St George District Cricket Club - Stumps Newsletter - Round 4 and 5 - 2024-25 NSW Premier Cricket season
St George Cricket Club | November 12, 2024
St George are the NSW Premier Cricket T20 Champions after winning the Final under lights at North Sydney Oval on Sunday 20th of October.
The day started with semi final success against Bankstown. Kurtis Patterson 49 off 27 including six shots that cleared the boundary rope and Blake Macdonald 31 off 16, led the way as Saints reached 185 from their 20 overs. Bankstown started strongly in the chase before Luke Bartier 3 wickets and Nick Stapleton two, put on the brakes, leaving the opposition 26 short.
The final against Fairfield Liverpool belonged to Man of the Match, Blake Nikataris. After a frenetic start, then a middle order collapse, the boys from the south west fought back to post a very competitive 166 with the St George bowlers sharing the wickets. Patterson and Nikataris started the chase strongly before three quick wickets left the red and whites at a precarious 3 for 36. Captain Stapleton helped steady the ship before his departure made it 4/77 and St George needing another 90 at over ten an over.
Up stepped Nikataris, with an unbelievable innings, as he smashed the bowlers to all parts of the oval, including the roofs of the stands. His 107 not out off 59 deliveries carried his team to victory with fifteen deliveries to spare. At one stage 47 runs were taken from two overs, completely changing the game.
The T20 competition is sponsored by our well-known long term sponsor, Kingsgrove Sports and Harry Solomons had a big smile as he presented the trophy to the local team.
No doubt he and all in attendance on Sunday night will long remember the quality batting they saw from Blake Nikitaras that brought the trophy to St George.
St George 93 (L Bartier 48 no, K Patterson 20) and 1/301 (dec) (B Nikitaras 152, M Rodgers 131 no)
Lost 1st Innings to Fairfield Liverpool 6 (dec) 188 (P Francis 4/61, T McKenzie 2/30, N Stapleton 2/40, L Bartier 1/25)and 6/128 (D Carew 2/5, N Stapleton 2/29, T McKenzie 1/20, P Francis 1/34
Our first round of red ball two day cricket and what a different two days of action occurred. Team changes included a debutant in young Will Taylor for the injured Connor O’Riordan. For a change Nick Stapleton won the toss and decided to bat first. With an unfavourable forecast for the afternoon and the T20 Final the next day, it seemed a safe decision at the time – well that’s what we thought!
Fairfield’s opening bowlers soon had us in serious trouble, with a wicket each in the first two overs with both Mat Rodgers and Blake Nikitaras back in the pavilion. What followed seemed an endless line of batters walking out and then back in from the middle. To their credit, the Fairfield bowlers and fielders were on song, swinging and moving the ball and taking some good catches in the slip area. We were soon all out at Lunch, with the backbone of our innings falling to Luke Bartier with a solid 48 no, and Kurtis Patterson, who showed his 1st class experience for the situation early in the innings.
After lunch, we went on the attack ourselves and soon had two Fairfield batters out and their score like ours of 2/8 thanks to some great bowling from Peter Francis. We continued to pile on the pressure, but the Fairfield batters managed to curtail our efforts and soon started to dominate as they headed to tea with a slight lead. It was in the over after tea that the heavens opened, and rain stopped play for the rest of the day. This did mean 120 overs to be bowled the next week, and anything can happen.
Day 2 started much the same as Day 1 with wickets in the first session. Peter got the first breakthrough and then followed quickly by Stapo. Fairfield continued to collapse under the pressure of our bowling and fielding and lost 5 wickets for 30 runs. Tom McKenzie, Pete Francis and Luke Bartier picking up the wickets. What followed next was a 51-run stand for the 8th wicket that took some momentum away from us and when TMac took the last wicket, there were still many overs to be bowled.
Our turn again to bat and after playing this same team the previous Sunday night in the T20 Final, Blake Nikitaras took off where he ended that game. This time though, Matt Rodgers joined him in the fight and quick runs were soon scored. Niko again was dominant and quickly bought up his ton, his third for the season in all forms. Matt Rodgers was just as dominate when given the opportunity.
In fact the 263 Partnership for the First Wicket is a record for the Club in First Grade. Well done to
Blake and Matt, etching their names in Saints history. As well Matt finally broke his Saints hoodoo with his Maiden Century for the Club, an honour richly deserved. Once we reached 301, Stapo took the opportunity to declare with a lead of 206 runs with more than enough overs left in the game.
Fairfield started aggressively but that helped our cause in the end, with 2 quick wickets dismissing 2 of their dangerous batters with the score on 32, thanks to the guile of Stapo. And 3rd wicket then fell but Fairfield was building up resistance with a 36-run partnership for the 4th wicket, when Dayle Carew spun his magic and took 2 quick wickets. Things were looking positive and with Pete Francis taking a 6th wicket the chance was still there to steal victory. However, dedicated batting and time (well light actually) finally stopped our charge and an eventful day’s cricket came to an end with us 3 wickets away from victory.
