Geraldton cricket round 4: Wanderers and Towns trade games over the weekend and Sportsmans pull away with win

Wanderers and Towns shared spoils in last weekend’s round four of the Geraldton Bendigo Bank Cricket League. On Friday night, Towns won a Young Motors T20 at Wonthella by 18 runs, but Wanderers turned the tables on Saturday with a 52-run win at GBSC Park In the T20 match, Wanderers’ Kade Gillingham won the toss and batted, but his side made only 9-79 with Jason Partington (15) top-score. They never rallied from 4-27 though Partington, Elliot Delaney and Damien King made starts. Towns’ Ringo McKenna was deadly (4-6 off four overs) with the key snare of Clayton Bruce-Cherry and three wickets in his last over and he also held two catches. Tom Forsyth (3-19) did well removing Henry Anderson, Partington and Delaney. Towns lost three wickets securing the target and finished at 4-97. The game was still alive when they were 3-48 after Bruce-Cherry (2-19) dismissed Darcy and then Kodi Giltrow. While opener Jeremy Bedford (51) was at the crease, running hard between the wickets endured. A direct hit might have changed that a couple of times but fortune favours the brave, and he was still in when the game was won. On Saturday, McKenna won the toss and batted but his side lost two wickets before a run was made with King (6-16) superb. Darcy Giltrow (19) and Austin Breen (28) resisted but both fell to Bruce-Cherry (2-17) and Towns were done for 88. Mitch Thompson, as in the T20, was economical. Wanderers lost four wickets in the chase and ended at 6-140. Ian Oglesby (53 not out) batted patiently through the innings – a smart contribution. Gus Heberle (21) and Partington (33) also made runs while best of the bowlers were McKenna (2-18), with the wickets of King and Zane Marwick, and Travis Morgan (2-12). At Muir Park, Sportsmans beat Bluff Point by 56 runs, Jay O’Brien won the toss for the Pointers and batted but his side was shot out for just 62. Only Sam Millett (21) made headway. The bowlers ruled with Kapil Gohel (4-11) shining while Jarrad Jupp (3-9) and Brad Mailer (2-10) chimed in. Sportsmans might have lost more than two wickets before the target was eclipsed but for captain Riley Barham (41) who adroitly mixed attack and defence. Antonio Paradella (5-17) had career-best numbers and though he had help from Matt Russell (2-28) and O’Brien (2-33), Sportsmans’ 118 was plenty. Aaron Joss held four catches and effected a stumping.