After excellent performances in their first two rounds, Hawks A-Grade were looking to continue their winnings ways and complete a clean sweep of the first three rounds.
With Dunsborough winning the toss, the Hawks found themselves in the field with Dunsborough openers making a strong start on a flat wicket, moving quickly to 1/58 off 21 overs, after Tyson Warnke took a brilliant catch in the deep.
The pick of the bowlers early was Grant Garstone who bowled 10 overs straight for only 18 runs. The Hawks fought their way back into the innings, taking 3 wickets in the next 7 overs whilst only allowing 20 runs, with Peter Crimp opening his wicket account for the season. Crimp (4/44 off 10 overs) continued to strike regularly throughout the innings taking the next three wickets including Dunsborough skipper Josh Reagan. A tight second spell from Leigh Westcott and 3/22 from Braden Warnke assisted the Hawks in restricting Dunsborough to a total of 149.
A change to the Hawks opening combination saw Chris McLean joined by Kade Dittmar who constructed a partnership of 27 runs, the best opening stand of the season. With the dismissal of Dittmar, Joyce came to the crease and after two consecutive weeks of 50+ run partnerships, both were keen to continue their strong form together.
McLean took control with powerful hitting through the legside, looking confident and capitalising on any poor deliveries. With their partnership on 50 runs, McLean was run out inadvertently from a straight drive that was touched by the bowler and continued on to break the non-strikers stumps, leaving him stranded just nine runs short of his half century. This would be the first of three bizarre dismissals throughout the Hawks innings.
Youngster Darcy Bailey applied himself well, capitalising on time at the crease and showing he has a bright future ahead, before being trapped in front LBW. Batting down the order, Rumesh Silva was looking to find form before Joyce (37) was run out and what followed was a mini batting collapse were the Hawks lost 3/13 in 5 overs.
With 8 wickets down, the Hawks still needed another 25 runs for victory and Dunsborough's confidence in their our performance lifted. However, it was Hawks veterans Mat Kent and Peter Crimp who showed resilience and managed to build a match winning 25-run partnership that saw the Hawks register their third win for the season in the 44th over.
B-grade
After losing the toss and being forced to field for the third week in a row the hawks were quietly confident on the back of a couple of good performances in the field the past few weeks and they didn't disappoint. Trent Matthews(3/17) opened the bowling with Blake Gillam. It didn't take long for Trent to strike snagging 3 wickets for just 5 runs from his first 4 overs. Taj Thomas(1/25) and Charlie Hart(1/31) were then bought into the attack and continued to bowel tight lines as Vasse slowly built there biggest partnership of the innings of 31.
Taj then Charlie both picked up wickets just before drinks leaving the home team at 5/70. Danny Weston (2/22) then joined Charlie after the break with immediate effect after incredible catch from Matthews.
David Holmes(2/5) was then bought into the attack combining with Hart (who pulled off the most unbelievable full length dive to his left mid air catch I've seen) to get rid of the lucky Shankar for 72 and then Harvey Fisher with a stumping to end the Vasse innings at 124. Gareth Stewart and Jude Shinnick(15) then opened the batting hoping to build partnerships and chase down the runs Stewart was dismissed in the second over by Vasse left arm quick Young.
Michael Sorenson(36) joined Shinnick at the crease and after seeing off the opening pair Shinnick was dismissed, After Weston came and went Hawkes were 3/29 after 20 overs, Paul Tognolini joined Sorenson to put on the biggest partnership of the match of 38. After drinks we never really got going due to the very tight bowling and fielding from the Vasse side, with Holmes caught on the boundary, Fisher(10) including 2 4's C&B and Sorenson all back in the shed the the runs vs balls left was just too big a task as the Hawkes falling agonisingly close (28 runs) to their first victory for the third week in a row.
C-grade
Nannup won the toss and, after a 5-minute team conference, elected to field. Malakai Wholagan and James Gannaway opened the batting for the Hawks. Good bowling from Nannup saw the Hawks struggling their way to drinks with the score 7/62, with the major contributors being Adrian Brown (16), Wholagan (15) and Darcy Currell (12). Things did not improve for the visitors after the interval with Nannup taking the remaining 3 wickets for a meagre 16 runs leaving the Hawks skittled for 78.
