Towns pull off win over Sportsmans while Wanderers secure 223-run victory over Chapman Valley-Northampton

Towns opened their Geraldton Bendigo Bank Cricket League title defence with a 19-run win over Sportsmans at the Rec on Saturday. Towns’ Ringo McKenna won the toss and opted to bat. Brad Mailer (1-22 off 10 overs) made an early break for Sportsmans with Callum Marquis caught by Riley Barham off the innings’ second ball. Tom Witt was caught by James Greenlees off Simon Evans followed by Jeremy Bedford, also held by Greenless, off Jarrod Jupp who led Sporties as Barham had to leave early. At 3-38, Towns were struggling and Jay Comben (18) and McKenna (29) cautiously added 35. Then Glenn Wishart (3-42), always a competitor, had Comben caught by Ethan Johnson and Jupp caught Austin Breen. McKenna offered a third catch for Greenless off Johnson and Towns were 6-106. Jai Russell (57 not out) and Josh DeLacy (34) added a bright 83 to take Towns to 7-190. Russell’s 34th run made him only the ninth batter in the league’s 61 years to hit 7000 A-grade runs. Sportsmans lost an early wicket in the chase with Harrison Steel superbly caught in the gully by a diving Comben off Travis Morgan (2-8) who also had Comben’s help to shift Kapil Gohel. Sporties’ middle order worked hard with runs from Evans (24), Wishart (26) and Aaron McAuliffe (36) to reach 4-134. But Towns had grudgingly conceded runs and when McAuliffe was caught by Sam Crouch off Callum Marquis (4-27), Sportsmans needed more than seven an over to win. It was beyond them. They were all out for 171. “It was a good pitch and a credit to curator Murray Towton, who does a great job, and the outfield was better than usual, which should be the standard,” McKenna said. “Bedford and Comben did well against the new ball and gave us a platform but the Sportsmans’ slower bowlers stemmed the flow of runs. Fortunately, Russell and DeLacy batted well together and cashed in later when they spread the field. “I didn’t play in the second innings as I had a wedding to attend but chasing 191 is always a big ask and I was confident our deep bowling line-up would get the job done.” At Mazzuchelli Oval, Wanderers recorded a thumping 223-run win over Chapman Valley-Northampton. CVN’s Axis Hutchinson, captain in the absence of Nigel Routledge, won the toss and bowled but could do little to stop Wanderers amassing 9-287. Ian Oglesby (46) and Damien King (41) put on 68 for the first wicket while Henry Anderson (85 off 69 balls, with 10 fours and five sixes) had a great debut. Kade Gillingham (47 off 34 balls) joined the spree while Brad Boyer (3-55) and Hutchinson (2-57) had costly success. CVN managed only 64 in the reply with opener Scott Harrison (22) top scorer. King (5-20) recorded career-best figures while Clayton Bruce-Cherry (3-18) was incisive as usual.