By Casey O'Connor
A gutsy unbeaten 32 by number eight Ahamed Muneer has helped Victoria Hill to victory in a low-scoring opening Warwick Cricket Association match against Wheatvale at Slade Park on Sunday.
Wheatvale bowler Chris Cantwell took 5-11 to earn himself player of the match and put his team in the box-seat despite only posting a first innings total of 101.
After winning the toss and electing to bat the Wheatvale openers Lachie Boal (21) and Lincoln Bryant (15) got starts but the only other batters to reach double figures were Tom Doherty (10) and Neil Cantwell (25). Wheatvale were all out in the 29th over. Nic Webber led the Vic Hill bowling attack with figures of 4/23 off six overs.
Chasing the very gettable target of 101 Victoria Hill must have felt under siege as they faced a fired up Chris Cantwell. Cantwell ripped through the top order taking the first five wickets. When Dhillon became Cantwell’s fifth scalp in the 13th over Vic Hill were 5/46.
Nic Webber and Rick Sandhu fell cheaply soon after and Vic Hill were still 38 run shy of their target. A big effort was needed from their lower order and that’s just what Muneer, batting at eight, gave, stepping up to top score and guide the team to what at times looked an unlikely win.
Cantwell’s finished with the excellent figures of 5/11 from seven overs and included one maiden.
Meanwhile on at Slade Oval defending premiers Redbacks showed they are going to be a force again this season 2023/24 with a comprehensive 144 run win over the Allora Green Ants.
The Redbacks won the toss choosing to bat first on what looked to be a flat wicket.
John Tickle promoted himself up the order and opened alongside last season’s cricketer of the year Tom Allison. Moving Tickle up the order proved fruitful, the opener top scoring with 64. There were some mixed performances in the batting line up. Ryan Clark (26) Sam Lowney (31) and Steve Grogan (19) all made handy contributions as Redbacks batted out their full 40 overs setting Allora 213 to chase.
The Green Ants did not get their run chase off to a good start losing their first wicket after just three balls. Mitch Darton taking his first scalp for the season and his new club.
Gavan Schweie and Matt Christensen came and went in quick succession and after two overs Allora had lost three wickets for four runs. Allora struggled against the Redbacks attack only two players reached double figures.
The Redbacks wrapped up the game in the 23rd over dismissing Allora for 69 runs.
Alex Dwan took 3/9 from his five overs, Mitch Darton, playing his first game for Redbacks, also claimed three wickets returning figures of 3/23 from five while newcomer Reece Andrews had no luck with the bat but claimed two wickets from just three overs.
At Queens Park on Sunday Warwick Hotel Colts were able to pass Sovereign Animals’ 185 in the 33rd over to claim the points.
Animals won the toss and batted first setting Colts the reasonable.
Mark Fowler (27) top scored after he and Matthew Powell put on a 48-run middle order partnership. Fowler was run out in the 13th over and the next ball Matthew Powell (22) suffered the same fate.
Captain Tony Burke (15) was caught and bowled by Shaun O’Leary with the score at 5/118. The lower order played there part and Animals benefited from some sloppy bowling with 31 wides adding to their total.
In reply, Lachlan Gross played a pivotal role at the top of the Colts order while wickets fell cheaply around him. Colts had moved to 54 when Gross was the fourth wicket to fall, caught by Powell off the bowling of Marc Wagner for 42 Colts. The middle order failed to fire however a 54 run stand from Matthew Kiernan and a couple of stubborn tail enders guided Colts to the win with just over six overs to spare.
