Super Slam: Ian Cockbain, Dan Worrall, Corey Rocchiccioli debut
There were a series of stunning individual displays and frantic displays across the Super Slam on Tuesday night. See some of the action.
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An innings of pure dominance.
Kingston Hawthorn’s Thaveesh Attanayake made a duck on Saturday in the Second XI but blazed 123 off 60 balls against Casey South Melbourne in Tuesday night’s Super Slam.
The left-hander carved 13 fours and 7 sixes (most over cow corner) after going in at 1-4 at Walter Galt Reserve.
His 78 minutes of swashbuckling batting propelled the Hawks to 9-191.
Incredibly, though, it wasn’t enough to give his side its first win in the Super Slam this season.
Casey South Melbourne mounted a turbo-charged run chase to pull off a stunning victory, with eight balls to spare. Michael De Iacovo (40 off 25 balls), Ashley Chandrasinghe (56 off 40), Evan Allaway (27 off 8) and Devlin Webb (26no off 10) powered the chase, with teenager Webb finishing it off with a six. The Swans have won both their games.
Kingston Hawthorn coach Peter Marshall said Attanayake’s innings was simply brilliant.
“123 off 60, 78 minutes at the crease, 94 in boundaries,’’ Marshall said.
“I looked up at the scoreboard at one stage and we were 128 and he was 110. And that was with seven extras.
“It was an innings of pure dominance, that’s how I describe that.’’
Marshall was disappointed the Hawks failed to defend the large total.
“They (Casey South Melbourne) batted outstandingly,’’ he said.
“It was a great game of cricket, nearly 400 runs scored in 40 overs on a lovely Tuesday night.
“I reckon he (Attanayake) wouldn’t give back all his runs but he would have gladly traded 50 runs back to have a win.
“We’ve just fallen short the past couple of weeks and we’ve just got to find a way to win.’’
Sensational late hitting from Dandenong No. 9 Dylan Vanderwert helped the Panthers salvage a tie with Frankston Peninsula – both sides knotted at 109.
With two balls to go, Vanderwert smashed a straight six from the bowling of Heat skipper James Nanopolous and then, off the final ball, played a cracking cover drive and scampered through for a two to share the points.
Earlier, Frankston’s Lucas McConnell blasted 44 off 25 balls (2 fours, 3 sixes) to rescue the Heat after they were reeling at 3-6 inside the first 15 minutes. Dandenong’s 6’7 quickie Braden Taeuber was at his hostile best, taking 3-14 off four overs, combining with Ben Allison (2-15) to give the Panthers a rousing start.
Dandenong’s run chase was powered by Matthew Wilson (31 off 28) and Brett Forsyth (23 off 30).
Half-centuries to Footscray openers Dylan Brasher and Nathan Caulfield proved pivotal in their side’s 39-run win over Greenvale as the pair helped the home team post 2-164 from its 20 overs.
In response, Greenvale was only was to reach 7-125.
Melbourne Renegades star Nic Maddison put together an impressive 66-run display for St Kilda in a 46-run victory over Camberwell Magpies.
Maddison hit 5 boundaries and 3 sixes during his 54-ball stay at the crease as Miles Sellenger led the way with 4-1 in a stunning display of bowling to clean up the Magpies’ tail.
Meanwhile, Carlton proved to be far too good for Essendon on the back of 48 runs at the top of the order from Evan Gulbis.
Carlton posted 6-166 from its 20 overs before the visitors were all out for 107.
Lucas Brasher and Xavier Crone both took three wickets.
It was a tie between Melbourne and Prahran in a high wicket taking encounter at the Albert ground.
Melbourne‘s Zane Keighran (22), Joe Cooke (23) and Jack Prestwidge (22) were unable to go on with starts as Prahran’s Matt Wilcox (3-15) and Blake Parsons took three wickets each.
Melbourne finished with a total of 120.
In reply, Will Sutherland (42) and Cameron Hemp (31) led the way for Prahran although it wasn‘t enough as Melbourne’s Harkirat Bajwa took a wicket on the second last ball of the run chase to keep the Demons needing three off the last ball.
