Vasse halts Hawks unbeaten streak

A THRILLING 5-run win by Vasse over the previously unbeaten Margaret River Hawks was the highlight of round five in A-Grade cricket last Saturday.

Batting first, Vasse compiled 165 all out in 45 overs with Ryan Clark scoring an impressive 40 on his debut for the club, and then held the ladder leaders to 9-160 from their full 50-over allotment to record a much-needed victory.

Teenage brothers Samuel Joyce, 16, and Thomas Joyce, 14, were Hawks’ two highest contributors, notching 27 runs and 26 runs respectively.

Vasse fielded one of their strongest ever lineups and called on eight bowlers, with skipper Scott Young taking 2-28 off 10 overs and allrounder Clark pushing into a strong wind to contain Hawks to just 23 runs off his 10-over spell.

Left-armers Grant Garstone (5-30) and Rumesh Silva (3-17) accounted for eight of the 10 wickets to fall in the Vasse innings.

At Barnard Park a hat-trick by legspinner Hugh Mugford was the highlight of Cowaramup’s victory over St Marys.

Saints lost skipper Zoz Saeed early in the piece to a bootcrusher from Nathan Coulter-Nile, and battled their way to 94 all out in 38 overs with veteran Marc Ford hitting an entertaining 28 runs at the top of the order.

Mugford claimed a wicket with his opening delivery, and then captured a hat-trick by dismissing Matt Miller, Justin Chandler and Sean Zahra in successive balls – the last wicket falling to a rank full-toss – to finish with 4-10 from 6 overs.

Having previously taken a hat-trick for Dunsborough three years ago, Mugford now has the distinction of becoming one of very few bowlers to have claimed A-Grade hat-tricks for two clubs in the BMRCA.

The Bulls wasted little time in polishing off the 95 runs needed for victory in 27 overs, Mike Hibberd chancing his eye to hit 32 runs, and Sean Zahra being the most impressive of the Saints attack with 1-15.

At Dunsborough, a tight display of bowling from Yallingup-Oddbods was not enough to get them victory over the consistent Dunsborough lineup.

Young guns Finn Olney (3-25), Max Byrne (2-22) and Jude Foley (2-17) all impressed for YOBS, while Tim Reynolds with a stoic 39 topped the batting list as Dunsborough were contained to 9-131 from 50 overs.

YOBS started their chase in a blaze of glory with 9 runs from the opening over by Justin Gilbert (37 off 30 balls), before the top-class attack of Anthony Quinn (5-27) and Mark Natale (3-40) destroyed the middle order, with five ducks being recorded as YOBS succumbed to 91 all out.

Stalwart Ben Payne resisted strongest for YOBS with an unbeaten 25 at the finish.

In B-Grade, Margaret River registered a rare 10-wicket victory at home after dismissing Vasse for 92 and racing to 0-94 in reply.

Sage Mas-Elston (4-36) and Bailey Groves (3-22) were the most successful bowlers for Hawks, before Xavier Thomas (50 not out) and Spike Jacobs (41 not out) led an unblemished response in 26 overs.

A run-fest at Dunsborough Playing Fields saw Dunsborough register 5-233 from 45 overs (Ben Cadd hitting 63, Tully Schofield making an unbeaten 72 not out and skipper Cam Morris 62) before restricting Yallingup-Oddbods to 7-152 in reply.

The highlight of C-Grade cricket was a smashing innings of 122 off just 70 balls by Jay Wynd (11 fours, 8 sixes) for Hawks against YOBS Academy at the Nippers Oval.

Thanks to Wynd, Hawks amassed 8-262 off 40 overs, with Steven Mott claiming 5-31 for the visitors. Academy responded with 154 all out, Sam Lucas hitting 44 runs.

Cowaramup’s youth was on display when they raced to a 10-wicket win over Nannup with Quinn Giroud (59 not out) and Josh Fry (65 not out) adding an unbroken 130 for the first wicket in a mere 14 overs.

Earlier, Nannup were restricted to 7-129 from 40 overs, Mark Barrett-Lennard taking 3-19 for the Bulls.

At Dunsborough Lakes Sporting Precinct, Yallingup-Oddbods dismissed Dunsborough White for 94, Ryan Gianola grabbing 4-8 for YOBS and Bruce Siney scoring 25 for the home side who at one stage stood at 8-41.

YOBS went on to win by eight wickets.

The final game saw Vasse hit 153 and then dismiss Dunsborough Blue for 97. Eight different bowlers claimed wickets for Dunsborough, a rarity in any form of cricket, while Rob Williams snared 5-18 for Vasse.