A grade
More like a morning in the Great Southern with an unseasonable misty rain.. The curators nightmare after a week’s toil, but credit where credit is due, an absolute belter of a wicket was prepared and played on under the misty rain. The Hawks hosted Cowaramup in an absolutely crucial game for both teams.
Hawks came into this game desperate to play finals after one season out and Cowaramup were trying to secure a finals appearance while being reigning premiers. With the misty rain constant since the break of dawn and the wicket requiring further rolling once curating guru Neil gave it the all clear, it was decided a 45 over a side match would be played from 1pm. Hawks skipper Paul Tognolini won a very important toss and bowled first but with the visitors 2 / 50 after 15 overs, Cowaramup were well placed.
15 year old Kade Dittmar, (1/26 from 4) and 16 year old Kurt Thompson, (0/12 from 5) bowled beautifully while Rhys Willmott’s bowling, (3 overs 0/7) showed the promise he showed years earlier. However, enter Hawk stalwart Matty Kent and import Rumesh Silva. A deadly combination of Kent’s pace and Silva’s spin saw a Cowaramup capitulation. Silva took 3 for 15 from 8 overs while Kent’s 6 for 22 from 5.5 overs was just brilliant. With young Bull’s batsman Oates scoring 47 runs, the wicket proved to be a perfect wicket; however Cowaramup could only manage 89 overs inside 27 overs.
Normally this run chase would be comfortable, however it is never easy facing the Sri Lankan duo Kaveen De Silva and Buddhika Sanjeewa and with the damp surface, this should have been tougher than normal. The Hawks batting stood up. Rumesh Silva opened the batting and ground out 9 runs, ensuring he faced the majority of Sanjeewa’s bowling while Rhys Willmott looked comfortable before a ripper delivery from Sanjeewa cut him in half and took the top of leg stump. Enter Brad Kelly. Kelly looked as though he had spent the winter in English conditions, he appeared that comfortable. A 32 run partnership with returning start Martin Head, (15), took the score to 3 for 52 before Grant Garstone blasted his way to 17 not out and Kelly finishing unbeaten on 33 took the home team to 3 for 90 off 32 overs to secure a vital win. This was a fantastic run chase and result for a club that is well and truly ahead of its expectations and rebuilding timeline.
The Hawks would like to thank Neil and Rumesh for their hard work in getting a playable wicket together with the unseasonal weather Friday and Saturday. The A grade boys will enjoy a week off before a final assault for the remainder of the year.
C grade
Hawks Triple Header and Pink Stump Day finds C-Grade v Augusta at Nippers Oval. With the return of Captain Alastair and the Hawks winning the toss, we got off to a great start when we couldn't decide whether to bowl or bat... After much deliberation Augusta went into bat with two of our Juniors Mark Jones and Angus Currell opening the bowling. After getting of to a slow start, slippy hands Benn Dillon takes a quick 2 wickets in the 6th over (2/30 of 7) . The blind Man himself Joel Lawrance (4/39 of 8) accompanies Dillon taking another 4 wickets, with 2 catches taken by Danny Weston keeping the runs tight at 6/104. Jones (1/27 of 4) takes another wicket with a great catch from Mr Reliable (Garrath Stewart). Danny's wicket sends Augusta player off with the first duck of the day. After causing injury to himself Mitch Broun (2/15 of 3)sets Captain Alastair up for the perfect catch in slip 9/138. With 1 wicket left and the drizzle getting heavier and what seemed like a lifetime, Jones on the fine leg takes the perfect catch of Broun... Aug 10/163... Chasing 163 Hawks opening batsmen Garrath Stewart and Alastair Wilkie knew they were in for a hard slog against a strong bowling attack, but got us off to a good start with a 50 partnership before Alastair being run out for 22. Some good bowling and strong batting from Adrian Brown got the Hawks a few more runs before Adrian being caught bringing Tristan Mugford on to the pitch. The rain was stopping the sun began to shine and the bowling just got better another catch and we were 3/83. Mr Reliable Garrath hit the highest score of the day(49) was caught behind 4/96. We still had a few wickets up our sleeves, a few overs but a lot of runs to be made. Aeodhan Bailey started hitting everything and anything making a few single, doubles and 3s (26) not out. Even with Matt Jarvis hitting a 6 and a few strong singles (15) lady luck just wasn't on our side as the wickets fell faster than the 3 ducks that followed 8/108. With 6 overs left, 56 runs to get and 2 wickets to defend, Joel Lawrance steps up to the crease. Between him and Aeodhan they hit anything that came their way,. In 1 last mad attempt to make runs sees Joel's bat was launched through the air towards the boundary further than the ball. Unfortunately you can't make runs that way in this game, and victory, like Joels' pink bat grip, slipped out of our hands. Aeodhan batted with composure beyond his years finishing on 26 not out. Final score Hawks 8/141 Augusta 10/163... Proud to wear Pink.
U15. MR v YOBS
It was a fine day for fishing and our boys even brought us a few ducks. Yobs won the toss and decided to bat first. With the pitch being slippery and wet our pace bowlers couldn’t get the run ups they needed but still went on to the field to do their best. With the wickets falling consistently, even in the wet conditions our boys where still able to hold on to their catches, they where more determined than ever. Some serious bowling from Malakai Whologan 2/0 of 3, Euan Murray 2/3 of 2.1, Henry Gorta 2/16 of 3, Angus Currell 2/17 of 3, Mark Jones 1/2 of 3 and some great catches from Kade Dittmar., the boys were able to keep the runs tight and Yobs went down 9/68.
The batting wasn’t going to plan as we got our first duck on the first ball of the first over, by the second over our lonely little duck had got a playmate. At this point we where 2/1. Things had to take a turn, was there any runs to be made over the rainbow. Finally the boys settled and we started to see the score going up, with Bailey Kelly making a tremendous 47 runs before being run out, Mark Jones 22, Euan Murray 19 and Sam Robins with a secure 11 the encouragement the boys give each other was incredible. The final score MR 8/125 Yobs 9/68 ... Once again these boys have made us proud. U15s doing their bit for Pink Stumps Day
U11's M/R Green vs. Yobs Black
Once again Saturday morning started with weather better suited to ducks than to cricket. Under cloudy skies and light drizzle Leroy won the toss and took the Margies boys in to bat against the undefeated Yobs.
A very wet pitch and slow outfield made boundaries rare. Top scorers were Leroy (16, 2 fours), Arkie (14), Josh F (13) and Oscar (12). The boys finished their 20 overs on 8/109, with most runs earned by hard running between wickets.
Tight bowling kept the Yobs score low and M/R Green in the match. Yobs needed 7 runs from the final over to achieve a draw, and the tension was electric. Wide... single... single... two... dot ball...
It all came down to the last ball: Yobs needed 2 runs for a draw, three or more for victory. Quick single... overthrows... As the Yobs batter raced back for a second run the ball just got their first, and quick work by Lachie saw the bails fall for a run out.
Final score (after bonus points for wickets taken) was M/R Green 141 def. Yobs Black 136. A good all-round effort by the boys. Thanks to Ben and Stu for coaching and umpiring.
