Some strong performances this week with all grades getting at least an equal share of the biscuits. Individual performances from the 3rd grade bulldozer Michael Ardagh with 3 wickets and a 49*, and from Lachlan Poulter aka. the Big Chicken and Jaxon Lloyd aka. J-Lo with 4 wickets each.
The 15s and the 17s girls also taking the win in strong team performances.
1st Grade
South Perth 4/229 (Richards 2/38) tied Wanneroo 8/229 (Birt 60, Del Borrello 51, Millar 38*, Richards 32)
The ones won the toss and elected to bowl first on a flat Richardson wicket. The boys bowled well early but luck was not on their side. With wickets in hand South Perth looked to up the ante through the middle overs but some very tidy partnership bowling from Kelvin Smith and Rob Richards led to our first wicket. South Perth formed another large partnership which was broken again by Richards, striking in his last over. Some quality death bowling late from Matthew Dzodzos and Jordan Slattery restricted South Perth to 4-229.
Coming out to bat the Roos got off to a steady start, however wickets consistently fell at times when we started to form partnerships. At 4-83, Anthony Del Borrello (51) and Travis Birt (60) worked well together to get the Roos back on track. When Del ‘my house rules’ Borrello fell, Kyle Millar (38*) joined Birt as they put on 70 to leave us 6-201 when Birt was dismissed. Needing about a run a ball in the last few overs, South Perth bowled well to leave the Roos needing 9 from the final over. The Roos needed 2 runs from the final ball but could only manage 1 to result in a tie.
It was a disappointing result but there were many positives to take away from the game.
2nd Grade
Wanneroo 5/119 (Bonner 50*, Billington 25*) def. South Perth 117 (Poulter 4/22, Jennings 2/30)
The Magoos travelled to Kingsway 1 looking to get back on the winners list in a must win game against South Perth. You could feel the excitement in the air as rumours were flying around that Dan (Jason Dunstall, “Chief”) Sadik was unleashing B1 and B2 on the boys from the Windsor. The rumours were true and when Lachy “Slabs” Poulter decided today was the day to take some stumps with him (just like Virat), Big Stephen ‘Jenno’ Jennings just had to join in. It was pure carnage and great viewing for the people in attendance (the Stumpers family, big fans of Magoos cricket).
At 5-46 the clamps were on with nothing cheap coming from the men in red. Stumpers and O’Day kept the pressure on before the spin tandem of Sadik and Billington tormented the South Perth line up. Billington had the ball on a string just like Jason Krejza did in Nagpur in 2008 and got the big wicket for the Roos. As the ball got older things became a bit trickier but eventually South Perth were rolled for 117. “Slabs” Poulter was the stand out with 4/22 (taking 4 stumps with him), followed by Big Jenno taking 2fa and Jason Krejza finishing with 1/9 off 8 overs.
The Roos started off not too shabby with the willow but it was evident that Jordan King had a couple of multi-markets in the football and wanted things done in a hurry. From here, shot selection or lack of depending on who you ask, left Wanneroo at 3 for 33. In strode Callum Douglas, still feeling fresh from a solid keeping display and a Sausage and Egg McMuffin for brekky. You could tell he was excited, Cox plate victor, so he got on the walk early to change the momentum. Dougo fell for an elegant 23 but it was Jacob “shirts off at Bar1” Bonner who was anchoring the team much as Ed Cowan did in his short tenure for Australia.
When Deon walked to the crease (also on a high after a sneaky win at Moonee Valley), he knew it was getting tight till first bounce at the Gabba. Afraid of missing out on first goal scorer, Big Bill got the boys over the line as the Ripper Magoos go 2 & 2. Big shout out to Jacob Bonner for keeping the innings together for the Roos and knocking an unbeaten 50. The captain asked for the anchor, and Bonner delivered the choccies.
3rd Grade
South Perth 88 (Walter 4/32, Ardagh 3/14, Fryer 2/25) def. by Wanneroo 2/90 (Ardagh 49*)
The threes arrived at Richardson 2 on Grand Final day, for skipper Adam Smith to win the toss and elect to bowl first. Donavinn Fryer got us off to a good start with an early wicket to leave south Perth 1 for 23, before John Walter got his hand on the new ball and caused havoc with 4 wickets and eliciting several ‘don’t rub ‘em’s’ to have figures of 4-32 off 9 overs. This was supported by Michael Ardargh at the other end bowing tightly while also taking 3 quick wickets to leave south Perth 8-57. When the South Perth boys figured out which end of the bat to hold, they started to threaten a resistance. This was ultimately cut short when Sharad Jessani (1-4) started throwing the ball up, the temptation being too much for the batsmen as in an attempt to hit the ball to the freeway he only managed to find the man on the ring. Donavinn Fryer came back to claim the last wicket as South Perth were bowled out cheaply but most importantly EARLY for 88.
