ROMSEY continued to press its claim as one of the Gisborne and District Cricket Association’s top sides with a huge win over the Sunbury Kangaroos in the final round the McIntyre Cup before the Christmas break on Saturday.
The Redbacks travelled down Melbourne-Lancefield Road for an away meeting with the Kangaroos, who sent them in to bat after winning the toss.
The decision backfired for the home team however, as Romsey openers Taylor Stevenson and Tim Dale put on a gargantuan 250-run partnership for the opening wicket, knocking 38 total boundaries between them.
By the time Dale fell for 167, bowled by the Kangaroos’ Adam Fearnley, the match was effectively out of reach.
Sunbury did admirably to limit the damage thereafter, dismissing Stevenson for 76 and holding all but Chris Burkett, 27, and Nathan Hoy, 13, to single figures.
The Redbacks batted out their 45 despite the loss of several tailenders for ducks, finishing 9/320.
Michael Fox did the bulk of the damage for the Kangaroos, finishing with 6/52 from nine overs.
Sunbury was never in the run chase as it lost its top three batsmen – Fearnley, Jason King and Brad Stuart – for only 10 runs, and despite middle-order contributions of 36 from Mark Muir and 41 from Fox, the Kangaroos were all out for 116.
Chris Marienfeld led the Romsey bowling attack with 4/11 in seven overs, with Aaron Paterson picking up 3/28.
The win sees Romsey enter the mid-season break in fourth place, with a percentage bettering all but top side Gisborne.
Wallan, meanwhile, will need to produce a strong second half of the season if it hopes to contend for finals after dropping to eighth with a loss to Rupertswood at the weekend.
The Magpies elected to bat after winning the toss in a road game at Salesian College, making promising inroads early despite the loss of opener Spencer Whittingham for three runs.
Fellow opener Kieran Atkin was scoring at nearly a run a ball before his innings ended abruptly on 37, bowled by Rupertswoods’ John Lane.
From there the Wallan innings began to unravel, with first drop batsman Bryan Vance the only other Magpie to surpass 20 runs.
Hamish Mullavey-Clark tried to provide middle-order stability with 19 runs from 42 balls, but Wallan failed to bat out its 45 overs, bowled out for 138 with seven balls remaining.
Magpie bowler Todd Keenan did his best to salvage a win for the visitors with a brilliant spell that briefly had Rupertswood looking shaky.
The home side had reached 36 without loss when Keenan broke through to remove opener Ricky Turner for 12.
Veteran Steve Bell had Rupertswood’s John Lane caught behind soon after, and Keenan struck again with the wicket of Nathan Shoesmith for one.
The triple strike had Rupertswood in a precarious position at 3/40, but Jayden Swallow, 33, and Daniel Kavanagh, 44 not out, were able to consolidate the innings, and Thomas George, 18 not out, partnered with Kavanagh to hit the winning runs with four overs to spare after Swallow’s dismissal.
Keenan’s 3/17 from nine overs was easily the most impressive of the Wallan bowling performances.
Johnstone Shield
In the second-tier Johnston Shield competition, Kilmore continued its impressive debut season with a 113-run win against Riddell, solidifying second place on the ladder entering the mid-season break.
The Blues benefitted from handy contributions throughout their batting line-up after winning the toss, with Jacob Walton leading the side with 46 runs in the absence of usual captain Josh Buttler.
Ben Dawson, 26, and Tim Hanson, 23, were other key contributors who helped Kilmore reach 9/204 from its 40 overs.
The Blues proceeded to rout Riddell in the field, taking wickets at regular intervals to have the visitors all out for 91 inside 32 overs.
Ned Mckeown claimed 4/26 and Brett Buttler had an economical 3/9 to lead the Kilmore bowling attack, while Ash Lovick, 2/16, and Josh Squire, 0/7 including three maidens, kept the pressure on.
Other divisions
Lancefield remains in the Jensen Shield finals hunt after a 38-run win against St Anthonys, with Harrison Lehner, 55, Alan Sinclair, 34, and Mitch Docker, 32, leading the way with the bat and Sinclair, 3/24, and Dylan Mallia-Hogan, 3/8, doing damage with the ball.
Lancefield is in fifth with three wins and two losses.
In the women’s league Lancefield Black chased down Kilmore’s 6/159 to win by seven wickets.
Taylah Logie retired on 70 to lead the Blues, but innings of 68 not out from Lancefield’s Brooke Jeffrey and 65 from Nat Jeffery led the Tigers to victory.
Lancefield Yellow also earned a nine-wicket win against Bacchus Marsh, with Meaghan Keogh scoring an unbeaten 50.
Lancefield Black tops the ladder with five wins and no losses, while Lancefield Yellow is second and Kilmore is fifth.
