Centrals, Cavaliers and Kinross wasted no time stamping their authority on Orange District Cricket Association’s second grade competition, all three clubs picking up convincing wins in Saturday afternoon’s opening round.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After being moved from turf to their alternate, synthetic wickets, Centrals took down reigning champions Orange City easily while Cavaliers accounted for CYMS and Kinross secured a chasing win over Waratahs.
All three clubs were inspired by some stellar individual performances with the bat too.
Kinross’ win, which shoots the students to the top of the table on quotient, came largely thanks to a round one half century from star-in-the-making Phoebe Litchfield.
With her side chasing 149 for victory at Max Stewart Oval after Ryan Noon topped Waratahs’ scoring with 46, Litchfield worked her way to sublime, unbeaten 82 from the top of the order, her dig including eight boundaries.
Litchfield carried her bat, making sure her side secured its five-wicket win with five overs to spare.
Wicketkeeper-bat Kaleb Cook was the star of the show for Cavaliers at Brendon Sturgeon Oval, producing an effort incredibly similar to Litchfield’s.
On a long, slow outfield CYMS’ 3-163 looked a par score but Cook proved it was anything but.
Opening up, he pummelled 79 not out to kick off his season in perfect fashion, first combining with Adam Pavey (22) to add 40 for the first wicket and then with Cam Laird (39) to put on another 83 for the second.
Tom Wilson dismissed the latter and then picked up Ashok Karupiah (5) cheaply as well, but Cook finished the job off for his side, which still had almost 15 overs and seven wickets in the bank.
There was positive signs for CYMS though, with English import Sonny Day-Tennant kicking off his Australian summer in strong fashion.
In his debut dig for the club he produced a composed 79 not out and combined with Aidan Moriarty (32) in a 114-run, second-wicket partnership.
Although both are expected to move into CYMS’ top side once the first grade season kicks off, they’re positive signs for the green and golds, and for the 18-year-old, English wicketkeeper-bat in particular.
Centrals had few worries dispatching of the Warriors at Anzac Park, restricting the reigning champions to 9-118 and chasing it down with 13 overs and five wickets in hand.
Stu Pullar (2-25), Gareth Faul (2-20), Kyle Nonnenmacher (2-16) and Matt Tedeschi (2-14) all took multiple wickets for Centrals, before Will Richard (44) and Mark Hayman (28) took the game away from Orange City.
They came together at 1-15 and promptly added a quick-fire 73 for the second wicket. Although they were dismissed in quick succession and the Warriors picked up two more scalps, Nonnenmacher (11 not out) and Tedeschi (8 not out) finished the job.
The second grade season continues this weekend while first and third grades kick-off, Centenary Cup starts the following week.
The Twenty20 Royal Hotel Cup also kicks off on Friday.
DO YOU WANT MORE ORANGE SPORT?
Receive our free newsletter delivered to your inbox every morning, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below