. He bowled eight dot balls in his final two overs.”
FRONTRUNNERS TUMBLE
Sutherland have jumped to sixth on the ladder after upsetting the previously unbeaten Parramatta in a rain reduced 20-over contest at Merrylands.
Destructive opener Arjun Nadadur (26 off 27) got Parramatta away to another fast start before the weather intervened at 0-43 in the eight over.
When play returned Sutherland quick Jackson Kean (4-20) immediately ripped out four wickets as the home side battled to post 8-79.
Although at 4-32 in reply, the visitors had it all to do with 11 overs remaining.
The chase required a partnership of quality, and that’s exactly what Lucas Sheehy (25*) and Bailey Parker (34*) delivered. In an unbroken stand of 55, the pair rounded out Sutherland’s third win with 10 balls to spare.
“It was a good win, it means a lot to the team,” said Sutherland coach Jake Wilson, who was at the helm for last season’s semi-final defeat at the same venue.
“Nadadur didn’t play a bad shot, but after several rain delays Kean and Tom Faulkner bowled us back into the match.
“The guys were up for a fight given Parramatta are the benchmark, we just wanted to put them under as much pressure as we could.”
In an example of how tight the competition is, Mosman slipped to eighth on the ladder after the Whales suffered their first loss of the season against a resurgent Gordon.
After being sent in, the Stags racked up a series of partnerships to post a healthy 7-220 from 44 overs. Tyler McInnes top scored with a run-a-ball 56 in an innings where skipper Toby Robinson started to regain some lost touch with 30 off 58.
After successfully chasing down more than 200 on Sunday, Mosman would’ve fancied their chances of a repeat. But aside from Angus Tesoriero (43 off 68) the Whales’ top order showed little resistance in the face of inspired spells from Tom Fuzes (2-20), Campbell Smith (3-33) and Sam Dillon (2-25).
The comprehensive 99-run victory now sits Gordon among the pacesetters in third spot.
NORTH SIDE SHIFTS INTO GEAR
Manly and Norths both notched wins to grab a share of fourth spot.
At Hurstville, a third victory looked unlikely for Manly as they crashed to 4-25. St George openers Manav Shah (3-39) and Rithvik Kumar (2-46) made the early inroads before Myles Kapoor (84 off 119) rescued the innings with his second straight half century.
But in a contest that would go down to the wire, it was Harry McCracken’s late cameo that proved decisive in Manly’s 9-222. Off just 28 deliveries, McCracken found the rope four times and cleared it once in an unbeaten 43.
Keanu Botha (42 off 69) topped scored in reply, but with two crucial wickets, it was Kapoor’s day (2-31) as Manly held firm to win by 29 runs.
Despite rolling Campbelltown Camden for 75, it was anything but a walk in the park for the Bears at Raby.
Norths left-armer Jack Quinane (4-12) did the early damage with the new ball, before the batters were tested in the four-wicket win.
In an unusual looking card, Karan Sharma top scored with 11 not out, but in a total of 6-76 it was the 24 extras that robbed the Ghosts of staging a miracle comeback.
RANGERS UNDER THE RADAR
Another consistent all-round effort has seen Northern District hold down top spot after they got the better of UNSW in a rain reduced contest at David Phillips South.
Finn Bailey top scored with a brisk 65 as the Rangers reached 6-191 from 38 overs. Rubeindranath Gobinath was next best with 40 off 38 and continued his fine form after the break, snaring 4-34 as the Bees were bowled out 31 short of the target.
After making 70 at No.10 in round four, Angus Weightman shifted up the UNSW order where he once again top scored, hitting 54 at third-drop.
KNOCK OF THE ROUND
Rehaab Afzaal fell an agonising four runs shy of raising his bat for a well deserved century as Easts accounted for Bankstown at Waverley.
In scoring the bulk of his side’s 5-198, the right-hand opener was at his free flowing best with three fours and as many sixers during his 94-ball stay.
Bankstown were patient in response but were unable to maintain the required run rate. Cooper McMahon’s 46 was best in his side’s 8-167.
With wins on home turf, Wests and Fairfield-Liverpool maintained their hopes of playing finals.
The Lions took care of Randwick Petersham at Rosedale Oval. Aswath Suman (48 off 93) and Ahan Vinod (44 off 52) led the way with the bat before Yash Deshmukh (3-17) and Jack Lehner (3-15) bowled the side to a second straight victory.
Wests claimed their second win following a four-wicket victory over Sydney University. Captain William Zakostelsky backed up an economical 2-16 off nine overs with 27 in a chase led by Prince Patel’s unbeaten 59 off 117.
ROUND 6: THURSDAY, 18 JANUARY
Sydney v UNSW at Drummoyne Oval
UTS North Sydney v Blacktown Mounties at Tunks Oval
Bankstown v Gordon at Bankstown Oval
St George v Fairfield-Liverpool at Hurstville Oval
Sutherland v Eastern Suburbs at Glenn McGrath Oval
Northern District v Campbelltown Camden at Asquith Oval
Hawkesbury v Western Suburbs at Bensons Lane No.1
Manly Warringah v Parramatta at Manly Oval
Randwick Petersham v Penrith at Coogee Oval
Sydney University v Mosman at University Oval No.1
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