Street Fires As Grade Scene Heats Up

The Queensland Premier cricket season continues to impress as a number of players turned out top performances and staked their claims for higher honours. 

Toombul chased down Wests in high scoring affair at Ken Mackay Oval. Chasing Wests 7/360d, Toombul were confident in their batting ability and eager to chase the runs from the outset. After older brother Isiah impressed last week for Wests, it was Toby Snell’s (71 off 137) turn for Toombul. Snell and fellow opener Addy Grewal (100 off 192) got their side of the necessary start before Preston White (87 off 117) and Sam Wilson (53 off 36) surged their side towards the score. Toombul claimed victory 7 wickets down with minutes remaining in play. Tom Whitney (3/77) and Soham Sane (3/38) led Wests bowlers.

Sunshine Coast continued their outstanding start to the two day season, knocking over reigning premiers Norths on Ian Healy Oval. Norths started their bowling innings perfectly, Marcus Bean (1/13) snaring a wicket with the second ball. At 6/139 chasing 222, the Scorchers were in trouble as Norths pushed hard to win. However, Scorchers #6 Tom Engelbrecht (72 off 95) and #8 Jack Whisker (35 off 41) provided a counterpunch and quickly turned momentum. The two batters were superb, guiding the Scorchers home for their second big win in a row. Sunshine Coast finished all out 269 when the match was called.

After struggling for form in comparison to his lofty standards, Bryce Street (145 off 248) broke through for University in a big way against Redlands. Street’s innings helped see Uni pass Redlands score of 253. Max Clayton (101* off 98) then cashed in to post his maiden First Grade hundred. In a tough day for the bowlers, Uni scored 5/426 before hands were shaken. 

Wynnum-Manly almost claimed an incredible victory against Valley. At 4/226 chasing 259, Valley were cruising to victory. Set batters Jack Beath (69 off 92) and Paddy Cotter (41 off 47) then fell chasing balls well outside off stump. It inspired a late surge from the Sea Eagles, Valley losing 5/26 and very quickly 9/252. It wasn’t to be for Wynnum though, Valley youngster Tighe Morris (22* off 51) and Joey Pratt (40 off 28) scraping their side home to victory. Josh Fraser (3/87), Amitoj Sindhu (3/67) and Jehan Daniel (3/26) led the wicket takers. 

Ipswich turned out an excellent team performance to defeat Sandgate-Redcliffe. The Hornets batters each performed to chase Sandgate’s 224 in quick time. Ethan Ramsbotham (49 off 147), Paul Nasser (54 off 59), Harry Wood (49 off 83), Harry Sheppard (58* off 34) and Matt Andrews (40* off 30) guided Ipswich to 6/370d. Sandgate finished their second innings 2/75 when stumps were called. 

After Souths resumed 9/65 chasing Gold Coast’s 191, the Dolphins soon wrapped up victory. Souths were sent in again, Zanden Jeh (86 off 144) again impressing in the second innings. Souths were dismissed for 195 and the Gold Coast were 0/4 when stumps were drawn.

With the T20's coming to an end, the Katherine Raymont Shield is heating up with three finals spots up for grabs. Sandgate-Redcliffe are fighting for first position with the Sunshine Coast as their double win weekend sky-rocketed the Scorchers into second position. 

Bill Pippen Oval hosted an exciting weekend as the Gold Coast locked in their third win for the T20 season. The Dolphins bowlers started well against Valleys DCC who are still struggling to get their first win on the board. A total of 88 all out was always going to be tough to defend. England Under 19s representative, Ava Lee was ripping down on the ball as she took her first 5fa on Australian soil. The Southern Vipers spinner has been an asset for the Dolphins already this season taking 14 wickets at an average of 11.86.

An easy chase for Gold Coast as they secured the target in just the 14th over. Lauren Patterson again in the runs with 38* off 32 deliveries. The classy right hander has been a rock at the top order for the dolphins. Patterson was accompanied by the skipper, Meg Mettam who hit 28* including many quickly run twos.

