Darwin’s Jacob Dickman and Atharv Deshpande notch up huge opening stand
The Darwin openers put together a huge double century stand to lay down a huge challenge for Tracy Village to chase. Catch up on all the Darwin Cricket action.
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A double century opening stand between Darwin pair Jacob Dickman (135) and Atharv Deshpande (120) launched their team to a mammoth 4-325 when they declared late on day one of their Darwin A-Grade match against Tracy Village played at Kahlin Oval.
The Eagles were gifted first use of the placid pitch following the Village decision to bowl first after winning the toss and it was mostly downhill to the tea break for the visitors where the score was 0-213.
The opening partnership of 228 was chanceless and ended soon after the break when Dickman charged down the wicket to leg spinner Arjun Sehrawat but was deceived and nicely stumped by Steven Roser.
An out-of-sorts Mitchell Jamieson joined Deshpande at the crease before the opener was dismissed, but with Jamieson (52) finding some touch, the Eagles declared at 4-325 from 57.2 overs.
The gloomy afternoon for the Villagers at the Eagle eyrie didn’t end there because at stumps they were reduced to 4-47 from 18 overs faced.
Chief destroyer was left-arm seamer Max Birthisel (2-8, six overs) who was playing his first game for Darwin after being recruited from the Footscray Cricket Club in Melbourne.
In his first year as non-playing coach at Tracy Village, Rick Bean is under no illusions about his task ahead at the club.
“Despite our inexperience and youth, we go out to win every game and we came here today and heard Darwin was pretty keen to get maximum points out of us, and we thought that bowling first would put pressure on them going about their batting innings,” Bean said.
“We as a club, and that includes this first eleven, haven’t played a game for nearly one month and that is because of a fixture peculiarity. That is not an excuse but somewhat of a reason why we didn’t start too well here today.
“I needed to keep the players motivated and took it as an opportunity to let the recruits go home or away and re-energise. It seemed to work because most came back fresh and that was reflected in our enthusiastic training during the week.
“It is never ideal to have such an extended break mid-season but realistically we must reset and almost start again at the club and fill up from the bottom.
“However, the attitude from all players at all levels is exemplary and that is a solid foundation.”
In other games, Palmerston has already taken first innings points over a lethargic Nightcliff.
Batting first, the Tigers managed a paltry 86 with Darshan Thakka (3-27) filing the best return with the ball while Rommel Shahzad (2-6), Daniel McKell (2-8) and Matt Scoble (2-19) all provided valuable support.
At stumps, the Maroons stand at 9-181 with Alex Bleakley (84) being the standout while Coen McKinnon (2-23) and Charlie Smith (2-31) did their best to keep the game alive with the ball.
And a 2024 competition best of 8-50 (25.4 overs) by Waratah quick Noah McFadyen pretty much played a lone hand in skittling PINT for 144. Prasanna Ketheeshwaran (50) was the only player to tame the red cap firebrand.
Results:
Nightcliff 10-86 (Darshan Thakka 3-27) v Palmerston 9-181 (Alex Bleakley 84; Coen McKinnon 2-23, Charlie Smith 2-31.
PINT 10-144 (Prasanna Ketheeshwaran 50; Noah McFadyen 8-50) v Waratah 1-46.
Darwin 4dec-325 (Jacob Dickman 135, Atharv Deshpande 120, Mitchell Jamieson 52; Guntaas Brar 2-27) v Tracy Village 4-47 (Steven Roser 34no; Max Birthisel 2-8).
Bye: Southern Districts.
Nightcliff openers pile on the runs to beat Darwin
A century each to Nightcliff openers Douwtjie Hoogenboezem and Connor Carroll set the Tigers on the path to a crushing win over Darwin on day two of the Darwin A-Grade match played at Nightcliff Oval.
The left-handed pair were chasing 262 for victory, and added 162 between them for the first wicket.
It wasn’t until Carroll was caught behind for 101 from the bowling of Dylan McMahon, who was introduced to the attack later than expected, that the batting side was dented
Soon after the break, McMahon trapped Paul Wasiewicz in front for 18 but Tyler Van Luin joined Hoogenboezem (115no) and that pair carried the score to 2-269 from 54.4 overs before play ended.
It was not a good day in the field for the Eagles where only lively medium pacer McMahon impressed with the ball and appeared likely to penetrate some stout defence and exhilarating stroke play.
Carroll’s century was his second for the season, but the 22-year-old will return to his Brisbane Club, Northern Suburbs, at the completion of the T20 competition in two weeks’ time.
“This is my third season at Nightcliff – the competition in Darwin is strong and competitive and I love playing here but my home club requires me back because cricket in Brisbane starts earlier than in other states,” Carroll said.
“I enjoy batting with Douwtjie, we have fun and the occasional laugh, but we are definitely contrasting in our batting methods - he seems to take his time while I prefer to go more aggressively and so he tends to feed me lots of the strike.
“Today was our third partnership in excess of 150 and I will miss batting with him and being in the company of the rest of the team, but my future lies with Norths and if they keep wanting me to play then I will keep going back.
“My preference is playing white-ball cricket and I want to see how far I can go in the game, so my immediate future is with Queensland. However, we are still alive in the Darwin T20 comp, and it would be nice to take that trophy as well before I go.”
In other games, Palmerston passed the Waratah 220 with ease winning by nine wickets in the match played at Gardens Oval.
