Only a year after conceding the highest total in the history of Busselton-Margaret River A-Grade cricket in the corresponding fixture, Margaret River Hawks have turned the tables by defeating Dunsborough in a great team performance.
Dunsborough seemed to be on track for victory after they dismissed Hawks for 147 in 40 overs.
Nathan Whitney continued his excellent form for Dunsborough when he achieved the rare feat of three wickets in four balls, and would have had four wickets in six balls had a catch not gone down off his bowling. Whitney dismissed Paul Farmer and Rhys Willmott, then bowled a no-ball, and then dismissed Hawks skipper Paul Tognolini with his next delivery.
Sri Lankan import Rumesh Silva was the difference for Hawks with a remarkable performance.
The left-arm spinner conceded only seven runs in 10 overs and achieved eight maidens, as well as the wickets of Aaron Mott, Nick Ritchie and Matt Jamieson.
Matt Kent with 2-15, Chris McLean with 1-13 off 10 overs and Kade Dittmar with 1-10 also contributed strongly.
Dittmar, only 14, had earlier top-scored for Hawks with 28 and completed his all-round performance with a direct hit in the field to run out Danny Hatton.
Remarkably, only one catch was held in the innings, Whitney caught on the boundary, as Dunsborough collapsed to 92 all out in 42 overs.
There isn’t much more to add to these comments made by our skipper in the hours after the A grade victory. The Hawks are building something special at the Nest.
Missing finals last season without winning any games, the club could be excused for losing the passion but the Hawk pride themselves on having “ticker” and this is evident this season.
The Hawks now sit inside the top 4 at the Christmas bye with 3 wins so far this season and a quiet confidence is growing amongst the entire club.
“Well, total elation would be a mild description of my feelings right now. We posted a score of 147. I thought that well under par considering the pool table surface and the superb batting pitch.
“However the weather sort of moistened and that dead batting pitch turned into a different creature.... Rumesh Silva and Matthew Kent opened the bowling. Silva ten overs eight maidens, three for seven! I could not ever expect a finer performance from our bowlers. Three spin bowlers, all bowling out of their skin.
“Chris McLean ten overs for 13 runs, Rumesh Silva ten overs, 8 maidens, 3 for seven; All of this aside, the reason we won the match was two phenomenal acts of fielding. Kade Dittmar instinctive flat bullet from outside mid-off kind of won the game.
“If that wasn’t enough Matt Kent replicated the deal and put the pressure on big time. We keep showing that we are a force to be reckoned with.”
B GRADE
Hosting arch rivals Cowaramup is always an exciting match and all players enjoy these battles. Hawks skipper Maurice Shinnick won the toss and batted first on a glorious day at Gloucester Park. Garath Stewart and Sam Leigh opened up and put on 29 before Stewart was dismissed for 20. Leigh, (11) was next to depart followed by Jude Shinnick for 15 and Michael Sorenson, (0) to have Hawks 4 for 93.
Beecham, Standbury and Broun, all with 16 runs to their name kept the scoring rate up but it was Col Baker the stand out with 66 runs. Shinnick’s unbeaten 11 saw the Hawks make 9/195 and confident of victory.
Standbury and West McGrath opened the bowling and soon had Coates dismissed with the score on 18. Bull’s skipper Holben stuck firm with little partnerships with Barrett-Lennard, King and Herbst before he was dismissed for 31 with the score 5 for 81. Kurt Thompson, in his first game back after some serious medical concerns over the last 6 months, bowled beautifully to finish with 1 for 13 from 5 overs. Hawks veteran Michael Earl the standout bowler with 4 for 21 from 9 overs while Mitch Broun took 2 for 28 from 8. The Hawks picked up another victory and cements themselves in the top 4 at the Christmas break.
MARGARET RIVER JUNIOR CRICKET
Under 15s
Well the first half of the season has come to an end. Danny and I would just like to say we’ve got an awesome team, young gentlemen in the making and we would like to thank the parents for scoring and umpiring throughout so far.
Also a thank you to the Hawks who have been there at training and are giving the boys some good advice. So from all the boys, parents, Danny and myself we wish you all A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Under 11s
M/R Green vs. St Mary’s White
On a sunny day at the beautiful Cowaramup oval our captain, Josh F, won the toss and elected to bowl.
With only 6 players on the field (get better soon, Lachie!) the boys worked hard to keep St Mary’s to 12/73 off 20 overs. Brilliant bowling from Arkie (2/0 from 2 overs) and Oscar (2/11 from 4 overs) was complemented by catches from Josh F, Leroy, Oscar and a great wicket keeper's effort from Culann.
Also a team hat-trick off Josh F’s bowling saw two batters bowled with a run-out in between. After a short break our openers were quickly off the mark, with Josh F scoring 28 (5 fours, not out) and Arkie 31 (also 5 fours) each from their 20 balls faced. Solid batting from the middle order with Leroy (20), Culann (11) and Josh Y (7), before Oscar stormed home with 36 runs (5 fours) to bring the team total to 6/152.
After bonus points for wickets taken the result was M/R Green 200 def. St Mary’s White 97.
Thanks to St Mary’s for their fantastic sportsmanship and getting some of their younger players involved in the game. A huge thanks to Stu for umpiring and Adrian for scoring. Enjoy your break and we’ll train again at the end of January.
HOW TO BECOME A HAWK
The Hawks train Thursday nights from 4.30pm at Gloucester Park, Margaret River. Call James Gannaway on 0408 899 994 if you are interested in playing, volunteering or sponsoring this great, proud club.
All abilities catered for; all gear supplied. Come and be one of our #futurehawks