The University of Queensland came into their first fixture of the day with a huge win against the in-form Sandgate-Redcliffe. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, UQ put on a reasonable score of 4-124 but their bowling unit is what made the difference. Queensland Country representative, Taylor Stumer (30) got the Students off to a solid start before Tara Wheeler (32 off 28) chipped in towards the back end of the innnings. Kiana Dunn (1/19) was the standout of the Sandgate bowlers going at just 4.75 an over.

Sandgate's reply was dissapointing as the tournament front runners scraped to just 71 runs. The Katherine Raymont Shield's leading runscorer, Tess Cooper who has hit 520 runs this season was dismissed early on for just 10. Caity Mair was the only real contributer with 30 (29) before a middle order collapse came upon the Gators. A great spell from off-spinner, Abbey Harvey (4/12) confirmed that spin was to win last Sunday. Claire Molloy also got into the action with an economical 1/14 off 4 overs as this cemented a big win for the Students.

Table climbers, the Sunshine Coast getting yet another victory into the books against Wynnum-Manly. Winning the toss and electing to bowl may have been the Sea Eagles biggest mistake as the Scorchers got off to a strong start. This was lead by another English import, Kalea Moore who struck a run a ball 59. Chipping away as well, all-rounder Catherine White hit 33 runs as the Scorchers reached a total of 8/124. Spin again played a vital role as left armer Clodaghh Ryall took 3/14.

The Sea Eagle's began their innings poorly with a wicket on the first delivery. Wynnum slumped to 6/35 soon thereafter. Tarah Staines leading the Sunshine Coast once again from a bowling persepctive taking 3/16. The former Queensland Under 19 representative has played a consistent role all season with 16 wickets to her name. Not a week goes by without off-spinner Ruby Orchard (2/10) contributing as the Scorchers bowled out the opposition in 19 overs. Wynnum's Samantha Smithers was the sole runscorer hitting 36* off 35 deliveries. 

For the second fixture of the day, Western Suburbs came out firing after a bye in round 10. Getting off to an absolute flyer, Wests made it to 90 runs before losing their first wicket. Opening batter, Lily Bassingthwwaighte (54 off 46) has just been added to the Brisbane Heat's squad for this weeks WBBL games. Ruby Strange played her role well with 33 off 34 deliveries. Breaking this vital partnership, Dolphins player Ava Lee again in the wickets taking 2 within an over. Wests quickly slowed there run rate as they finished on 5/126.

Gold Coast were not up for the challenge as nearly the entire team were dismissed for single figures. Some strong bowlinig performances and average shot selections saw the Dolphins lose 7/38 within their middle overs. Front line bowlers, Lilli Hamilton (2/21) and Ruby Strange (2/27) made a tough chase for Gold Coast as they pulled up 25 runs short.

The Sunshine Coast took a huge opportunity against UQ as the Students batting line up failed to compete. Another nail biting match that came down to the last over showed how important every ball is in T20 cricket. A tight spell from Kalea Moore (2/12) and again Catherine White (2/5) was vital in restricting UQ to a low total.

A well timed innings by Camryn Barnett (42* off 52) to bat through the overs helped the Scorchers just get over the line in the runs department. A handy back innings knock from Ruby Orchard (19* off 22) was also a much needed support. UQ's spin stocks again being crucial with Abbey Harvey's 2/29. A score of just 95 was always going to be tough to defend as the Scorcher's cemented another victory.

A suprise win for Wynnum-Manly against Sandgate concluded an action packed day of the Katherine Raymont Shield. Spin bowling again being at the forefront of Sunday's play, Amreen Kahlon took 3 big wickets including Tess Cooper and Darcey Johnson. Quick bowler, Erin Moran played her role to perfection going at just 2.33 an over, helping restrict Sandgate to 9/104.

Another controlled knock saw the Sea Eagles chase the total with just one ball remaining. The standout performance of Toowoomba local, Abi McCray (47 off 49) was the backbone. Sandgate's Jess Cremin (3/12) bowled aggresivelty although this was not enouguh to secure a win for the competitions front runners.