MILDURA Settlers have Coomealla Wentworth on the ropes after day one of their match at McLeod Oval in Wentworth.
Settlers batted first on what is regarded as the association’s best deck and certainly made use of it, declaring their innings at 4/262 after 67 overs, then reducing Coomealla Wentworth to 3/13 at stumps.
A 63-run opening stand between Jason Morrison (35) and Luke Stanbrook (94) set the tone, with Paddy Keogh’s 71 at first drop continuing the run push.
Keogh and Stanbrook put on 104 for the second wicket before Stanbrook departed, with captain Braidyn Turner then making 14 in a 30-run stand with Keogh.
At Turner’s departure, Setts were 3/197 and in total control.
Keogh’s wicket fell at 242 and the experienced heads of John Pratt (30) and Richie Wyld (7) were unbeaten when Turner decided to call the innings after 67 overs and give his bowlers a 10-over burst at the Coomealla Wentworth batsmen.
The move certainly paid off.
Luke Coates struck first, removing Luke Cullinan for 4 with the score 1/7.
Then Brak Zambelli got in on the act, cleaning up Tom Douglas for three, reducing the hosts to 2/7.
To compound Coomealla Wentworth’s misery, Coates then had Bevan Wade caught by Zambelli for a duck.
Coomealla Wentworth were in all sorts at 3/8 before Matt Job (1) and Mitchell Kemp (4) got their side to stumps without further loss but still with a mountain of work to do to get back in the match.
Mildura West 138 v Workers Gol Gol 4/32
WORKERS Gol Gol started shakily with the bat after a good day with the ball against Mildura West at Alcheringa.
The visitors won the toss and batted but struggled to be all out for 138, with Ben Hallam (63) carrying the can for his side.
Import Will Parsons scored 21 to chip in well, while Greg Lewis made 15 to be the only other player in double figures.
Jake Albrecht was the pick of the Workers Gol Gol bowlers with 6/70 from 25 overs, capitalising on some hard work.
In response, however, the hosts were quickly on the back foot at 3/3 with openers Shac Thomas and Tyson Adamson failing to score – both falling victim to the evergreen Brandon Dixon – and captain-coach Adam Thomson was out for three.
Aidan Calarco steadied with 19, but he too fell before the close.
Locke Thornton and Chris Williams were the other wicket takers.
Workers Gol Gol resume with Josh Deren (10) and Bailey Pengelly (yet to score) at the crease.
Merbein South 128 v Nichols Point 2/59
NICHOLS Point are well on their way to first-innings points against Merbein South at Chaffey Park, needing 69 runs with eight wickets in hand on day two.
The Pointers bowled their hosts out for 128, with Merbein South’s batting unable to capitalise on starts.
Captain Ethan Gray, keeper-batsman Hamim Miah, veteran all-rounder Shane Trinick, Jarrod Forrester and Cam Grimwood all fell for scores between 10 and 15 and lower-order batsman Tony Trinick (34) was the only one to push on.
With the ball Nichols Point were best served by Rakii Woetai (3/19) and Aaron Sayers (3/13).
In response, Merbein South young gun Campbell Griffiths struck twice early, removing Will Liddle for nought and Pointers coach Shaun Mathews for eight, but captain
Brad Thomas (36 not out) and the returning Kaushik Aphale (11 not out) steadied.
Nichols Point will resume at 2/59.
Irymple 191 v Mildura East 0/16
MILDURA East and Irymple are evenly poised after day one of their clash at Henshilwood Oval.
East sent the hosts in and did well to hold them to 191 after Irymple had reached 54 without loss.
Most Swallows batsmen were able to get a start, with Jeremy Graham (37) and Dan Coghlan (33) the pick of the lot, but ultimately they didn’t fully capitalise on their good work.
Jayden Hunt’s 3/72 was the best of the bowling figures, with Jhy Berry chiming in with 2/25.
In response Josh Berry (10) and Lochie Symes (3) got East to stumps without incident.
Now the equation is simple. East will have the full 80 overs to make 175 runs on Saturday – although against a strong Swallows bowling line-up that won’t be easy.
AT A GLANCE
RUNS were the order of the day for day one of two-day matches in the SCA at the weekend.
Four players scored centuries, with Dave Hogarth (Nichols Point, Second Division), Mark Cullinan (Coomealla Wentworth, Third Division) and brothers Courtney and Kerwin Moore (Merbein South, Fourth Division) all raising the bat.
In First Division, Settlers’ Luke Stanbrook fell just six runs short of a ton.
The bowlers did not miss out, with a few players taking six-wicket hauls and five wickets for just one run to Mildura Settlers Second Division player Brad Grant a particular highlight.
First Division highlights
Luke Stanbrook (Settlers) 94 off 123 balls, four boundaries, four sixes
Paddy Keogh (Settlers) 71 off 154 balls, four boundaries
Ben Hallam (Mildura West) 63
Jake Albrecht (Workers Gol Gol) 6/70 off 25 overs
Second Division highlights
David Hogarth (Nichols Point) 122 off 143 balls, 13 boundaries, five sixes
Luke Stafford (Workers Gol Gol) 51 off 94 balls, six boundaries
Matt Button (Irymple) 56 not out off 102 balls, five boundaries
Ryan Muir (Irymple) 5/13 off 8 overs
Brad Grant (Settlers) 5/1 off 5 overs
Third Division highlights
Mark Cullinan (Coomealla Wentworth) 113 not out
Jeremy Giddings (Coomealla Wentworth) 92
Jason Cullinan (Coomealla Wentworth) 56
Brett Millington (Mildura East) 56
Craig Lovel (Workers Gol Gol) 80
Manu Joshua (Workers Gol Gol) 60
Anthony Cavallaro (Merbein South) 6/67 off 22 overs
Fourth Division highlights
Kerwin Moore (Merbein South) 130
Courtney Moore (Merbein South 110
Mataora Toru (Nichols Point) 54
Harry Singh (Mildura East) 5/38 off 17 overs
Lauchlan Wade (Workers Gol Gol) 6/35 off 15 overs