Maroon openers Caleb Montague and Matthew Scoble got their team going with a 63-run opening stand and then Montague (108no) and Tahj Hill (64no) added an unbeaten 160 runs for the second wicket which completely overwhelmed the red cap bowlers and at 1-223, stumps were drawn.
And PINT overcame Southern Districts to win by five wickets in the day-nighter at DXC Arena.
Chasing 252 for victory, PINT openers Connor Poulton and Farzan Chowna gave their side an ideal start with an 87-run stand before Poulton (44) was dismissed by leg spinner Dylan Mullen for 44.
Two more wickets by Mullen and when Chowna finally fell to medium pacer Chris McEvoy for 113, Districts had some hope, but middle order pair Nicholas Bembrick (19no) and Joshua Ash (13no) stood firm and carried their team to a well-crafted victory.
Results:
Nightcliff 2-269 (Douwtjie Hoogenboezem 115no, Connor Carroll 101; Dylan McMahon 2-40) d Darwin 10-268 (Jordan Rossi 84, Will Andrews 83; Charlie Smith 4-77, Connor Carroll 2-35, Andrew Richards 2-62).
Palmerston 1-223 (Caleb Montague 106no, Tahj Hall 64no, Matthew Scoble 46) d Waratah 10-220 (Aryan Jain 64, Sam Elliott 38; Rommel Shahzad 4-56, Hamish Martin 3-81).
PINT 5-252 (Farzan Chowna 113, Connor Poulton 44; Dylan Mullen 4-96) d Southern Districts 10-251 (Dylan Mullen 46, Chris McEvoy 33no; Coby Edmondstone 4-60, Joshua Ash 3-28).
Bye: Tracy Village
Darwin set challenge for Nightcliff in two-day comp opener
The opening red ball match between Nightcliff and Darwin is evenly poised at stumps, with both sides looking to take control in the two-day game.
Darwin chose to bat after winning the toss and shuffled its line up in an attempt to strengthen a fragile middle and late order batting array.
Jordan Rossi and Will Andrews moved to the top of the order, and the move paid dividends with the pair adding 128 runs for the first wicket before leg spinner Charlie Smith dismissed Andrews.
Medium pacer Connor Carroll trapped Atharv Deshpande in front a short while later and at the tea break the Eagles had reached a steady 2-134.
Mitchell Jamieson and skipper Daniel Kerber combined with an enduring Rossi adding valuable partnership runs in the middle order and carried the score to 5-205 before Rossi (84, 202 balls) was run out.
Will Pilkington (22) and Kris Denby (18) added valuable runs at the end before the visitors were dismissed for 268 runs.
Nightcliff’s early bowlers were steady at best but couldn’t break the century opening stand.
However, the persistence of Smith (4-77, 25.5 overs), off-spinner Andrew Richards (2-62) and Carroll (2-35) was noticeable in holding the batting in check while providing relief through regular wickets.
Injured Nightcliff captain Michael Kudra, who is nursing a shoulder injury and missed the 50-over premiership last weekend, was watching from the sidelines.
Kudra however remains keen to get back to his normal on-field duties behind the stumps and in the middle order with the bat.
“I’m so disappointed at missing last week because you play cricket to win finals and although the boys got it done, I suppose it doesn’t matter but it is a sad tale for me not to play.” Kudra said.
“I did play for Port Adelaide recently when we won the Adelaide Premier Grade competition which was so surreal because you don’t get to play in winning finals very often and that is some recompense for missing last week.
“I find out next week the true problem with my shoulder and while I suspect it is an AC joint stretch, hopefully it’s a grade one so I should be back in a couple of weeks.”
White ball cricket is drawing to a close in Darwin and Kudra is in two minds about the introduction of the red ball game for the remainder of the season.
“White ball cricket is over for me now, so we’ve all got to get around to red ball mentality and while I like both forms of the game, as a captain, I prefer the white ball game because I seem to understand it better,” he said.
“But I just love playing cricket and at the end of the day, I don’t care what form it is.”
In other games, Waratah was bowled out by Palmerston for 220 in their match played at Gardens Oval.
Red cap batting was given a solid start by Aryan Jain (64) and Sam Elliott (38) who added 83 for the first wicket and Jagadeswara Koduru (35) also got among the runs.
But with the score at 2-146, disaster struck with spinners Rommel Shahzad (4-56, 30 overs) and Hamish Martin 3-81, 24 overs) both claiming quick wickets, the home side collapsed to 5-150.
A moderate recovery at the end lifted the score to 10-220. In reply, Palmy is 0-2 from its single over faced.
And in the day-nighter played at DXC Arena, Southern Districts holds the upper hand in the match against PINT. When stumps were drawn, the rural men had been bowled out for 251 from 78.3 overs.
In an unusual situation, all Districts batsmen reached double figures with opener Dylan Mullen (46) topping the list, but none completely conquered the PINT bowlers led by Coby Edmondstone (4-60 from 24.3 overs) and Joshua Ash (3-28).
Results:
Darwin 10-268 (Jordan Rossi 84, Will Andrews 83; Charlie Smith 4-77, Connor Carroll 2-35, Andrew Richards 2-62) v Nightcliff.
Waratah 10-220 (Aryan Jain 64, Sam Elliott 38; Rommel Shahzad 4-56, Hamish Martin 3-81) v Palmerston 0-2.
Southern Districts 10-251 (Dylan Mullen 46, Chris McEvoy 33no; Coby Edmondstone 4-60, Joshua Ash 3-28) v PINT.
Bye: Tracy Village
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