Gulls firm in top four

By Julian Bayard
TOORADIN consolidated its recent move into the A-grade top four by amassing 328 for the loss of eight wickets against Pakenham on Saturday.
Led by captain Brenton Adams and young star Callum O’Hare, the Seagulls’ batsmen batted with class and finesse against a determined Paken-ham bowling attack, desperate to keep its side out of the bottom four.
Opening batsmen Matthew Walker combined with O’Hare to see the home side off to a terrific start, with the pair sharing an 80-run opening partnership, to which Walker contributed 56, including nine boundaries.
From there the runs cont-inued to flow, with Aaron Avery’s duck the only blem-ish on a superb Tooradin scorecard.
O’Hare scored an excellent 71, while captain Brenton Adams was run-out just nine runs short of what would have been his first century for the season.
Dale McCraw and Ben Maroney were the only Pakenham bowlers to taste any real success, each claiming two wickets on a fairly disappointing day for the Lions.
Shane Dole became the third Kooweerup batsman to be dismissed within a heartbeat of a century this season as he crafted 98 of his side’s 9/299 against Catani at Kooweerup Recreation Reserve.
Several missed chances from the Catani fieldsmen may prove costly for the Blues, who at one stage had Kooweerup reeling at 4/88, and perhaps looking at a score of under 200 for the second match in a row.
However, the catches did not stick and the Demons’ batsmen capitalised, with Steve Johnson joining Dole to score a fine 62, while the Kooweerup tail wagged to move the score from 8/204 to 9/299 at stumps.
Lionel Sexton was again the standout performer with the ball for Catani, claiming the figures of 4/78 from 23 overs, while Ross Korthholt also collected two wickets.
Nar Nar Goon-Maryknoll continued its recent good form by dismissing Kilcunda-Bass for 151, with Scott Musgrove starring for the Marygoons, claiming five wickets.
Six Kilcunda-Bass players failed to reach double figures, with wicketkeeper Ashley Oats top scoring for the Sharks with 36.
With seven overs to bat late on day one, the Marygoons protected in-form batsman Matthew Lownds and opened with Neil Rankin and Austin Van Strijp, the latter being dismissed for just four by Dean Pipicelli, leaving the visitors 1/12 at stumps.
Adam Hobson was the star of the show at Cardinia as the Bulls’ paceman picked up seven wickets in an ominous display against Officer that was dismissed for 176 from 73 overs.
Hobson tore through the Bullants’ batting line-up, taking the figures of 7/74 from 23.5 overs, while Dwayne Doig also chipped in with two wickets from his 32 overs before the Bulls reached 0/5 at stumps.
Unfortunately, there were no batting figures available from Officer at the time of writing this report.
All but two Pakenham Upper-Toomuc (PUT) batsmen reached double figures as the Yabbies compiled 228 against Merinda Park at Pakenham Upper Recreation Reserve.
While several Yabbies’ batsmen made promising starts, none of them could go on and make the required big score, with number-eight batsman Paul Gramc (48)and number-11 Brent Fer-gusson (42 not-out) enabling PUT to post a respectable total after earlier looking in trouble at 8/154.
Merinda Park opening bowler Craig Boswell bowled sensationally for the Cobras, taking 4/47 from 20 overs, before his side lost the wicket of Andrew Syddall late on day one, to be perilously placed at 1/12 at stumps.
Beaconsfield was dismissed for 155 from 69 overs against Devon Meadows at Cranbourne Racecourse, setting up an enthralling battle this week after the Panthers reached 1/27 at stumps in reply.
The Panthers will be lamenting several missed opportunit-ies throughout the afternoon in the field, with seven Tigers’ batsmen failing to reach double figures.
Damien McMaster was the best of the Beaconsfield bats-men with a fine 40 at the top of the order, while Matthew Brown’s 35 at number-nine allowed Beaconsfield to post a defendable total.
James Howard relished his promotion from C-grade ranks to take 4/30 from 13 overs for the Panthers, while Peter Zauner and Mick Floyd also bowled well to pick up three and two wickets respectively.