WEEK 1 OF THE SOUTHERN CRICKET ASSOCIATION: March 7-8
THE first week of the SCA finals saw four of the local teams playing. Molesworth’s 2nd Grade team smashed out a massive total with the bat to move through to next weekend. New Norfolk’s 1st Grade team easily accounted for Claremont to keep their finals alive, while Molesworth’s 5th Grade team went down to Derwent but has a chance to redeem themselves this weekend against valley rival Gretna who took out a win last weekend. Read on to see how each game went.
1st Grade 50-over format:
New Norfolk 2/238 (37.4 overs) defeated Claremont 10/234 (45.3 overs) at Tynwald Park in the first week of the SCA 1st Grade finals. Bowling first, the Redcaps took all 10 of Claremont’s wickets in 45 overs and restricted the visitors’ total to 234. Spinner David Mitchelmore put down 7.3 overs, conceding just 23 runs and taking three wickets. Jeremy Nichols also took three wickets for the Redcaps. In the run chase, the home team took the win in feer than 38 overs to progress in the finals. Tom Briscoe opened and hit a fine 98 runs only to be caught just short of a finals century. Nathan Rice came in at number four and wasted no time rushing to 61 runs from just 27 balls. Rice brought up his 50 with a shot to the creek side boundary for a big six, all in just over 20 balls. The Redcaps lost only two wickets in their innings. Batting: T. Briscoe 98 from 91, N. Rice 61no from 27. Bowling: D. Mitchelmore 3 for 23 from 7.3, J. Nichols 3 for 50 from 10. SEE OUR PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE GAME
2nd Grade 50-over format:
Molesworth 7/372 (50 overs) defeated St Virgil’s 10/141 (30.2 overs) at Boyer Oval on Saturday. The game was sealed at the end of the Molesworth’s batting innings after they posted a massive 372. Opener Mitchel Turner once again scored well with the bat, getting the team off to a nice start with a fine 70. Corey Whitbread came in after the first wicket fell and put on a massive 150 from 120 balls before being bowled, but the damage had been done at this point with Molesworth sitting on 348. In the second innings, the Molesworth bowlers shared the wickets around with Daniel Coppleman, Cameron Eyles and Brad Ransley all taking two wickets each. St Virgil’s fell well short, being all out on 141. Batting: C. Whitbread 150 from 120, M. Turner 70 from 81. Bowling: D. Coppleman 2 for 10 from 5, C. Eyles 2 for 25 from 6. SEE OUR PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE GAME
5th Grade 40-over format:
Molesworth 10/97 (28 overs) lost to Derwent 4/304 (40 overs) at Boyer Oval on Sunday, where it was like groundhog day with Molesworth hosting Derwent for a second week in a row.
Batting first, Derwent was keen to square away another finals berth, putting on 304 for the loss of just four wickets. The Molesworth bowlers just couldn’t get past the Derwent batters’ defences. Mathew McKittrick was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 1 for 26 from four overs. With a high total to chase down, the Molesworth batters went out swinging but lost the wickets due to the aggressive play. Sam Percy finished with 32 to be the top-scorer for Molesworth. In the end, the home team was all out for 97 runs. Molesworth had the double chance in the finals after finishing on top of the ladder and as such will now face off in a valley showdown with Gretna in the preliminary final this weekend. Batting: S. Percy 32 from 74, N. Ransley 9 from 8. Bowling: M. McKittrick 1 for 26 from 4, B. Jarvis 1 for 51 from 8.
Gretna 7/215 (40 overs) defeated Richmond/Cambridge 10/129 (28 overs) at Richmond oval on Sunday. Batting first, Gretna was led with the bat by Kaleb Bennett who hit a fine 75 from 104 balls. Gretna batted out their full 40 overs, losing seven wickets to finish with 215. In the second innings, the Gretna team once again fielded and bowled well to have Richmond/Cambridge all out for 129. Young Lucas Jones took three wickets for 20 runs from five overs. The win sets up an epic showdown with Molesworth in the preliminary final. Batting: K. Bennett 75 from104, D. Burns 22no from 14. Bowling: L. Jones 3 for 20 from 5, B. Rainbird 2 for 11 from 3
Upcoming finals
- 1st Grade: New Norfolk v Weily Park KLM Kings at Weily Park, Bridgewater, at 10.30am this Saturday in the semi-final
- 2nd Grade: Molesworth v St Anne’s at Cadburys, Claremont, at 10.30am this Saturday in the preliminary final
- 5th Grade: Molesworth v Gretna at Boyer Oval, New Norfolk, at 10.30am this Saturday in the preliminary final
JUSTIN BENSON
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