Collie A-grade cricket
The Collie A-grade cricket team travelled to Forrest Park to take on Marist who had started the year well, sitting second on the ladder. Collie won the toss and batted first on a pitch that had the top order excited to get the pads on.
Brayden Kent and Tom Plummer began the innings for Collie and it was a solid start. Kent was the aggressor to start with hitting some short bowling to the point boundary with ease. Plummer began getting in on the action also, hitting the ball well along the ground.
Kent was bowled for 10 and Blair Malatesta came to the crease and together with Plummer really got the innings going. Plummer was devastating, sending the Marist bowlers to all parts of the ground and reaching 50 in no time.
The partnership was cut short when Plummer was caught for 64 with the score at 82. The inform Austin Kent kept his form going with Malatesta until Malatesta was caught for 18.
Captain Greg Tomasini joined Kent in the middle and built a productive partnership through the middle overs.
Kent worked the ball well while Tomasini attacked the short boundary on one side of the field taking the Marist bowlers for four sixes in his innings. When Tomasini was dismissed for 43 and Kent for 36 in the 34th and 36th over respectively, the total was looking healthy at 5 for 180.
Young Jaxon Pitts, on his A grade debut, ended up with a well made 26 not out, batting perfectly in the situation. Williams, Maloney, Hislop, Parkin and Borrett all batted selflessly to get the Collie total to 9/245 off the 50 overs.
Collie’s best batsmen: T Plummer 64, G Tomasini 43, A Kent 36, J Pitts 26 not out.
With a large total to chase, early wickets were going to be the key to victory for Collie with the ball. Speedster Ayden “Binger” Parkin took the first wicket in the fourth over, getting a leg side edge that was caught behind. Jason Borrett trapped the other opener LBW in the seventh over to put the pressure on Marist at 2/23.
In a turning point of the game, inform Marist captain Reece O’Connell was runout for a diamond duck from some great work on the boundary from veteran Tom Plummer and a rocket arm from Austin Kent. Collie had their tails up and after wickets from Parkin, Braden Kent and two for Mark Williams, Marist were unravelling at 7/60.
With the game all but done, the Marist lower order fought hard with Fitt and Shipley making 26 and 32 respectively to get the Marist total over 100. Fraser Hislop and Malatesta cleaned up the final two wickets to complete the 103-run victory for Collie. A great performance to boost Collie up to fifth on the ladder.
Best bowlers: B Kent 2/11 from 7, M Williams 2/30 from 5, A Parkin 2/49 from 9, J Borrett 1/19 from 7.
PineHauliers first grade "Man of the Match" - Mark Williams, 68 points.
A-grade T20 Cricket
Collie also hosted two A-grade T20 games at Roche Park on Sunday. The first game against Colts was a tight affair with Collie posting 110 with Plummer top scoring with 34 and some late hitting from Parkin with 22 being the highlights.
Collie fielded and bowled well to restrict Colts as the game went down to 110 each with one ball remaining for Collie to bowl. An unfortunate inside edge slid passed the Colts batsmen’s stumps to run away for two handing Colts the victory after a hard fought game. Ayden Parkin’s three wickets were the highlight for Collie with the ball.
The second game saw Collie take on Dalyellup who were fresh from a bye in the morning round of fixtures. Collie batted well to post 120 with Malatesta making 51 with help from the Kent brothers who chipped in with 20 odd each.
Dalyellup took full advantage of a tired and fatigued Collie team. Fagan took to the Collie bowlers who were struggling after a massive effort all weekend. Dalyellup chased down the 120 with ease, getting the total in the 14th over. With Borrett and Parkin taking the only wickets.
PineHauliers T20 first grade "Player of the Day" - Ayden Parkin, 112 points.
