PROVINCIAL
By Mr & Mrs IT Gully
LANGWARRIN will meet Mornington in this weekend’s MPCA Provincial semi-final after finishing on top of the ladder.
The other Semi Final will be played between neighbours Mt Eliza and Peninsula Old Boys.
The Kangas will head into the semi-final with great confidence after knocking over the Doggies by 38 runs in the final home and away one-day game at Lloyd Park.
It is a remarkable effort by the Kangas considering many experts believed they would fail to make the top four. However, they have proved that relentless pressure in the field and with the ball can dictate the result of any match. That is what happened on Saturday against Mornington.
The Kangas were in all sorts of trouble at 6/74, however number nine batsman Sam Prosser finished with an unbeaten 31 and Riley Davie, batting at 10, was unbeaten on 18 which helped the Kangas to a competitive, all be it on the low side, 144.
Mornington quick Ryan McDonald was the best of their bowlers with 3/16.
Langwarrin needed quick wickets early in reply and they got just what they were looking for, removing openers Sam Wiese and Matt Foon to leave Mornington 2/6.
Brad McDonald top scored for the Doggies with 33 while Ryan Mc Donald was next best with 21.
Langwarrin used six bowlers to remove Mornington for 106, with Adam Campbell the best of them with 2/13 off eight overs. Sam and Jake Prosser picked up two wickets each.
Mt Eliza stormed into the Provincial semi-finals with a convincing win over Baxter.
Batting first at home, Baxter started very well with the top four batsmen scoring 110 between them. Justin Bridgeman made 50 before being bowled by Justin Grant while Daniel Warwick hit 40 and Chris Brittain 28. With Todd Quinn finishing unbeaten on 18 Baxter scored a very competitive 7/178.
Rob Maskiell and Justin Grant each took two wickets for the Mounties.
In reply, Mt Eliza scored 4/184 off 38.4 overs to comfortably win the match.
Justin Grant scored 51 and Lyall House helped himself to 49 while Josh Goudge hit 29.
Peninsula Old Boys eased their way into this weekend’s semi-final against Mt Eliza with a seven-wicket victory over Sorrento. The Sharks batted first and hit a very competitive 7/193 from its 40 overs. Jed Falck top scored with 52 and Liam O’Connor hit 31 of the Sorrento total.
Old Boys Skipper Wade Pelzer was superb with the ball, bowling eight overs for a return of 4/20. However, despite the strong total it still wasn’t enough, as Pelzer blasted 87 and Tom La Brooy hit 54 to help the Old Boys to 3/194 with five overs to spare.
Crib Point will be relegated next season after finishing on the bottom of the 2017/18 Provincial Cricket Season.
The Magpies would have liked to have finished the season on a high but they were touched up by Pearcedale to the tune of 70 runs.
Pearcedale batted first and the openers, Brad Trotter (80) and Will Kennedy (75) shared 141 runs in their opening stand.
As it turned out the Pearcedale openers scored more than the entire Crib point team as the Pies finished at 9/133. Jake Roberts was the pick of the Panthers bowlers with 3/18 off eight overs.
First published in the Mornington News – 13 March 2018
