Round 16, second last round before finals, was kicked off by the Heavy Rollers and the Son’s of Pitches. A new opening combination of Troyden Thorpe and Glenn Waterhouse didn’t work for the Rollers, as Waterhouse was out for a second ball duck, caught and bowled by Surrall. Dave La Motte struck an unbeaten 25, as did the skipper Paul Keen and Ross Gibson, while number 11 Mick Barnes was resolute at the bottom with a classy, and undefeated 14 to his name. Brett Wood, the Pitches' skipper, was the pick of the bowlers with 2 for 20 from his 2 overs, while Dennis Armour and Braden Surrall both took 1 for 11 from their allocated overs. The Heavy Rollers made 7 for 171; a more than competitive score with their bowling line up. Requiring 8.6 an over, Surrell and Blincow took 27 from the first three overs, with Blincow retiring on 25 runs. Armour continued his good game with 21 runs while Dan Wilde struck 26 before being caught by Annadale of the Rollers. Craig Bazzell hit 24 runs, but the Son’s of Pitches could only manage 9 for 144 from their allotted overs and fell 27 runs short.
Game 2 of the week saw a dominant victory to the Match Fixers over the Jack of All Trades. Batting first, the Fixers hit 7 for 158, with unbeaten innings to Bailey, 25, Coshott, 30 and Wood, 26 helping the team to a competitive, if not below par, score. Cam’s 1 for 10 from 2 overs was the pick of the Jacks bowling attack, while Tim’s 1 for 13, Troy’s 1 for 17 and Rob’s 1 for 18 were the next best. The Jack's innings started terribly, at 1 for 1 from the 3rd ball of the run chase. Benny’s 31 and an unbeaten 26 from Hillsy aided the Jack’s total, but the Match Fixers bowlers stuck to the plan and rolled the Jacks for just 103 in the 16th over. Adam Smith, with 3 for 10 from 2 overs, was the pick of the bowlers in a complete team effort victory.
The Swingers took on the Fine Legs in game three of the week and the Swingers had almost the perfect score card. With Begley, Randell and Denton all dismissed with 26 runs between them, the rest of the order was unbeaten, with Bailey Sanford top scoring with 28 runs to his name. Brendan Cribb, 27, Aiden Fraser, 27, Beau Chinnery, 27 and Jackson Arbon, 25, were all unbeaten with an incredible 3/171 the final score from the Swingers 20 overs. Wes Stanley the pick of the bowlers with 1 for 10 from his 2, while Marc Ramirez, 1 for 14 and Damien Madden, 1 for 20, the other wicket takers. A target of 172 runs was gettable with the Fine Legs batting order and at 1/33 in the 5th over, the Leg’s were on track for victory. At 3 for 61 in the 9th, some good partnerships were going to be crucial for a win but the Swingers bowlers operated perfectly. Marc Randell, 2 for 6 from 2 overs, and 2 for 17 from 2 overs to Aiden Fraser swung the game right into the Swingers favour. An unbeaten 31 from Brad Price, 30 not out for Sean Scadden, Marc Ramirez’s 25 not out and Justin Chandler’s 25 not out batting at 11 took the Fine Legs close. But it was the Swingers who prevailed in another great game of cricket; the Leg’s falling short by 9 runs. The Swingers look the team to beat this year, after their early exit in last season’s finals series.
The last game of the round was a high scoring affair, with nearly 400 runs scored in 40 overs. Winning the toss and batting first, the Lemons' Barty Simpson and Ben Horrock’s protégé, Fraser Thompson, opened the batting. With 45 runs coming from the first 4 overs, the Lemons were on fire early. Thompson retired first, with 35 runs to his name; while Simpson was dismissed for 22 with the score on 64. Horrocks hit 16, in one of his best innings of the season, before Justin, 29 not out, and an unbeaten 30 from Ritchie, had the Lemons in a great position at 4 for 169 from 16 overs. Wizz Elliot was the last dismissed, with only 3 to his name, but the Lemons had amassed a mammoth 7 for 211 from their 20 overs. Bryte Townsend was the pick of the Bin Chooks bowlers with 3 for 17 from his 2 overs, while Chris Brook took 2 for 22 from 2 overs. A good start was going to be crucial for a Bin Chooks victory, but out of any of the BT20 teams, the Chooks were one that could match them. With 35 coming from the first 3 overs, the Chooks were on track early; Dornan, Horrocks and Christenson all going for 6, 17 and 10 from their first overs respectively. Tom Payne retired before coming back and being dismissed for 29 runs; while the BT20's leading run scorer, Chris Brook, was run out for 20. More at busseltonmail.com.au.