AW Green Shield: Round six wrap from NSW’s premier U16 cricket tournament
There was a century and a five-wicket haul as the mad scramble for finals spots intensified in the penultimate round of the under-16s Green Shield. Catch the latest. Round six wrap.
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Heavy rain on Wednesday evening threatened to put a dampener on round six of the under-16s Green Shield.
The excess water had its way at Tunks Park where the Blacktown and UTS North Sydney fixture was abandoned well before Thursday morning’s scheduled start of play.
Elsewhere there was a breakthrough ton and a tasty bag of five as the remaining 18 teams gave their best in the run to the finals.
With spots still on the line in the all important top eight, the majority of sides still have plenty to play for.
Click HERE for current standings.
Round six wrap.
HARDLY KAPOOR FORM
Everything Myles Kapoor touches is turning to gold at the moment. With his third straight half century the stylish Manly batter guided his side to a crucial victory over a strong Parramatta combination at Manly Oval.
Despite heavy overnight rain, Parramatta elected to bat and were staring at consecutive defeats from the outset when Julian Osbourne (2-13) dismissed destructive opener Arjun Nadadur without scoring.
North Coast wrist spinner Harry Kershler (4-23) continued the home side’s charge and it was only a defiant captain's knock from Blake Noorbergen (76* off 124 balls) that lifted the premiers to a final score of 131.
Prapta Das (4-42) rocked Manly’s top order before Kapoor (58* off 74) and Miles Milliner (27 off 38) stemmed the flow of wickets to cap off Manly’s third straight victory.
“It was definitely a good toss to lose, we would have batted too,” said Manly coach Kev Davies.
“The early wickets helped contain Noorbergen and he eventually ran out of partners.”
On a log-jammed ladder, the win moves Manly up to third spot while Parramatta slip to seventh.
“Wins don’t come easy in this comp and Kapoor has held our last two innings together with quality knocks,” said Davies.
“He’s a local boy and he's good at picking the right balls to hit when they are there.
“Milliner played his part too, he’s only 14 and his ability to clear the fence is really valuable, especially when chasing a low total.
“He’s exceptional at soccer too, but hopefully we can keep him playing cricket.”
At Bankstown, Gordon extended its winning streak to four with a comfortable 51-run victory.
Once again Vivaan Gandhi (71 off 92) was the star with the bat, notching his second half century in three starts. Tyler McInnes (21 off 36) was next best in an innings where Josh Bean’s (3-30) off-spin saw Gordon bowled out for 190.
Riley Collison top scored with 31 as the home side were bowled out for 139. And for the third time in four games McInnes struck late, this time bagging 3-11 to finish as Gordon’s best.
PRINCE OF ASHFIELD
Heading into round one, not many would have predicted Wests putting one over Hawkesbury by five wickets. But after knocking over the Hawks for an even 100, that’s exactly what happened.
From the moment paceman Santhosh Kumaran (4-23) picked up the early wickets of Samuel Voigt and Lucas Vincent, Wests never looked back. Raj Sharma (2-22) and Oscar Dance (2-2) continued to chip away in an innings where Sumair Sira top scored with 20.
In reply, a fired up Shlok Patel (1-26) charged in for the Hawks and knocked over Nirav Sharma with the first ball. Leg-spinner Aarush Soni (3-33) struck a few more hefty blows before the calming influence of Prince Patel (31*) guided Wests over the line in the 25th over.
“That’s two in a row now, and with the bonus point the boys have some real momentum,” said coach Josh Clarke from Pratten Park.
“If we can knock over Blacktown on Sunday then we’re a chance of playing finals.”
Following the win over last year’s grand finalists, Clarke believes the squad can mix it with anyone.
“Hawkesbury have had a tough run, but most of their players are succeeding in grade,” said Clarke.
“Plus we beat Manly a few weeks ago who I regard as one of the top sides, so we have shown we can compete.”
Minus the star power of the major contenders, Clarke believes the side’s depth is pivotal.
“Santhosh is still a year young, but he’s been among the wickets in most games and we believe he has the potential to develop into a handy bowling all-rounder,” he said.
