EAGLES DIVE AND SEE RED
Star-studded Darwin thrashed by resurgent Tahs
UNBEATEN half centuries by Waratah skipper Isaac Conway and Southern Districts all-rounder Matt Hammond set up vital wins for their sides in yesterday’s Darwin Premier Grade cricket matches.
And on a day when 44 wickets fell across three games, Tracy Village seamer Kyle Scrimegour laid the foundations for his side’s first win of the season with a five-wicket haul against PINT.
But it is Conway’s Waratah who continue to lead the competition after an authoritative eight-wicket win over a disappointing Darwin at Kahlin Oval.
The Weerasinghe spin brothers, Madura and Udara, broke the back of the Eagles batting line-up with five wickets between them in a combined 17.3 over spell that conceded a miserly 31 runs.
Scrimegour and fellow paceman Sam Bammant destroyed the PINT batting line-up, reducing them to a lowly 8-28 before Greens skipper Tim Garner (29) and youngster Tom Grose (five not out) added some respectability to the scoreboard.
Scrimegour stuck to the old adage of bowlers down the years of “they miss and I’ll hit” when he rattled the stumps of two of his victims and trapped two more in front of their wickets.
“We bowled well as a team and while it was surprising to get them out for 74 on the Marrara wicket, it was a great result for us,” he said.
“We’re a very young side and none of them had played A-grade cricket before, so to get a win at this level shows what they can do.’’
Hammond’s unbeaten 51 prevented Nightcliff snatching a deserved win after the young Tigers fought back from making 131 with the bat to reduce the premiers to 6-85 in reply.
But a 36-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Hammond and Chris McEvoy (9) steadied the ship and got them home.
It completed a healthy match double for Hammond after he grabbed 3-21 from his 10 overs of off-spin when Nightcliff batted.