NORTH Pines blew an opportunity to take top spot of Para District Cricket Association’s grade one after stumbling with the bat, leaving a relatively simple chase for Virginia in Saturday’s one-day fixture.
North Pines opener Ali-Reza Rezai started well, scoring 31, but his partners fell early and often as Nathan Warren (5/17) ripped through the line-up.
Virginia started in almost identical fashion, with opener Anthony Bascombe making 30 and his first two partners falling for three runs and seven runs respectively, but a strong middle-order showing carried the hosts to a five-wicket win and pulled it within a game of the top-four.
North Eastern Knights grabbed its second win of the season thanks to a big batting performance, putting up a score of 217 with six players scoring at least 17 runs, led by Jeffrey Domeika’s 44.
Despite the massive 40-over score, Luke King still bowled at a high level for Parafield Gardens, taking 3/18 in eight overs and bowling no extras.
The hosts put up a real fight, aided by 37 extras, with Dylan Taylor scoring 54 runs and a tail-end cameo from Luke King delivering 23 not-out, but ran out of overs to finish on 9/201 and lose by 16 runs.
Capping off a good round for the bottom teams on the table, Angle Vale nabbed its third win to avoid being overtaken by North Eastern Knights, scoring 7/190 after winning the toss and choosing to bat.
Jon Pogas starred for the visitors, scoring 83, while Dublin’s chase hinged entirely on Riley Barker, who scored 72 but couldn’t overcome three ducks from his side’s first six batsmen as the side reached its 40 overs with 9/177 on the board, losing by 13 runs.
Joshua Pfeiffer was the pick of the Angle Vale bowlers, taking 3/15 in eight overs, while youngster Harry Pannell took 2/28 after a terrific showing as part of the PDCA under-16 representative team last week.
In grade two, Smithfield won its top-of-the-table clash against One Tree Hill after chasing down a score of 153 with three balls remaining.
In grade three Enfield United put up a score of 6/221 thanks to the performances of opener Scott Brasser (77) and Harsharan Bharti (75), before going on to bowl North Pines out for 137.
Something must have been in the water at Enfield this week, as Enfield United’s grade four team went even better, scoring 4/297 against Salisbury West with all six batsmen scoring at least 22 runs, led by Ben Roberts’ 72.
Roberts then took 2/3 with the ball to help remove Salisbury West for 151, winning by 142 runs.