The Hawks came out from the change of innings with their backs against the wall after the poor batting performance. Angus Currell opened the bowling and was unfortunately hit for 6 with the very first ball of the innings. However, the young quick bounced back and quickly settled into a good opening spell that yielded 1-26 from 5 overs.
Fellow young gun Bailey Kelly opened the bowling from the city end of the ground and bowled a tight opening spell which saw Nannup's two opening batsman dismissed for just 7 runs each, leaving Nannup 2-29 after 6 overs.
Currell then picked up his first wicket of the match thanks to a handy bit of glovework from his captain behind the stumps.
To follow up his catch Tristan "Heals" Mugford then completed a run-out with a bullet-like throw from Darcy Currell to have the Tigers in trouble at 5-43. Just prior to the drinks break Wholagan followed up his batting with a nomination for Falcon of the year off an errant shot from Nannup captain Rasmussen.
With the ball hanging in the air, the young leggy showed good technique and positioned himself well under the ball, his only mistake was positioning his hands directly over the top of his face.
As the ball returned to earth it slipped through Wholagan's fingers leaving only his face to absorb the impact. Fortunately, there were no major injuries and Wholagan valiantly soldiered on in the field.
Two overs later a very similar shot from Rasmussen off the bowling of Mark Jones presented a similar scenario to young all-rounder Bailey Kelly who made up good ground to take a diving outfield catch and have Nannup reeling on 5-53 at the drinks break. Upon the resumption of play, finger spinners Jono Outred and Adrian Brown continued to apply the pressure with tight bowling. Outred took 3 wickets in quick succession which included being on a hat-trick, Nannup found themselves 8-60 with a further a further 19 runs required to win with no one left in the sheds.
One thing the Tigers had in their favour was stalwart Peter Bresser still at the crease. Bresser fought valiantly and kept Nannup in the game, nursing his side to 8-78. His batting partner Nick Mills performed very well at the other end and absorbed the Hawks pressure very well. Margaret River's new recruit Charlie Flintoff found himself bowling what would turn out to be the final over the match. With the scores tied at 78 runs each, Flintoff turned at the top his mark and began his run up with his mullet fluttering majestically in his wake.
Proving he is all business at the front, bowled an almost unplayable delivery that beat the bat of Mills, hitting him on the front pad dead in front of the stumps giving the Nannup umpire no choice but give him out LBW. Nannup only had 10 players meaning their innings ended with a score of 9-78 resulting in a tie. Despite being under the pressure of a low first-innings total, the young Hawks bowled and fielded exceptionally and never allowed the Tigers to build any momentum. Accurate bowling and tight fielding saw Nannup lose regular wickets which did not allow them to build crucial partnerships. A tie is an incredibly rare event in cricket and it certainly felt like a win with just 78 runs on the board.
Junior Cricket
MR Gold Stage 2 Vs Saints White @ Churchill
MR Gold looked to continue their progress in Round 2 working on their goals of maximising retirements and bowling consistent line and length. After losing the toss, MR Gold took to the field and made a strong start against the best of the Saints batsmen.
The quality of our fielding was very good and included a great catch from Reuben behind the stumps. By the completion of the 26th over, Saints had reached a total of 91 runs, with MR Gold only conceding 18 extras. We commenced our innings with Reuben and Max opening the batting together, applying themselves well against the skilful Saints bowlers. Whilst some wickets fell, MR Gold were able to retire a total of five batters throughout the innings, demonstrating sound technique and patience in building their innings. After an improved batting performance, MR Gold were dismissed for 70 runs. Coach Shane was super proud of their Round 2 performance. Well done to all players and we look forward to our next challenge on Nippers next Saturday.
Batting Performances - Culann 16 runs, Andy 10 runs. Bowling Performances - Andy 1/5, Caspian 1/5.
