GAME four in round one was played in the South Midlands Cricket Association on Sunday when the Bindi Miling Rams 4 for 284 (B.Tierney 91, J.Borrett 68, M.Grey 3/38, J.Dodd 1/39) defeated Moora Knights 68 (M.Grey 28, O.Langley 8, J.Martin 4/23, J.Borrett 3/6).
The Bindi Miling Rams have shown why they deserve to be early premiership favourites after their demolition of the Moora Knights in Moora on the weekend.
In what were perfect conditions for playing cricket, the Knights won the toss and elected to bowl.
The first 15 overs saw some tight bowling from Knights duo Keiran Sullivan and Scott McLean. However, neither quick was able to generate a breakthrough with little opportunity being given by Rams openers Brendon Tierney and Andrew Barnard.
At the first drinks break the afternoon looked to be poised for an exciting game of cricket as neither team was really on top.
Unfortunately for the Knights, the Rams took control of the game from there.
With the Rams looking to increase their run rate, their batsman threw caution to the wind and attacked the Knights’ bowling hard with opener Brendon Tierney smashing his way to 91 and Jason Borret and impressive 68 and captain Jarrad Martin a quick fire 52.
The Knights’ bowling was put to all parts of the ground and the team suffered once again from their ability to drop easy catches.
Rams batsman Jason Borret was lucky to survive his innings after being struck in the temple from a bouncer from Knights quick Keiran Sullivan, the delivery leaving the Rams batsman with a swollen face and a trip to the Moora hospital.
Luckily all was well for the Rams all rounder who managed to return to the field to bowl later on and lead his side to victory.
With a score of 284 at the end of their innings, it would be difficult for the Knights to catch the Rams.
Their innings started off disastrously with the Knights losing their top three batsman in less than two overs.
From there they struggled to get into the game, eventually being dismissed for 68 after a brief fight back from debutante Matt Grey who managed 28, which was the only highlight of a dismal Knights innings.
It was a crushing win to the Rams who now sit atop the table a game clear from Lower Chittering Warriors who has the bye this week.
The Rams look to be the favourites for the flag with their well balanced all round line-up and under the new leadership of Jarrad Martin which seems to have inspired the Rams so far this season.
In other games this week, the Bindoon Bushrangers were comfortable winners over the Dandaragan Bears establishing themselves well and truly in the top four.
Batting first the Bushrangers made 7 for 203 with captain Clayton Smith making 107 not out while the other batsman chipped in around him on their way to setting their total.
Smith once again showed why his is considered one of the premier batsman of the competition.
Best of the bowling for the Bears was G Warton 4 for 36 and Stephen Bean 2 for 36.
In reply the Bears were dismissed for 173. They managed to get off to a good start, but a middle order collapse put too much pressure on the tail and they folded leaving themselves 30 runs short of the Bushrangers’ total.
Best for the Bears with the bat were Joe Furnace 48 and David Fox 24 while for the Bushrangers Jason Bulpitt with his slow off spinners once again picked up wickets with 3 for 26 and Laughlan McInnes picked up 2 for 16.
The other match of the round was between bottom placed Muchea and Gingin Reds with the winner being assured of getting off the bottom of the ladder.
This turned out to be the match of the round with nearly 500 runs being scored on the small Muchea ground.
The Reds started the game well, making 5 for 247 with veterans Murray Green 79, Steve Balcombe 62 and Ash Martin 43 contributing well, while the best for the bowling from Muchea was N Hampson 2 for 26.
In reply the young Muchea team started well with the Hampson brothers opening the batting and looking solid, both getting runs with B Hampson 77 and N Hampson 69.
They were well supported with R Taylor 34 and only Ash Martin 5 for 70 looking dangerous from the Reds bowling.
With the Reds restricting the flow of runs, the required run rate blew out to 10 runs an over.
However, some smart batting from Ryan Taylor towards the end of the innings saw the Muchea boys get over the line with an over to spare at 5 for 250 getting their first win for the season.
Next week’s games
Lower Chittering Warriors vs Moora Knights: Unless the Knights can learn to bat, bowl and catch this week, the Warriors will win this game with ease.
Dandaragan vs Muchea: The Bears at home should be too strong for Muchea, although the younger team of Muchea team has plenty of enthusiasm. This is a definite danger game for the Bears and should be the game of the round.
Bindoon Bushrangers vs Gingin Reds: The Bushrangers look to be cruising in the four at this early part of the season while the Reds are definitely struggling with getting an experienced team on the park. The Bushrangers should win this game comfortably.
Bindi Miling Rams have a bye.
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff
Twitter