CELEBRATIONS: The Southern Zone team celebrates after Nate Jones takes the first wicket of the day in round one.
THE Shoalhaven’s Nate Jones and Adam Ison have come away from the first round of the Bradman Cup with a victory for Southern Zone against Riverina on Monday.
Jones was the leading wicket-taker for Southern Zone, taking 3/37, with Ison (27), the second highest run-scorer.
Hayden Drexel Oval was a field of nervous energy, as people flocked to the venue to watch one of the first round games of the prestigious Bradman Cup competition that saw Southern Zone face Riverina.
Riverina won the toss and elected to bat first.
There was a lot of positive talk going on in the field, which soon paid off for the opening bowlers Jones and Zac Moran.
Right arm pace bowler, Jones, captured the first wicket after teammate Jarrod Colliss caught Blair Henery for a duck. Lachlan Lane followed a few balls later, this time caught by Darren Mansfield off a Moran delivery. The rest of Riverina’s lineup was falling fast and quick, but seventh order batsman Tom Byrnes (41) and ninth-order batsman Jake Toll (38) provided the runs they needed to give their team a fighting chance. Riverina was all out for 146 after 32.5 overs, much thanks to Southern Zones’ Jones (3/37), Kieran Gilly (2/6) and Dylan Palmer-Quigg (2/19).
Going in to bat, Adam Ison and Hayden Church opened for their team. Although Church was caught for two runs, Ison maintained an impressive strike rate, making 27 runs from 55 balls, before he was caught by Joel Murphy off a Joe Oliver delivery.
The Riverina bowlers Jake Toll (3/27), Matthew Peruzzi (1/31) and Oliver (1/24) were not giving the Southern boys much room to score runs.
But Tim Coenen (40 n.o) and Nathan Hore (24 n.o) managed to find their mark, taking Southern Zone to 147 runs after 30.1 overs to claim the win.
In Monday’s other games, Central Northern easily chased down Central Coast’s 176 runs after stellar performances by Max Houlahan (54) and James Psarakis (49 n.o) at Bomaderry Sporting Complex.
Central Northern won the toss and sent Central Coast in to
bat first.
Opening batsman Johnathon Boyd (38) did well to get his team off to a good start, with Michael Williams (45) and Lochie Gale (21) rounding out their team’s 176 run total after 50 overs.
Psarakis was a major threat with the ball for Central Northern, taking 5/19, in his
10 overs, including two maiden overs.
Going in to bat, Houlahan, Jayden Park (29) and Psarakis were ruthless in racking up the runs, finishing 4/77 off 44 overs and claiming full points for
their team.
Over at Bomaderry Oval, Illawarra defeated North Coastal by 63 runs after Illawarra’s Callum Waldock (50), Daniel Constable (26) and Toby Flynn-Duncombe (38) brought the team’s total to 197, despite the best efforts of North Coastal’s Alex Melville (4/29).
Going in to bat, Tobyn Burvill (41) showed fine form, however the rest of the team was only able to push to 134 runs before it was all out. Flynn-Duncombe proved to be just as dangerous with the ball as he was with the bat, taking 4/23.
At Berry Sporting Complex, Western Zone’s batsmen were ruthless against Newcastle, knocking 270 runs with their 50 overs. Opening batsmen Alex Johnston hit 83 runs before he was caught by Ryan Brooks off a Tyson Beatty delivery. Jeremy Judge (49), Alex Crowther (32) and Daniel Donato (49 n.o) brought Western to 5/270 at the change of innings.
Newcastle fought back hard, with Ryan Brooks (38), Baylet McGill (47) and Harry Macansh (48) producing good scores. But the strike rate was not high enough to match Western, with Newcastle 6/178 at stumps.
Due to the extreme heat, the day two matches were reduced to 30-over innings.
Full results will appear in Friday’s South Coast register.
In today’s games, Central Northern will face Riverina at Nowra Showground, Southern Zone will come up against Central Coast at Hayden Drexel Oval, Illawarra and Newcastle will clash at Bernie Regan Oval, and Western will face North Coastal at Bomaderry Oval.
The final will be held at Hayden Drexel Oval on Thursday, with the teams yet to be decided.
