Gisborne District Cricket Association’s season is finally under way, and Woodend’s healthy tally of 188 was not enough to keep promoted Wallan at bay in their McIntyre Cup clash on Saturday.
Spectators at Gilbert Gordon Oval witnessed some fine batting in the one-day fixture, but it was Bryan Vance who turned the match in the visitors’ favour by scoring 101 in fine style.
Earlier, Woodend’s Marcus Stewart 66 and Harry Lawson 58 put together 111 runs for the second wicket, but once they were dismissed the hopes of scoring over 200 faded.
All out for 188 gave the Magpies a target and with Vance leading the way they compiled 7/192 with overs to spare.
At Gisborne’s Gardiner Reserve the home side was restricted to 119 all out, with captain Jason Wilson top scoring with 39 and Spencer Jones making an unbeaten 27.
In a professional display, Bacchus Marsh replied with 2/122 with Nicholas Stangio unbeaten on 50 to add to his three wickets, and Cousins was 52 not out.
Romsey dictated terms to Rupertswood for much of the afternoon, with Travis Stevenson the man of the match.
The Redbacks restricted the promoted Rupertswood to 129, with Stevenson capturing 4-17, and Jamie Taylor 3-8 from eight miserly overs. Aaron Paterson and Darrin Jewell also kept the brakes on.
Stevenson dominated a vital second wicket stand with Matthew Milne and the Redbacks were well on the way to victory when he departed for a brisk 55. Coach Ben Way made sure of victory with an unbeaten 29 as Romsey reached 7/130.
In the other McIntyre Cup fixtures Sunbury United’s 6/203c.c. was far to good for East Sunbury all out for 102, and Diggers Rest-Bulla 9/140 (R. Berry 38, R. Ratnayche 26) defeated Sunbury Kangaroos 107.
With 10 teams, McIntyre Cup will feature a ‘Final Six’ for the first time so points in early matches are vital.
THRILLER AT KYNETON
In Johnstone Shield, there was an absolute thriller at the Kyneton Showgrounds, where Riddell lost five wickets in the space of 15 runs chasing Kyneton’s very handy 5/154 c.c. (S. Pyers 51 not out, T. Boyer 27, L. Crean 25).
It was left to tailenders Evan Mouat and Jarrod McKee to rescue Riddell with a last wicket unbeaten stand, the winning runs coming in the final over of the day. Sam Dempsey 43 top scored, with Ingleton, Stokes and Sheahan sharing the wickets for Kyneton, a side which has plenty of ability.
At Tony Clarke Reserve, Macedon restricted Gisborne to 7/130 (Glenn Waites 48, H. Luxmore 36 – L. Ferguson 4-14) then worked hard to reach a winning 8/131 and begin the season on a good note.
The other Johnstone Shield fixtures saw Romsey had little trouble in compiling 4/127 (D. Devlin 45) to overhaul Aintree’s 124, Sunbury United comfortably accounted for East Sunbury, and Bacchus Marsh rattled up 8/238 to outclass Eynesbury 149.
In Jensen Shield, Alan Sinclair’s unbeaten 95, Luke Harrison 34 and Callum Sankey 29 were largely responsible for Lancefield reaching 5/193 to edge out St Anthony’s 9/189.
Gisborne 6/156 (Cameron Osmond 47) defeated Diggers Rest 8/152 with Jason Gruevski snaring the first hat-trick of the season in his 3-15.
Hanging Rock has four teams this season, including a women’s eleven, and the number one side restricted Woodend to 7/143 (Brett Gardner 71) in 40 overs, and replied with 3/147 as captain Brandon Nicholls 68 and Andrew Warne 35 were both unbeaten in a tally of 3/147.
Macedon’s Ivan Bobetic hit an unbeaten 101 and captain Todd Coppin in the division 2 match at Riddell. The home side replied with 7/151 (M. Lindsay 59, J. Fisk 34).
Rupertswood 6/216 (Adam Sutherland 106) defeated Gisborne 7/125 (Brandon Sankey 55).
Bacchus Marsh 161 defeated Kyneton 124.
THIS WEEK
The Gisborne versus Woodend match at Gardiner Reserve takes pride of place in McIntyre Cup on Saturday.
Both sides will be looking to put a win on the bard.
Romsey travels to East Sunbury and should prove too strong.
Other games: Bacchus Marsh v Sunbury United, Rupertswood v Diggers Rest, Kangaroos v Wallan.
