A CENTURY in the Johnstone Shield and a hat trick in the Jensen Shield wowed Gisborne District Cricket Association fans on the weekend with games played in blisteringly humid conditions where a welcome southerly breeze was not in the least bit disappointing.
Wallan travelled to play Romsey in McIntyre Firsts and were sorely disappointed by the result when the home side ran away with the second innings, 195 to 150.
Tim Dale (36), Chris Burkett (38) and Benjamin Way (34) led the way. However, for Wallan, Spencer Whittingham in the middle order made an impressive 67 runs and Bryan Vance, while not great with the bat (six), took one catch and three wickets.
At Tony Clark, Macedon hosted Broadford and also kept them in check with their fielding. Riley Nolan was able to create just 19 runs, and Ashley Wood was shut down on 13. Seven catches and two wickets ended Broadford’s innings on 89 runs.
Macedon’s run was also thwarted by great bowling by Sikander Sharma and Jeremy Bradshaw, each interfering with three wickets apiece. However, Macedon won, 7/91.
Woodend and Rupertswood played at Gilbert Gordon with a large deficit in the results, 6/222 to 10/150 as did Sunbury United and Gisborne at Langama Park, 9/164 to 8/210.
In the seconds the draw is always reversed and Wallan hosted Romsey in a close match that saw Wallan bat first.
Wallan’s opening batter Bradley Regan was hardest to dismiss making 52 before Nathan Hoy bowled and caught him out.
Harkanwar Singh Sandhu was still on the pitch with 32 runs when the innings was completed with the Magpies on 145 runs.
Romsey were able to wow the crowd with its batting order, as Matthew Richardson (26), Nathan Hoy (50) and Daniel Wright (29) consistently put runs on the board. Hoy’s effort was phenomenal, he made ten fours and one six until Andrew Barber bowled him out, one of the four wickets he took on the day, but it wasn’t enough to win the points, Romsey were victorious by four wickets with around 11 overs remaining, 6/148 – 9/145.
At Harley Hammond, Broadford won the spoils against Macedon in a low scoring game, 57 to 56.
Fielding first, Broadford was phenomenal. Michael Mirrabella claimed back-to-back wickets dismissing Benjamin Lilford and Angus Page with ducks after just two balls.
Broadford’s Connor Stute and Joshua Hanna made 17 runs a piece to help the side catch the Cats quickly, and only two wickets down, Broadford took the points.
Johnstone Shield
Young Darcy McNicholas wowed the crowds when he raised his bat in the air after making 112 with his Kilmore team when they played Lancefield.
What’s more, McNicholas remained on the pitch throughout the match to help secure the highest score for the round, 4/253. The Tigers’ Cameron Osmond (93) was dismissed by Stuart Partridge while Jacob Walton also dismissed three batters at the crease. It was an amazing effort from the Blues to outfield the Tigers to win by 30 runs, 10/223.
Sunbury Kangaroos struggled against Eastern Hill at Eric Boardman with Oscar Newell busy taking four wickets and later making 42 runs. Earlier, Benjamin Bryant put up 61 runs and on the other side Nathan Fowler, 49. At stumps, victory belonged to Eastern Hill, 7 out for 206 against 178.
Harkness and Eynesbury had a thriller at Arnold Creek, 186 to 183 in favour of the home side as did Diggers Rest and East Sunbury, 194 to 195.
In the other Johnstone Shield result, Kilmore defeated Lancefield thanks to Riley Callaghan coming close to a century at the Kilmore Cricket Ground, 96 not out. Steven Burns was deadly opening (44) and later on the field taking two wickets while Hayden Proctor and Rowan Pollack took three each, 7/270 to 10/109.
As in the firsts, Sunbury Kangaroos struggled against Eastern Hill at Kings Park as centenarian Brayden Speechley made 100 runs and Josh Speechley before him was handy with 58. Sunbury, chasing 248 were particularly hindered by Sam Brown’s three wickets and one run out, 8/99.
Harkness travelled to play Eynesbury where a hattrick from Shaun Collins depleted their end order seeing the opening innings done at 129 runs. Collins also excelled on the pitch (71) before Qaisar Abbas found the bails. David Kershaw also lifted the home side with 38 runs not out. Despite the blow, Eynesbury finished on 196 runs.
East Sunbury were disappointed when Diggers Rest chased 122 runs down to finish all out for 139.
Jensen Shield
In Jensen Shield, Wallan was valiant against Woodend at Greenhill Reserve, 9/139. However, Wallan was not able to outfield the visitors who chased early with James Fiford (25) and later in the middle order with Alister Gray (55) to finish 4/141.
Kilmore lost its Jensen Shield game against Sunbury by just four runs despite the best efforts of Glen Fairweather, who took 2/22, and also made 23 runs before he was caught by Jaspreet Bedi, bowled by Justin Allen.
Hanging Rock were too strong for Sunbury United recording a 109-run win assisted by Steven Zubrycki coming close to a century (91).
Rupertswood, the highest scoring innings of the round gave Trentham a 315-run target at Salesian. John Lane and Zac Borg each retiring on 100 runs certainly set the pace, and 1/315 to 10/132 .
In Club Grade action, Woodend recorded a home game 112-run win over Wallan in their first match for the season 3/223 to 10/111 and Malmsbury defeated Lancefield by 61, 5/215 to 10/154.
Kilmore defeated Gisborne away, 6/171 to 10/170 and Broadford were victorious in their match at the Broadford Secondary College pitch against Kyneton, 8/196 to 9/122.
