WGCA Premier division – round 10

By Kane Latham
TOORADIN had a strong win over Cardinia, Beaconsfield accounted for a Chris Pentland-less Upper Beaconsfield, and Pakenham Upper/ Toomuc and Beaconsfield easily accounted for Catani and Officer respectively in round 10 of the WGCA.
The battle for the “Little Ashes” was at Upper Beaconsfield, and the visitors won the toss and batted. Beaconsfield lost its first wicket early, losing the in-form Kris Fletcher for just four runs.
It then lost Brad Miles and Justin Stanton to be 3/64. Enter Troy McDermott, who hit the ball to all parts of the ground and, along with Jordy Andrews, got Beaconsfield into a strong position to finish with 7/189. McDermott finishing with 67, and Andrews on 33.
For Upper Beaconfield, Scott Pitcher picked up wickets but was expensive, finishing with 3/51 from eight overs. John Simpson took 2/29 from his eight.
In reply, Upper Beaconsfield lost Julian Bayard for just nine, bringing John Simpson and Dan Brennan together. When Brennan was removed for 53 runs, the score was 2/95.
Luke Pitcher came and went quickly but John Simpson worked hard to take the score to 143 before he went for a well-made 44. From there, Beaconsfield ran through the home side, not allowing another batsman to reach double figures and finishing Upper off in 38 overs, for 164.
Jason Dodd took 2/19 from six overs and Justin Stanton chipped in with his leg breaks, taking 2/19 from four.
Tooradin played host to Cardinia, winning the toss and batting first. On a slow, soggy ground, Tooradin quickly found itself in trouble at 3/54, with the in-form Mat Walker the third wicket to fall, after making 39 runs.
This brought together Aaron Avery and Ash Adams who took the score to 118 runs before Adams was removed for 27. Avery continued as batsmen came and went, and he was dismissed in the last over for 66 runs from just 61 balls, seeing the score to 9/171.
In reply, Cardinia was bowled out for 146 runs in 36.4 overs. Steve Hamill took 4/28 from his overs and Rory Alder and Ash Adams chipped in with two wickets each. No details were entered for Cardinia.
At Kooweerup Recreation Reserve, the home side took on the struggling Officer and was all out for 129 in just 34.4 overs. Chris O’Hara and Shane Dole were the only batsmen to have any impact, with 29 and 33 respectively.
For Officer, Kable Dowsett, Brett Reid and Oliver Brown took two wickets each, and Shane White and Andrew Tucker took one each.
In reply, Officer was all out for 83 runs, in 31.2 overs. Tony Smith was the only notable scorer with 22.
Matt Davey and Shane Dole took 3/11 and 3/6 respectively, tearing the Officer batting line-up apart.
Pakenham Upper/Toomuc hosted Catani in a bottom-of-the-table clash, both sides desperate to get their first win for the season. Catani posted 9/115 thanks to 26 runs to Brad McDonald and 30 to Luke McFarlane.
The run rate was kept down by tight bowling from The Yabbies, in particular Chris Smith who took 2/6 from five overs, including three maidens. Pakenham Upper/Toomuc would also be happy with Andrew Cooper’s return to the first XI and taking 4/28.
The Yabbies lost two quick wickets before young skipper Chris Smith found form again, knocking up 56 not out to carry his side over the line for the loss of just three wickets. Matt Thompson and Travis Kitchin took one wicket each.