T20 competition begins with a thriller

C-GRADE cricket doesn’t often make the lead news, but the highlight of the opening round of the T20 competition was without question the Saturday C-Grade contest between Cowaramup and Margaret River at Cowaramup Oval.

The 40 overs of the game saw an incredible 419 runs scored, and a victory to Hawks by a solitary run.

Batting first, Hawks notched 6-210 off their 20 overs, the feature being a sensational 128 off 49 balls by Jay Wynd including 7 fours and 11 sixes, who retired after the 14 th over. Chasing an unlikely 211, the Bulls were kept in the game by a brilliant partnership of 160 between 17-year-old Josh Fry (84 not out off 57 balls) and 16-year-old Anaru Teddy (72 off 45 balls). Cowaramup needed 21 runs off the final over to win and scored 19 of them to fail by the smallest margin to finish on 1-209, thanks to newcomer Bryce Pickersgill whose unbeaten 32 came off 14 balls.

It was a big day for Wynd, who struck another 61 off 36 balls in the second game to tally a personal 189 runs off 85 balls for his two games for Hawks. In the second game, Hawks 6-166 were overtaken by Cowaramup (4-170).

Other C-Grade T20 games saw Nannup score two wins over Vasse, Dunsborough score two wins over St Marys, and Yallingup-Oddbods score two wins over YOBS Academy.

Lachlan Smith (49) and Ethan Hancock (43) provided the highlights for Nannup in the first game, while Richard Atkinson (35) and Matt Enright (30) were best for Vasse. Hancock also took six wickets in two games for Nannup.

For Dunsborough, Ross Marsh (51) and Alby Braimbridge (38) did well in the opener, while for St Marys, Todd Hartnett (40) and Matt Snaddon (52 not out) were best. The second game between the teams saw highlights from Karl Rogers (42 not out) for St Marys and Nathan McClymont (34) and Oscar Nimmo (37) for Dunsborough. Bowler James Trewren showed his versatility for Yallingup-Oddbods by scoring a career-highest 65 runs in one of the derbies against YOBS Academy.

The A-Grade T20 comp was kick-started by a round on Friday evening, the closest contest a thriller at Barnard Park where St Marys (4-117 off 20 overs, Zoraiz Saeed 54 not out) were overtaken on the final ball by Dunsborough (6-118 off 20 overs, Alex Cooke 64).

Another close contest was played at Bovell Park where Vasse (8-121) had the better of Yallingup-Oddbods (115), who collapsed to lose their last 6 for 15 (with four run outs) to go down by 6 runs.

At Cowaramup Oval on Friday evening, Cowaramup (106) defeated an undermanned Hawks (72) thanks to an inspiring effort from international player Nathan Coulter-Nile. Coulter-Nile smashed 44 runs off 26 balls for the Bulls, and then bowled with the wind at his back to take 4-7 off 3 overs, twice being on a hat-trick.

On Saturday, Dunsborough (7-136, Ajith Rajapaksha 46 not out and Cain Reynolds 43) were too strong in the first game for Cowaramup (91), before Cowaramup surged back to defeat Vasse in the second contest.

Standouts were Archer Coates, with a brilliant 70 for Cowaramup, and Scott Young, who batted with a runner throughout almost the entire Vasse reply for 49 runs before falling to a remarkable diving catch at midwicket from Mike Hibberd. Another highlight was produced by 14-year-old Xander Cawley, who took two wickets in his first over of A-Grade cricket for Vasse, including a wicket with his first ball.

At Barnard Park, St Marys (8-87) outlasted Hawks (9-59) in a low-scoring contest, before Hawks (8-89) finished their unsuccessful weekend with another loss, this time to Yallingup-Oddbods, whose 4-91 in 16.4 overs included a match-winning 55 not out off 34 balls from skipper Nayton Colombera. Teenager Jude Foley (3-11 off 4 overs) impressed most for YOBS in the second game.

In B-Grade T20 at Barnard Park, Dunsborough (2-190, including 90 off 63 balls from Ben Cadd) thrashed Yallingup-Oddbods (88 all out) in the first game before Dunsborough (6-140) defeated YOBS (5-139) by a solitary run in the second, despite Max Walsh smashing 77 off 48 balls for the vanquished. St Marys (7-152) easily accounted for Vasse (105) in their first game and then repeated the dose in the second game to win by 16 runs, 6-113 to 9-97.