SUNRAYSIA Cricket Association’s two undefeated First Division sides, Gol Gol and Irymple, are set for a showdown under lights at Alcheringa.
Irymple have won the last three contests between the two sides, not including the Club Twenty20 competition, with Gol Gol’s last win over the Swallows coming in November, 2020.
Gol Gol opening batsman Aidan Calarco, who scored his maiden First Division century last week, said he was looking forward to the contest.
“We’ve had some good battles with Irymple over the last few years,” he said.
“They’re always a good team to come up against, they’ll be around the mark again come finals time this season and I just can’t wait to get there.
“I love playing against them, I think playing against better opponents makes you a better cricketer and want it more.”
It will be the first contest under lights for both sides this campaign.
“I think I’ve only played one T20 game here a few years ago against East, I haven’t really played much night cricket other than that,” Calarco said.
“I sort of thought the best thing to do was bat first and under lights it was tricky in the first hour and a half, there were a few dropped catches and stuff like that.
“That being said the lights are great here and it’s a good facility to play on.”
Gol Gol have been within premiership contention in recent years and are chasing their first top flight silverware since 2011/12.
“I think this year is a a great chance to showcase where we are at,” Calarco said.
“I think we just need to keep ticking the boxes every week, not get overawed by things, don’t think we’ll come into any games and blast teams away or anything like that.
“We’ll just worry about what we can do week in and week out and it should put us in good stead.”
Alongside Calarco, Shacaya Thomas is already in dangerous form with innings of 83 and 76 to start the season, while opening bowler Luke Hickey has also had hauls of 4/22 and 3/30.
Irymple have been without co-coaches Bryson Lush and Nick Giofre to start the campaign but skipper Mark Thomson was a welcome return against Coomealla Wentworth.
There have been a few surprise packets in terms of bowling performances to open the season with Dom Price taking 6/13 in round one and Ryan Muir 4/13 last week.
Jordan Payne has provided a solid hand batting at number seven.
Mildura West v Coomealla Wentworth
AFTER scraping home against Mildura East, Mildura West have another tough challenge against Coomealla Wentworth under lights at John Hall Oval.
West coach Chris Williams is one of the leading spin bowlers in the SCA and he proved it against East, taking an outstanding 7/19, his best haul for the club according to MyCricket records.
English import Charlie Walker has also taken four wickets in his first two games.
Their batting, however, hasn’t started so well as in each of their two innings so far, West have made less than 50 runs with the loss of their first five wickets. No doubt the top order will want to improve their output, although it would give them confidence to know the middle and lower can score some important runs.
The Blues meanwhile will be keen to return to the winners list after a 14-run loss to Irymple last week.
Mitchell Kemp has started the season on fire for the Blues with 82 not out and 64 in his two innings, with coach Liam Freeman and Bevan Wade having also put together solid innings.
The Blues bowling unit, which does run deep, did miss Justin Freeman last week, with the speedster closing in on 200 First Division wickets, currently up to 192.
Mildura Settlers v Mildura East
DEFENDING premiers Mildura Settlers have split their two games so far and will look to return to the winner’s list against Mildura East at the Senior College.
Both results have been tight for Settlers, scraping home by a solitary wicket against Nichols Point in Round 1, before going down by two wickets in the final over against Merbein last week.
Joel Perry’s first recorded half century for Mildura Settlers’ First Division side had proved there is depth to a batting order that has been missing a few names, while Cameron Kiel and Josh Atkinson have also built some handy innings.
Veteran Brad Purdue has also proved dangerous with the ball so far, having taken six wickets across two games.
East had their work cut out for them against a strong Gol Gol outfit in round one, but were well in last week’s contest against West before going down by three wickets.
East clearly have a dangerous batting top order in Tom and Campbell Vadlja, Brad Thomas, import Josh Bowyer and skipper Josh Berry, and if they can build solid partnerships they could put Setts on the back foot early.
Jayden Hunt looms as being his side’s most dangerous bowler again but there is plenty of support, including from impressive youngster Surendra Prajapat who nabbed 2/21 in last week’s loss to West.
Nichols Point v Merbein
YET to get off the mark this season, Saturday looms as an important clash for Nichols Point if they want to push for finals.
If weather permits, they are set to host Merbein, who will be full of confidence after their win over Mildura Settlers last week.
Captain and reigning Innes medallist Shaun Mathews has been the leading light for the Pointers so far, averaging 42.5 with the bat and having taken four wickets.
Coach Luke Coates remains a dangerous prospect with the ball in hand, as does Jack Norton, while Shannon Bowen, who has dominated the RCCA still has time to hit his straps.
The Magpies would have been thrilled to see youngster Dillon Furze reach his maiden First Division half-century against Setts, while Tony Trinick’s late order knock of 22 proved important in the victory.
A lack of wickets across the two games so far, however, would be a concern with just a run-out to their name in the opener against Coomealla Wentworth, and three scalps from individual bowlers against Setts. One of those however was a maiden top grade wicket for youngster Riley Clifford.
