GREAT individual performances from left-handers Grant Garstone and Shane Joyce led Margaret River Hawks to an upset win over last year’s grand finalists Dunsborough in the opening round of A-grade cricket last Saturday.
Despite Friday night’s heavy showers across the region, the clash at the Dunsborough Playing Fields got under way on time as a 50-over-a-side contest, thanks to the hard workers at Dunsborough Cricket Club who bought covers last season to protect the pitch from just this type of situation.
After putting Dunsborough into bat on a good dry track, Hawks skipper Paul Tognolini was immediately rewarded when Garstone snared three early wickets, including key batsman Aaron Mott and new skipper Nick Ritchie both for ducks.
Hawks’ fielding was a stand-out highlight. David Holmes held a mercurial one-handed catch at point to dismiss Phil Watts before Garstone at short cover went one better, holding a screamer off leggie Peter Crimp to dismiss new Dunsborough recruit Mick Walker.
And when veteran Ray Pes was dismissed, Dunsborough had slumped to a dangerous 7-50.
West Indian Riccardo Small-Boyce, fresh off a season in Devon in the UK which saw him score a century on one occasion, demonstrated his allround ability with a determined 26 runs before he became Crimp’s third wicket of the day.
Lachie Milton, who went on to topscore for Dunsborough with a stout 27 batting at No. 8, joined Small-Boyce in a late-order 50-run resistance and had the honour of striking the first six of the season when he dispatched Chris McLean over square leg on the full.
Dunsborough’s total of 106 all out in 35 overs was by no means a losing total as the teams were still brushing off their winter cobwebs, and Small-Boyce (4-19 off 10 overs) was soon making inroads into the Hawks lineup with his devastating pace.
The game hung in the balance when Hawks dipped to 5-51 in reply, before Joyce (47 not out) and skipper Tognolini (28 not out) steadied and finally decided the affair with an unbroken 56-run stand for the sixth wicket.
At Barnard Park the situation was more delicate when St Marys and reigning premiers YOBS encountered a soft rain-affected wicket. But after a delayed start and a reduction to 40 overs a side, the pitch played surprisingly well.
Put into bat, Saints got good value from recruit Nick Barr (28) and were steered to a fine total of 7-170 by skipper Danny Hatton (31) and enterprising allrounder Shay Thackrah, who smashed 66 off 48 balls before being caught behind off the last scheduled ball of the innings.
Evergreen Neil Langenhoven was the pick of the YOBS attack with 2-17 off eight overs, while Matty Braid (1-22 off eight) was also economical.
YOBS’ chase for victory was checked by young Saints speedster Lewis Milligan (2-24) who dismissed both openers, Harvey Golding and Luke Wedderburn, for single figures.
When Hatton took his second wicket, top scorer Ben Clarke (31) caught on the boundary in the 20th over, YOBS were just behind the required run rate.
Rain brought an early end to the game, with the intensifying weather making it impossible to complete the 23rd over of the innings with YOBS sitting at a precarious 5-92.
An interesting situation arose at the finish, with both captains believing they had played enough overs to constitute a result, with St Marys scoring an apparent win on the day.
However, the official rules of the local cricket association require the teams to have played at least 24 overs each for a result to be obtained.
The cricket committee will make a ruling on the outcome of the game in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for the result.
