Blues and Green Caps hit campaign with victories
Leschenault opened the Bunbury and Districts Cricket Association T20 season with a 23-run home victory over Colts on Saturday morning.
Switched from the Bunbury Recreation Ground at the 11th hour because of concerns about the wicket, the home side lost the toss and was sent in by the reigning premiers.
Not that this appeared to bother them.
Green Caps openers Kurt D’Agostino and Justin Wood put on a quality stand of 41, before D’Agostino was caught by Joe Barningham off some excellent pressure bowling from Colts’ Cruize Ciallella.
D’Agostino’s dismissal signalled a mini-collapse, with solid number three Tom Buchanan departing for eight, before Wood managed to put his side back on track with some composed timing at the crease.
Ciallella turned to Barningham towards the end of the Green Caps’ innings in a bid to put the clamp on their run rate and he did not let his skipper down, finishing with 3-9 off three overs.
Setting the reigning premiers 114 to win, Colts fell in a hole early, slumping to 3-18 after Ciallella, Vikramjit Singh and Tyler King all departed very quickly. Barningham (27 off 33 balls) providing some brief respite, but the reigning premiers lost 5-36 after he was stumped by Green Caps wicketkeeper Matt Buchanan.
At Forrest Park East, Marist made an early statement to their rivals after defeating Hay Park by five wickets.
The visitors appeared to be well placed early in their innings, with openers Martyn Foster and Steve Florance working the ball confidently.
At 1-20 in the fifth over, the Blues took control of the match after Florance was caught by Paul Craft for 15.
Aside from Callum Wood causing them some brief headaches, Blues bowlers Alan Utterson and Bailey Wootton managed to stem the flow of Redbacks runs, which led to one of the most incredible acts of fielding likely to be witnessed this season.
With Redbacks batsman Grant Milbanke scurrying back into his crease, Blues marksman Ben Shipley dived to the turf like a cat, scooped up the ball with one hand and hurled it at the stumps seamlessly in one motion.
This signalled a spiral in wickets, with the visitors losing 5-12 to close on 9-83.
In reply, the Blues steadily knocked down their target in the 14th over, with Brayden Clarke the pick of the batsmen.
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