Adam Cubbage and Umayr Amir in 60 run partnership off 7 overs for 9th wicket
Another successful round for the Gordon club with wins to firsts, seconds and fourths with thirds and colts washed out.
(Julian Stephenson appreciates the fine batting from Matt Jones)
The wins have moved us now to 8th in the club championship with firsts, seconds and fourths moving in close to the top 6 in their grades.
First Grade
The first grade team found themselves in an unusual situation at Waverley where the game was delayed to make it a 36 over match. After 1.4 overs however the landing area for the bowlers at one end developed a very big hole and further time was lost to reduce the game to 25 overs.
As the match had started this meant the Duckworth Lewis system had to be brought in to calculate the final score. With the Easts club not having a laptop at their ground, the call went to Chatswood for Andy Falk (well know IT specialist) to do the calculations via his laptop and relay them to Waverly.
(Ed Zelma in action)
And Falky didn’t let them down, showing his prowess to determine we would need 100 after having them 8 for 99 at the end of the 25 overs. We could have told him that but Andy (Duck) Falk was in full flight. A recheck and we actually needed 101.
The bowlers lead by a steamed up Ed Zelma broke the back of the Easts batting with 3 for 9 supported by some great fielding including a catch by Rod Hokin that Sam Buono called “the catch of the decade”. I am not sure which decade Sam was referring to however it was a great catch taking three steps and then launching himself to the left to take the catch centimetres from the ground at backward point after a full cut shot from David Warner.
With only 101 to get of 25 overs the start wasn’t great with the score on 3 for 17, however Rod Hokin backed up his fielding with 49 not out to share a 74 run partnership with Beau Casson (41) to steer the boys home.
The win puts first grade within one point of the top 6 and sets up some exciting cricket coming up Christmas.
Scores:
Easts 8 for 99 (Ed Zelma 3 for 9, Dylan Connell 1 for 6, Brendan McDonald 1 for 27) were defeated by
Gordon 4 for 102 (Rod Hokin 49 no, Beau Casson 41)
Second grade
There is no doubt umpires are in a no win situation at times with their decisions, however the umpires Messrs Hicks and Tyson came to the ground with one goal in mind and that was to play cricket. They started the game in light rain to make sure a match could be played and then got things going again after a break as soon as the covers were off. Well done Umps.
The result was in doubt right up the third last delivery with Julian Stephenson hitting a boundary to seal the victory. But before that we saw a fantastic exhibition of end of innings hitting by Matt Jones and Nick Medcalf that set up the great finish. With the score at 6 for 86 chasing 191, a positive result seemed beyond the team however with Nick and Matt scoring at around 10 per over and then with 24 needed off the last two overs we got there with 2 balls to spare. Matt Jones’s power hitting to take 16 off the second last over was the difference that got us the victory. He was “pumped”.
(Matt Jones at Chatswood against Easts)
Earlier the bowlers had toiled hard with a wet ball early and then an aggressive middle order to have Easts 8 for 191. Jules Stephenson bowled well with 2 for 27, while Chris Archer also picked up two wickets for 30 off his 6 overs.
Scores:
Easts 8 for 191 (off 33 overs) (Julian Stephenson 2 for 27, Chris Archer 2 for 30, Adair Durie 1 for 30) were defeated by
Gordon 7 for 191 (Matt Jones 58 not out, Nick Medcalf 30, Elloit Richtor 28, Reece Bombas 22)
Fourth Grade
In the only Gordon game which went the full 100 overs for the weekend, Gordon bowled first at Killara Oval and, despite few early wickets being taken, the Easts run rate was only reasonable, due to some good bowling by the quicks. Although there was some acceleration, Easts only managed 234 from their overs, a fair score but not excessive at Killara.
For Gordon, James Kennedy bowled very well, supported by Umayr Amir and the two spinners Iqbal and Cubbage.
Gordon’s response began briskly as Mitch Kleem and Blair Lindsay again got the side off to a good start, putting on 59 for the first wicket. However quick wickets put them behind the eight ball and, despite Blair continuing to bat solidly, the other batsmen fell regularly trying to force the pace.
(Adam Cubbage in action)
Adam Cubbage began an important innings but the cause looked lost as more wickets fell. At 8-175, the end was nigh. Or was it? Umayr Amir, who had bowled well but was not renowned for his batting, came to the crease with more than 60 needed from the final 7 overs. What followed was just another chapter in this season’s run chases by the 4ths. Cubbage and Amir smoked the ball to all parts and, with another lusty boundary from Adam, the game was won with a ball to spare – no problems! A(nother) fantastic win from the side that has completed a number of brilliant run chases so far – what will happen if Ikky finally bats first!!
Scores
Gordon 8-238 (Adam Cubbage 74*, Blair Lindsay 70, Mitchell Kleem 31, Umayr Amir 20*) defeated Eastern Suburbs 234 (James Kennedy 4-42, Umayr Amir 2-41, Iqbal Ahmed 1-37 off 10, Adam Cubbage 1-39 off 10).
Fifth Grade
Gordon batted first at Snape Park and immediately struck trouble, losing two early wickets. A rain delay of about an hour meant the game was reduced to 38 overs a side. At the resumption, wickets continued to fall and, with overs ticking away, Gordon was unable to put together any really meaningful partnerships. John Blake batted very well but at the end of their allotted overs, Gordon had only reached 8-113.
(English import Guy Hicks in action for fifths)
Easts made an excellent start and despite Shenal Siriwardhane taking a couple of wickets, they comfortably passed the Gordon score. A disappointing result – Gordon batsmen did not put enough value on their wickets.
Scores
Eastern Suburbs 4-114 (Shenal Siriwardhane 2-31) defeated Gordon 8-113 (John Blake 29).
Amazing finishes in 4ths and 2nds highlight Saturday's wins 
