Sport
7 February, 2025
Port Fairy and Northern Raiders solidify their positions
PORT Fairy and Northern Raiders drew closer to the top of the table in the Sungold Premier Cricket over the weekend, while North Warrnambool earned their first win.
Round seven saw the Raiders make short work of Warrnambool after a dominant first innings of 8/277.
Jacob Fishwick top scored for Northern with a dominant 109 runs featuring 17 boundaries, while Jack Burnham (54), Ranil Rasanga (39no) and Tim Bryce (33) all made solid contributions.
Jason Greer was best for Warrnambool taking an impressive five wickets despite surrendering 64 on 14 overs as none of the bowlers could find economical stints.
Warrnambool showed fight with the bat in hand, however, putting up a feisty 10/117 despite the loss of opener Ryan Mottram after just three balls.
Zavier Mungean proved best for Warrnambool, top scoring with 26 runs.
Raiders captain James Elford proved strong with the ball, taking five wickets from 24.2 overs while giving up only 32 runs.
Jake Louth also grabbed a triple, giving up 24 runs from 18 overs.
The Raiders sent Warrnambool back in to bat, who reached 1/43 before stumps giving the Northern Raiders the win.
Port Fairy earned the win over Allansford-Panmure after both teams pushed the game to its limits, with each batting a full 80 overs.
Allansford-Panmure won the toss and elected to bat, holding firm to finish their innings 9/242 thanks to strong showing from Shashan Silva (25), Daniel Meade (60), Patrick Mahony (77) and Shiv Kumara (29no).
Praveen Dilanka took a game-high six wickets, surrendering 28 runs off 17 overs while Henry Bensch and Vincent Huf added one apiece.
Port Fairy were sent in to bat and saw strong consistency across the board, with six batters reaching at least 28 runs.
An opening partnership of 48 positioned the home side well before a three-wicket collapse between the 33rd and 34th over on 85 runs cast doubt on the stability of the chase, but the middle and tail of the order stood tall with Aaron Williams adding 30, Praveen Dilanka adding 37 and Huf finishing top score on 51no from 45 deliveries, including four boundaries and a pair of sixes.
Shiv Kumara proved best with the ball, taking three wickets from 29 overs with 70 runs surrendered.
Reid Oval was home to a tightly fought contest between Nestles and Merrivale.
Merrivale won the toss and sent Nestles in to bat, who struggled to find form outside a solid showing from Sunjaya Chathuranga Illeperuma Arachige (30) and Michael Harricks (28no).
Joshua Stapleton was best for Merrivale with the ball, finishing 4/31 from 19 overs while Mark Jones grabbed a trio of wickets from 15 overs, surrendering 32 and Matt Petherick finishes 2/27 from 9.3.
Merrivale took a slight edge at the conclusion of each side’s first innings, notching 10/115 thanks to Mark Jones hitting 35 and Theo Opperman’s 27.
Nestles enjoyed a strong showing from Robert Saker at 4/19 from 12 overs while Jacob Hetherington, Max Hannah and Sunjaya Chathuranga Illeperuma Arachige all claimed two scalps.
Nestles started their second innings slow with Mark Murphy falling for nought but five of the next six batters reaching double figures, headlined by 40 from the skipper Hetherington, positioned the side’s increase to 10/131.
Merrivale managed to race out to 1/22 with just three overs in their second innings, but it wasn’t enough to clinch the win.
North Warrnambool acquitted themselves well at home against Mortlake, winning the toss and electing to bat before racing out to a 206 first innings.
Bailey Jenkinson top scored with 79 while Liam Burgess added 42 and Alex Lean contributed 33.
Hamish Hobbs (3/37 from 13) and Todd Robertson (3/39 from 10.2) were the best for Mortlake with the ball, but Warrnambool’s dominance with the bat would continue with the ball.
Mortlake fell for 10/75 with just two batters reaching double figures, with Corey Rounds finishing top score on 23.
Hank Schlaghecke was best for Norths, bowling 5/28 from 15 overs.
Mortlake followed on to an improved 4/74 at stumps but the home side earned a comfortable win, with Liam Burgess posting the best second innings figures at 2/11 from seven overs.
Russell’s Creek also earned a win, with a strong showing against West Warrnambool.
West won the toss and chose to bat, racing away to 10/224 thanks to a top score of 56 from skipper Ben Threlfall, in addition to 45 from Joe Nyikos and 31 from Ryan Lucas.
Craig Britten was best for Russells Creek, taking five wickets from 19.4 overs with 56 runs surrendered.
Heshan De Silva was close behind at 4/59 from 25 overs, while Noah Best also added a wicket.
With the bat in their hands, Russells Creek made a comfortable 10/233 with Rukshan Weerasinghe top scoring on 43, vice-captain Craig Britten close behind on 41 and Blake Evans on 34.
Roshane Fernando claimed the most wickets for West Warrnambool at 3/43 from 13 overs while Brock Gannon (2/19) and Edward Taylor (2/45).
West Warrnambool came out to a thunderous second innings, tallying 2/71 from just nine overs thanks to seven boundaries and three sixes as Joe Douglas top scored with 34, but Russells Creek were declared winners at stumps.