“Prince already has a couple of fifties in fifth grade, but the beauty of our squad is that all 15 can contribute.
“The lower order guys are just as capable up the order, meaning there’s no need for panic if we lose early wickets.”
CATTLE TAMES LIONS
It’s been a big couple of months for Illawarra all-rounder Blake Cattle, and the good times continued with a five-wicket haul in St George’s 40-run win over Fairfield-Liverpool.
After patient openers Abhay Tushar Ranganath (53 of 88) and Luca Pengue (57 off 122) set the foundation for St George’s 7-203, Cattle, the inaugural Nathan Lyon medal winner at the recent U16 Country Champs rocked the Lions with 5-16 off 10 overs.
The right-arm offie picked up the valuable wicket of opener Yash Singh (52 off 61) and cleaned up the Lions’ middle order in a spell where he pouched three return catches.
COSTLY EXTRAS
A last wicket stand of 15 by Tim Molnar (14* off 24) and Yash Ghule (10* off 7) has seen Eastern Suburbs edge out Sutherland in a thriller at Glenn McGrath Oval.
Dolphins leg-spinners Rehaab Afzaal (3-25) and William Livissianis (2-40) combined to bowl out the home side 181, before Sutherland flipped the script with the ball until the final heroic partnership.
With a third consecutive victory Easts jump to fourth place, while the loss leaves Sutherland in ninth spot and needing to defeat a rampant Gordon on Sunday to challenge for a finals berth.
In a tight competition with little leeway for error, Sutherland will lament an extras column that gifted Easts an additional 26 runs. Of those, 21 came from wides and no balls.
Penrith proved just a frivolous against Randwick Petersham at Coogee, although still cruised to an eight-wicket win despite conceding 30 runs in wides and no balls.
With Daniel Jarvis (3-17) the best of four multiple wicket-takers, Penrith restricted Randy Petes to 139 before Adil Tariq (57*off 96) and Braith Gain (45 off 86) rounded out a successful chase inside 34 overs.
Penrith sit one point outside the top eight and need to beat Sydney University in the final round to have any chance of remaining in the competition.
TON OF COURAGE
A Neel Patel century has seen UNSW open its account with a 69-run win over Sydney at Drummoyne.
After being sent in, Patel opened the innings and continued working the ball either side of the wicket until the second last over when he was dismissed for a match winning 101.
With only four boundaries in his 125-ball knock Patel did plenty of running, but on 99, it was the crucial single that almost brought him undone.
After guiding the ball to the off-side, the right-hander hesitated and was almost caught short of his ground at the non-striker’s end.
UNSW finished on 8-224 with Stian Constable the next best with 42.
Freddie Webster (3-20) took a couple of quick wickets the new ball before Rishab Shah (4-29) helped bowl the side to victory.
ELSEWHERE
Northern District maintained its unbeaten run with a seven-wicket win on the road against the winless Campbelltown Camden.
In a rain reduced contest, Andrew Daley struck 50 for the Ghosts before the ever reliable Henry Abood (60* off 87) and Rubeindranath Gobinath (26* off 14) joined forces to hit the winning runs.
At Sydney University, Lachlan Russell hit an unbeaten 61 in the home side’s 8-184, but it was never enough against a strong Mosman line up.
Led by Angus Tesoriero’s 61 and 43 not out by Noah Quayle, the Whales only lost four wickets with six overs to spare.
ROUND 7: SUNDAY, 21 JANUARY
Bankstown v Mosman at Grahame Thomas Oval
Blacktown Mounties v Western Suburbs at Joe McAleer Oval
Eastern Suburbs v St George at Waverley Oval
Fairfield-Liverpool v Hawkesbury at Rosedale Oval
Gordon v Sutherland at Chatswood Oval
Manly Warringah v UTS North Sydney at Graham Reserve
Parramatta v Campbelltown Camden at Merrylands Park
Penrith v Sydney University at Howell Oval
Sydney v Northern District at Drummoyne Oval
UNSW v Randwick Petersham at David Phillips South
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