Dunsborough Blue marks debut with win over YOBS

A BRILLIANT return of 6-7 by left-arm spinner Rumesh Silva was the main factor in Margaret River Hawks’ victory over Dunsborough when the A-grade grand finalists from last year met at the Dunsborough Playing Fields on Saturday.

Batting first on an excellent track, Hawks accumulated 62 for the first wicket between skipper Jack Green and left-hander Shane Joyce, before Dunsborough’s young Tom Reagan (2-28) and Elijah Truscott (3-29) applied the brakes.

With import Anthony Quinn demolishing the tail end to grab 5-19 for Dunsborough, Hawks could only muster 138 all out in 38 overs, a total bumped up by Henry Shawcross’s 31 runs in the late order.

In reply Dunsborough looked on target to take the game at 1-57, with opener Alex Cooke hitting a valiant 37, only for Silva to inflict a deadly collapse which saw the last seven wickets tumble for 20 as Dunsborough finished on 106 all out, 32 runs short.

Silva has now taken combined figures of 10-24 in the first two rounds of A-Grade cricket, while Quinn has taken 9-31 (eight of them bowled).

The highest scoring game of the round took place at Bovell Park where another Sri Lankan, Aayush Patel, batted through the entire 50-over allotment to strike the first century of the season, an unbeaten 105, for Cowaramup against Vasse.

Fraser Oates, fresh from a successful season in England, joined the party with 71 runs and a mighty 149-run partnership with Patel as the Bulls totalled an eye-raising 4-239 batting first.

Vasse did well enough to respond with 207 all out in 49 overs, a total largely due to the consistent Simon Harkness (49) and Jeremy Murphy (62), while legspinner Hugh Mugford finished with a tidy 5-48, cashing in as Vasse lost quick wickets in the late chase.

Meanwhile at the beachfront, runs were at a premium on a low and slow Barnard Park track where St Marys routed Yallingup-Oddbods for 55 all out in 34 overs, with young legspinner Will Snaddon snaring 5-15 for Saints.

Jamie Liston with 21 runs provided the only bright note for YOBS, before St Marys ran away to win by six wickets in just 14 overs with 15-year-old Aaron Mattock hitting a bright unbeaten 24 for the victors.

In B-Grade cricket, a meagre total of 123 all out by Yallingup-Oddbods at Barnard Park was enough to gain them the points over St Marys, dismissed for just 73 in return.

James Whiteford was the hero for YOBS taking a match-winning 5-8 off nine overs, while Trevor Ayers captured 5-26 on debut for Saints.

At Dunsborough, the home side compiled 141 all out (Ben Cadd hitting 47), a score easily overtaken by Margaret River Hawks with Tom McDonald scoring a dashing 56 off 67 balls and Mathew Cocivera finishing unbeaten on 47.

The match of the round in C-Grade cricket was played on the hard wicket at Cowaramup, where Dunsborough White totalled 7-176 off 40 overs, only to be overtaken by the Bulls who won a one-wicket thriller (9-180 off 33 overs).

The last wicket pairing for Cowaramup of Ashley Penfold (19 not out) and Kyle Coates (8 not out) took the total from 9-154 by adding the final 26 runs to win the game.

David Merry hit 48 for Dunsborough while father and son Jeremy O’Neill (47) and Griffin O’Neill (36) were the mainstays in Cowaramup’s chase.

At Churchill Park, Margaret River Hawks tallied 6-148 from 40 overs, a total which was surpassed by St Marys in just 29 overs, with Matt Snaddon (36) and Todd Hartnett (45 not out) to the fore.

Dunsborough Blue marked their debut into C-Grade cricket with a win over Yallingup-Oddbods.

The visitors totalled 155 all out in 40 overs before Mat Lepidi’s forces responded with 7-157 to win the contest with just seven balls to spare.

Meanwhile down at Nannup, Leigh Guthridge led his home side to a big eight-wicket win over YOBS Academy, the skipper scoring 54 not out for Nannup.