Suburbs shoot out of gates
MANNO BELTS 63 BEFORE STORM
WESTERN Suburbs shot out of the gates at Riverway, with opener Carlo Manno slogging 63 runs from 52 balls before a storm halted play in the match against Suburban Parks.
Manno’s monster innings included nine boundaries, three of them sixes, before Trent Walsh took his scalp before the covers were brought out.
There was also just enough time for Sub Parks all-rounder Daniel Gartrell to claim his 150th wicket in Townsville’s A Grade, dispatching the competition’s reigning MVP Sam Lowry after bowling Tom Watts earlier in the day.
Gartrell said he just went about his business and sometimes it paid off and sometimes it didn’t, but that he had the upper hand over Lowry in recent times.
“Old Sammy Lowry, I’ve got him a few times over the last couple of years,” Gartrell said.
“He must have taken a liking to me, but nah, it’s always a good challenge when you come up against those sorts of guys, and I guess you always want to stand up to them.”
The 29-year-old was surprised by the intensity Wests started with, but said his team had the momentum when play stopped.
“They came out quite aggressive, they were none for about 50 and then we sort of went bang, bang, bang, bang and took four pretty quick wickets, including the two big ones of Lachie Ford and Lowry, and then we had just started to get a bit of a roll on when the rain came,” Gartrell said.
Meanwhile at Lakeside Park, Brothers are in a great position to win their two-day battle with Wanderers after bowling the Mighties out for a meagre 102.
Wanderers started the match strong thanks to respectable innings from Vivian Wolfinden (24) and Philip Angel (22), but apart from skipper Grant Dilger’s 25, only 27 runs were scored between the eight other players – all finishing with single digits.
The Bulletin jumped the gun on Ryan Eaton’s 2000th run; needing 37 runs to crack the major milestone, the Wanderers all-rounder was bowled by Craig Mcelligott for just 3.
It was part of a successful bowling spell for the Brothers skipper, who took three wickets in his 13 overs bowling with an economy of 2.07.
The same four teams will be in action again next week for the second halves of their two-day matches, while Norths enjoy a break until January 7, 2023.
Down in Mackay, North Queensland were beaten by Far North at the Queensland Country Cricket Under-18 Zone Championships on Sunday.
Taj Petersen (24) and Tyler Fryer (26) did some early damage before a 50 from Ben Walker – only secured with the final ball of the innings – put North Queensland in a good position at the innings break with 7/169.
Far North proved too hot to handle, securing the win in the 39th over after Matthew Wilkins hit 91 runs in 114 balls.
With places in the region’s under-18 representative team on the line, it was an exhilarating end to the championships.