Cats crush Iona in division one

by Samuel Laffy

Iona (65) def. by Catani (5/71)
Whilst some thought that their harrowing defeat at the hands of Western Park might break the spirits of Catani's First XI, the Cats shrugged off the loss to record a comfortable five-wicket win over Iona in round 10, the Swamp Tigers once again unable to hold their own with the willow enough to challenge their opponents.
Carter Davis (18 from 31) and Graeme Rankin (14 off 21) were the only amongst Ionan line-up able to make it to double figures, as Cameron Brown (5/9 from 6.4) wreaked havoc in the latter part of the Swamp Tigers' innings.
Constantly attacking the stumps, the Catani seamer was nigh on unplayable, and in collaboration with Daniel Glover (2/9) and Coby Podd (2/23) bundled out Iona for just 65.
To their credit, the Swamp Tigers gave it their all with the ball, with Jackson Clerks (2/22) and Liam Lenders (1/16) able to induce errors in judgement from the Catani top and middle order.
But in the end they simply didn't have enough runs to seriously challenge their opponents.
Liam Adams (30 from 42) enjoyed some quality time at the crease as Catani reached 5/71 in the 21st over.
Trafalgar (98) def. by Western Park (2/101)
Ladder-leaders Western Park romped to victory over Trafalgar, with the Warriors once again flexing their muscles against a top four contender.
Whilst Rhys Holdsworth (37 from 42) and Mitchell Claridge (24 off 68) were able to apply themselves, there was precious little support for the duo.
Holdsworth in particular took a liking to Matt Garner early in the piece – striking three boundaries in the sixth over of the innings – and launched a six off Ellis Whiteford in a typically belligerent display.
But his knock was curtailed by Joel Batson, looking to defend off the back foot but only able to feather the ball through to Zane Harper who gleefully accepted the chance.
Following his dismissal Sam Batson (4/26 from 8) raced through the tail, his ability to move the ball at speed proving far too much for the Trafalgan tail to handle.
In all the Ships posted just 98, a total that was unlikely to cause headaches for Western Park.
As it was, Gavin Roulston ensured there was barely time for Trafalgar's attack to formulate a game-plan to stymie his hitting as the dynamic opener launched a volley of boundaries to all parts of the ground.
Reaching his half-century from just 22 balls, Roulston's savage blitz helped the Warriors reach 2/101 after just 10.2 overs, with seemingly no-one capable of halting the Western Park juggernaut as the season continues.
Longwarry (3/137) def. Ellinbank (9/136)
With Trafalgar putting in a disappointing display, Longwarry seized on their chance to jump into the top four in division one, the Crows taking home a comfortable seven-wicket win over Ellinbank.
It was a win set up by some superb bowling from Matt Aslett and Harrison Stephens, with the duo's wicket-taking abilities on full display.
Aslett (4/18) provided the ideal start for Longwarry with the new ball in hand, trapping Aaditya Varadharajan in front in the first over of the innings, and he breached the defences of Daniel Pandolfo not long after to have Ellinbank teetering at 2/11.
Alex Gaudion (35 from 70) and Curtis Howell (33 off 69) stemmed the flow of wickets and began to rebuild for their side, mixing intelligent rotation of the strike with the occasional boundary, but a mix-up between the pair saw Gaudion short of his ground and from then wickets began to tumble.
Stephens (3/24) lured Luke Ferguson out of his crease the following over, and soon after removed Howell as the Eagles found themselves finishing at 9/136.
Knowing early wickets were crucial, Nick Fairbank (2/24 from 8) provided early joy for Ellinbank – removing Vidusha Hettiarachchige Don and Jake Serong to reduce the Crows to 2/17 – but Yash Samarasinghe soon counterattacked.
Notching a vibrant 51*, he found a willing ally in Jonah Serong (who made a classy 41*) and the pair combined for a largely unfussed 58-run fourth wicket stand that carried Longwarry to 3/137 in the 36th over.
Hallora (6/212) def. Drouin (8/178)
The final encounter of the round saw Hallora begin their long road back to finals contention, the Kangaroos knocking off the highly fancied Drouin Hawks to the tune of 34 runs.
It was some of the usual suspects who led the way with the bat, with Gamini Kumara (68 from 90) again in resplendent form and James Williams notching an impish 41-ball 31.
However, more than a few across the league might be surprised to see it was Grant Duncan who led the acceleration towards the end of the innings as the veteran all-rounder shook off some indifferent form with the bat to blast 42* and lift the Kangaroos to 6/212 at the conclusion of their 40 overs.
Drouin's run chase began in awful fashion, with Trevor Gardiner having his off-stump bent back by Aidan Phillips second ball of the innings and Brayden Notman bottom-edging Josh Wilson onto his stumps soon after.
Damon Healy (62 from 63) set about anchoring the pursuit and powerfully off-drove back-to-back boundaries off Phillips, and his ability to quickly seize upon anything back-of-a-length saw him race to a half-century.
Just as he seemed set to fully gain momentum however, an incredible take by Craig Byrnes – standing up at the stumps and gloving a top-edge from a full-blooded cut-shot – saw the Drouin all-rounder depart.
James Wilcock (55 off 98) did his best to push the tempo, but against tidy spells from Wilson (2/32) and James Williams (2/24) found it difficult to reach the fence.
At the end of the day the weight of runs was simply too much to overcome, with the Hawks only able to reach 8/178 by game's end.