DISTRICT
MAIN Ridge got its season back on track, picking up maximum points against Rye in MPCA District cricket.
After losing the opening game of the season to Delacombe Park, the Ridge have had a draw against Rosebud and an unconvincing win against Boneo in round three.
Rye resumed its first innings at 7/26 after the Ridge declared at 5/294.
The Demons soldiered on early on the second day with Andrew Hitchener offering great resistance to score 76 and help his side get to 143.
Hitchener scored another 25 in the second innings and Dean Collins top scored with 55, however, it didn’t prevent yet another outright loss, as the Demons were rolled for 138.
Luke Collins took 4/32 in the first innings and 5/44 in the second for Main Ridge and James Abbott claimed 4/34 and 2/8 to be the pick of the bowlers.
Mt Martha has early bragging rights in the battle of the top contenders (after four rounds) after beating Red Hill.
The Hillmen went into the clash as ladder leaders but Mt Martha has joined them after recording an a near 100 run victory.
The Hillmen were bowled out for 120 on the first day of the match and the Reds resumed at 2/69.
Riley Shaw scored an unbeaten 100 against his old side to almost single-handedly win the home team the match.
Jimmy McCall and Lincoln Toy each took three wickets for the Hillmen.
Flinders continues to fly under the radar, sitting nicely in third place on the table after recording a solid win against Boneo.
Defending 247, Flinders bowled-out the Pandas for 202. Chris Jobling (52) and Ryan Jellie (44) appeared as though they were going to make life difficult for the Sharks, however Max Royal snared 4/46 from 20 overs and Dwayne Field picked up 3/50 from 19 overs to wrestle back the momentum.
Heatherhill was on shaky ground overnight at 3/48 against Delacombe Park but eventually got the job done, scoring 149, a victory of 23 runs (126).
Christian Heath top scored for the Hills at the top of the order with 56 while Brett Maxwell contributed a more than handy 47 in the middle order to help get the Hills over the line.
When Maxwell went out, the score was 5/122. The game was won.
Andrew Stapleton was the pick of the Parkers’ bowlers with 3/20 from 4.4 overs while Dean Blight bowled 20 overs for a return of 2/30.
Rosebud did what it had to do against Baden Powell, winning by three wickets.
Chasing 155 for victory, the Buds past the total with three wickets in hand.
It looked ordiinary early for the Buds at 4/50, however, 43 from Jason Mathers and 64 from Pete Doughty ensured victory.
Seaford Tigers managed an easy victory against arch rival Seaford.
After scoring 245 with Jon Plakourakis hitting 86 and Ash Mills 80, the Tigers then bowled out Seaford for 159. Mills was the star with the ball also, picking up 5/48 from 22 overs.
The Tigers were 4/25 in their second innings.
First published in the Mornington News – 22 November 2016