On the last ball, Melbourne‘s Matt Wilcox was run out in an attempt for a third match-winning run and the game ended in a tie.
Melbourne Uni pulled off a nail biting victory over Geelong with debutant Corey Rocchiccioli starring with a six off the final ball to see his side over the line.
Needing 15 runs to win off the final over, Uni‘s Andrej Yaksender banged a six down the ground off the first ball of the final over to immediately bring the game into balance.
With five required to chase down Geelong‘s 136 from the final two balls, Yaksender hit a single and it came down to newly contracted Melbourne Renegades off-spinner Rocchiccioli to hit four off the last ball for victory.
The 25-year-old quickly became the hero hitting a glorious shot over long-on for six in just his second ball of the innings, giving Uni a 2-0 record in the Super Slam.
Here it is! ⬇ï¸ðŸš€ðŸ”¥ pic.twitter.com/vsawGyTTts
— Melbourne University Cricket Club (@MelbUniCC) December 6, 2022
It came after Rocchiccioli took two wickets in the first innings.
Yaksender was Uni‘s highest run scorer with a match-winning 45 from 28 balls featuring two sixes.
Lachlan Field was the star for Geelong, hitting an impressive 45 from 34 deliveries opening the batting before taking 2-20 from four overs with the ball.
GUNS LAND AHEAD OF ROUND 2
Round 2 of the Super Slam will be worth watching on Tuesday evening, with some genuine stars joining teams.
Frankston Peninsula, which hosts rivals Dandenong, will be boosted by Gloucestershire batter Ian Cockbain, who made a huge impact in BBL|11 as a late inclusion with the Adelaide Strikers.
The 35-year-old is playing local cricket with Langwarrin in the MPCA this season but is hopeful of again getting a late call-up to the Big Bash.
Frankston Peninsula coach Paul Boraston said Cockbain’s experience would benefit the young Heat side, which is chasing back-to-back wins in the Super Slam.
“He’ll bat in the top four … hopefully he goes okay,” he said.
“He’s obviously an experienced cricketer, he’s played a lot of white ball cricket, short form stuff, in the last 10 to 15 years so if we can use a bit of his experience it will be good.
“We might have him for another game or town, we’ll just see how things pan out.”
Last season Cockbain was plucked out of club cricket by the Strikers after Covid swept through the league.
He grabbed his chance by blasting 239 runs, at 59, in six games, including a blistering 71no off 42 balls against the Sydney Sixers that secured a finals berth for the Strikers.
He was unluckily overlooked for this year’s BBL, and Langwarrin has secured his services again.
An excellent addition for Prahran ahead of its clash with Melbourne at the Albert Ground, gaining international Daniel Worrall.
The former South Australian seamer relocated to England this year to play with Surrey. He boasts a decade of experience with South Australia (and almost 250 first-class wickets) and three ODI appearances for Australia as well as stints with the Melbourne Stars and Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash.
Prahran coach Justin Graham revealed how a “catch up for a beer” turned into a guest appearance for the right-armer.
“’Frankie” is a long-term friend of mine and he’s back from England for a while,” he said.
“I said seeing as we’re catching up for a beer you might as well roll the arm over as well. It will be great for some of our younger guys to play alongside someone of his experience.
“The Super Slam is a great opportunity to blood a few young guys, it can put them in high pressure situations and they can learn from that.”
Graham also confirmed Victorian all-rounder Will Sutherland would return to the Prahran line-up.
“It’s great to have ‘Sutho’ back, but we’re not sure if he’ll bat and bowl at the moment, we’ll find out tonight,” he said.
Melbourne University has signed Western Australian contracted off-spinner Corey Rocchiccioli as he will base himself in Melbourne for the entirety of the Big Bash after he signed with the Melbourne Renegades.
The 25-year-old will make his debut for Uni against Geelong on Tuesday night.
He is set to play in matches for the Premier club when he is available outside of the Big Bash.
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