Michael Ardargh and Michael Kelsey then strolled to the crease needing only 89 to win. Ardargh showed why you need him in your Fantasy Team as he struck a powerful 49 not out off 54 balls to put the game to bed early. Supported by Steven Wiggers (20 off 34) the roo boys got the job done in the 22nd over to depart Richardson early at 3:00 o‘clock and go watch the Grand Final.
4th Grade
Wanneroo 187 (Harris 33, Zain 33, Russell 27) def. South Perth 119 (Lloyd 4/20, M Russell 3/15)
The mighty 4s with another dominant performance over a South Perth side that took them to town last year. Wanneroo lost the toss and got sent out to bat first with the openers getting us off to a great start. Tim with another classy 33 and mirrored by Yusuf with 33 also. The roos then had ANOTHER middle order collapse. Sam Williams had a busy innings that we needed through the middle overs which gave the roos a sniff at a decent target. The innings was capped off by Matt Russell (27) and Jarred “I did not face 24 balls” Maunder (12) to quickly sky rocket the mighty 4s to 187.
South Perth openers didn’t make it look quite as easy as the two roo boys, quickly putting them well behind the run rate and losing early wickets. The big 5 doing the job once again with Jaxon “I want to try something weird” Lloyd and Matt “4th grade bully” Russell the pick of the bowlers. Jaxon taking 4/20 and Matt with 3/15. South Perth tried to ruin the mighty 4s chances of seeing the first half of the big dance by proceeding to block out 8 overs but Liam “I’m more of a bowler” Carroll finished it off at the death to see the all mighty 4s grab their second win of the season.
Seventeens Women T20
Rockingham-Mandurah 4/108 (Allen 2/14) def. by Wanneroo 4/135 (Crafford 45, S Jesani 40*)
Female Roo’s won the toss and chose to bat first on a sunny yet windy day at Lark Hill. Although losing an early wicket we soon took shape with Tene Crafford and Shayna Jesani batting with confidence with both reaching the 40’s, Tene finally going down on 45 and Shayna undefeated on 40; Eva continues to improve with a well-structured 19 of just 18 balls, finally posting a hard to reach 135 with the loss of just 4 wickets.
Our ever confident bowling units went about their business. Emilie Nicholls this time without wickets but bowling well with Talia Allen opening the bowling for the first time. Bowling in pairs adds pressure, this time runs were hard to come by and wickets fell. Importantly what was evident was our bowlers are understanding their roles, Talia (2-14) and Emilie setting the scene, pressure, Josie and the ever improving Emma Harvey (1-7) adding to the pressure with spin twins Kristin and Ella combining their 8 overs for a miserly 30 runs, less than 4 an over and finally Erin Martin making her debut today bowling just the one over but with plenty more to look forward to as the season progresses. Each bowling pair working with one another alongside Shayna Jesani who is showing good leadership with shrewd bowling changes to minimise Rocky’s run rate with only Saffron Mollett providing a stubborn 33 n/o …just before the clock turned 12. Our Roo’s bowling effort was reinforced with assertive fielding, not every player is mentioned yet every week the collective squad grows stronger with a togetherness and spirit. Importantly each game offers learning opportunities from within ourselves and sometimes from our opposition; acknowledging and respecting how important your team mates are is a true quality!
We continue on our travels away at Midland in round 4.
Seventeens Men
Wanneroo 91 def. by Subiaco-Floreat 4/93 (Hardiman 2/17)
Fifteens Men
Subiaco-Floreat 146 (O Brown 3/18, Carroll 2/18) def. by Wanneroo 189 (T Brown 48, O Brown 25)
The boys lost the toss and were sent in to bowl on a flat but little tacky wicket. Opening bowlers performed well picking up the two openers cheaply and having the Subi boys looking shaky at 2/16 in the first 8 overs. Unfortunately from there the Subi boys slowly started to build a strong partnership lasting the best part of 25 overs and 75 runs before a breakthrough finally came shortly after the morning tea break thanks to Captain Carroll. From there it just looked like a matter of time before we bowled them out with fierce bowling from Owen “the Big O” Brown scaring the pants of them. A solid second last wicket partnership stretched the oppositions score to something defendable but the boys were ever confident.
Week two didn’t start as we would have liked with three early poles having us at 3/14 inside 8 overs. Tyler “TB” Brown and Blake “loves a sledge” Holly built a strong partnership that put us well ahead of the required run rate. When Blake fell in the 22nd over and Tyler not long later we still had some work to do with around 50 runs required and only 5 wickets left. Another steady partnership from Jordan “Gordo” Marinovich and Ben “try pronouncing my surname” Carmignani helped us nudge closer but a before long we lost a couple more wickets and found ourselves looking shaky at 7 down for 130. Enter the Big O!! He played and missed at his first 4 balls and coped some stick from gully. Next over the Big O decided to re-nickname himself the “Big Zac” as he proceeded to clear the boundary with four consecutive sixes to put the result to bed. Some entertaining hitting from Rhys also pushed our score along and made the result look more comfortable than it was but a win is a win!