5 from 5 against Fairfield…
Last weekend saw the Students complete their second clean sweep of the season – and third undefeated round – against Fairfield Liverpool. With almost all games hanging in the balance overnight, this was a special Saturday for Sydney University, who now sit atop the Club Championship ladder, 63 points clear of Randwick Petersham in 2nd Place.
Resuming play with Fairfield 0/11 in pursuit of Uni’s 295, 1st Grade opening quicks Dugald Holloway and Tim Ley partnered to remove Fairfield’s top 3 for only 33 runs. After a brief recovery from the middle order, Devlin Malone entered the attack to claim 2 quick scalps, before picking up 3 more to finish with figures of 5-64 and achieve his third 5 wicket haul for the season. Joe Kershaw and Holloway chimed back in to clean up the tail – bowling Fairfield out for 206 to secure another comfortable victory for 1st Grade.
At Rosedale Oval, 2nd Grade played spent the first hour playing cat and mouse with a Fairfield team that retained command of the declaration. After doing so with 300 on the board, Ryan Danne and Steve Hobson knuckled down to commence chase. 4 hours later, an incredible opening stand of 248 was broken – ending a collected yet decisive innings from Hobson, who scored 104 from his 153 deliveries. Ryan Danne demonstrated incredible maturity and patience in his innings of 141 from 236 deliveries, notching up his first 2nd grade hundred with a textbook late cut to the boundary. The 2’s middle order easily dealt with the last 50 runs, and secured a 7-wicket victory to see out celebrations for their fourth consecutive win (3rd victory while chasing) at the Toxteth.
3rd Grade were also witness to an excellent opening-stand, as Ben Larkin and Jack Hill got down to business at St Paul’s Oval in their pursuit of Fairfield’s formidable 288. Jack Hill was excellent on his way to his 94 (his second almost-hundred of the season), as was Ben Larkin who amassed 89. After a 158-run partnership, Ben Larkin was trapped in front to see Charles Litchfield take control, with a proactive 69 not out (including 5 boundaries and 2 sixes) seeing the students to a 7-wicket win with overs to spare.
Things began inauspiciously for 4th grade, who arrived at Fairfield Oval to find the pitch almost completely unprepared since the week prior. After some confusion, and even threat of match abandonment, the captain’s reached a gentleman’s agreement of only bowling spin from the northern end, as the other half of the pitch did its best to impersonate a Day 7 Eden Gardens wicket. With the students defending 232 the delayed start was of little worry, as Lewis McMahon showed his class in picking up 4/25, supported well by skipper Sanjiv Khalko and Billy Barge (who each claimed 2 wickets), to bowl Fairfield out for 97 in the 42nd over.
At Camperdown Park, and with a potential outright in mind, 5th grade resumed at 2/79 in pursuit of 165, with alacrity. Lewis Ansell continued his strong start to the season, as he scored 91, supported by skipper Andrew Wilkinson who amassed 47, before declaring at 7/204 with a 49-run lead. The students pushed their case for 10 points, with Murray Watts, Will Masojada and Murray Miles each picking up 2 wickets to have Fairfield 8/140 at the end of the day’s play – without an outright, but with 6 points from a comprehensive 1st innings victory.
Students Clinical in Double-Header…
Uni have announced themselves as contenders for the Kingsgrove Sports T20 Cup with back-to-back wins in the tournament’s opening two rounds.
At Uni No. 1, after Wests elected to bat, Ben Joy took the new ball with aplomb to make a dent early – removing both opening batsman to have Wests 2/17. An incredible partnership however, from Wests’ middle order saw them to a strong total of 158 from their 20 overs. Enter Hayden Kerr, who scored an imperious 70 from 44 balls, hitting 6 fours and 5 sixes in the process. When asked to describe his innings, one SUCC Army member said “exuding an air of composure that clearly demonstrated the talent gap between him and all comers” (TF). Nick Walker continued his form with the bat in smashing 68 not out from 44 balls (8 fours, 3 sixes) – combining deft touch with power in the process – to see the students to victory in only 16.2 overs.
In the afternoon against ACT, Hayden Kerr picked up where he left off, opening the innings with a powerful 40 from 22 balls (6 fours 2 sixes). After slotting into the number 3 position, Ed Cowan returned to again display his class – reaching the boundary only once, but clearing it 6 times on his way to an easy 69 from 36 deliveries. With Liam Robertson (49 from 30) and Tim Cummins (23 from 15) closing out the innings, the students amassed a domineering 207 from their 20 overs. Joe Kershaw was the pick of the bowlers with 3/28, as ACT struggled to get their innings off the ground. Dugald Holloway and Devlin Malone each claimed 2 wickets, to secure a 79-run victory and an incredible weekend of cricket from the students.