Not the result we would have liked for our first endeavour with the red ball, but the fightback was impressive. Looking forward to next week’s Saturday/ Sunday clash against Blacktown at Hurstville.
St George 7 dec 282 (M Rodgers 101, R Tangirala 65, M Gray 32, T Vane-Tempest 28, N Stapleton 22) defeated Blacktown Mounties 172 (N Stapleton 5/24, J Wood 2/25, W Taylor 2/29) And 2/73 (D Carew 2/10)
St George returned to the top of the First-Grade table with a comprehensive win over Blacktown in the Saturday/Sunday fixture. With Kurtis Patterson and Blake Nikitaras called into the Shield team, we had three debutants, Adam Singleton, Jacob Wood and Rahul Tangirala. With Peter Francis in the NSW 2nd XI, Mitch Gray was called in for the 2nd day.
Captain Nick Stapleton won the toss and after sending Blacktown in to bat at Hurstville Oval, led from the front capturing 5/24 from 22 overs and in overcast conditions that produced regular drizzle and light showers. It was a relentless display from all the bowlers but Stapo’s efforts were outstanding. At one stage he had bowled more overs than runs conceded. His final figures of 22 overs 5 for 24 must be close to his best bowling figures in his Saints career.
Congratulations to the 2 debutants who both took 2 wickets. Young Will Taylor bowling accurately and with guile at the stumps and Jacob Wood spinning the ball and carrying on with his fine form from the T20 Final. After a few more interruptions, and some dogged late order batting, Blacktown were dismissed eventually for 172.
Debutant Rahul Tangirala opened with the consistent Matt Rodgers as we started batting but not long after tea, the rain became persistent, and play ended with us 0/9. Day 2 started 30 mins early but both openers were batting strongly, combining in a 140-run partnership. With Rahul’s dismissal, Stapo joined the consistent Matt Rodgers and together they guided us to a 1st innings lead. In this time, Matt Rodgers scored his 2nd century in as many innings for the Club (and his first at Hurstville). It’s great to see Dodge in this type of form.
After some forceful batting from Mitch Gray, Tom Vane Tempest and even Jacob Wood in the end, the declaration came at 7/282 in the hope of producing an outright victory. It wasn’t to be as Blacktown bunkered down, finishing at 2/72 when the game was called with spinner Dayle Carew capturing both wickets.
Reported by Jeff Evans
St George 215 (R Tangirala 74, B Kenworthy 42) defeated by Fairfield-Liverpool 9-277 (R Tangirala 3-20, N Anderson 2-49, R Russo 2-51, J Mcdonald 2-63)
Blacktown 5-174 from 38 overs (O Rayner 2-33, S Milliken 2-49) defeated St George 7-197 from 38 overs (T Forrester 44, A Parthenis 35, J Shaw 33) on Duckworth / Lewis.
Fairfield-Liverpool 152 (J Moors 6-47, P Brown 3-35) & 5-144 (J Moors 2-61) defeated by St George 7 dec 235 (J Shaw 62*, T Forrester 52, J Moors 44, M Dunne 39)
Blacktown 128 from 48.3 overs (P Brown 4-33, N Anderson 3-15) defeated by St George 2-132 from 27 overs (J Moors 52, K Beadon 44*)
After a successful venture to Don Dawson, it was a return to Harold Fraser for Third Grade as they hosted a Blacktown team recovering from an outright defeat. Returning to lead the team, captain Anderson won the toss and elected to bowl on a green, but firm pitch. The decision quickly being justified, with a tight opening spell of bowling from Manav Shah and the captain. Shah’s opening spell of 6 overs cost only 9 runs, whilst Anderson was the chief destroyer, taking the first 3 wickets to leave the visitors reeling at 3 for 12 in as many overs. At one stage, the captain had figures of 3 for 5 after 8 overs. A fourth wicket narrowly missed with a dropped catch, Anderson bowled 10 overs straight to finish with 3 for 15 including 6 maidens, and Blacktown with a hole to dig out from at 3 for 30 after 20 overs.
Despite their situation, there was little intent from the visitors as the spin combination of Josh Moors and Pat Brown became reacquainted. A sharp run-out from Moors broke the 56-run fourth wicket partnership which had lasted 19 overs. Brown continued to toil away for the Saints and was duly rewarded with the next three wickets. At 7 for 108, there was little resistance from the tail and Blacktown were soon dismissed for 128 in the 49 th over courtesy of a direct hit runout by Sohan Kumar. Pat Brown added to his wicket tally and finished with 4 for 33 from his 10 overs, whilst Manav Shah (1 for 15 from 8.3 overs) picked up a deserved wicket in his second spell.
With some rain falling during the innings break and some less than enthusiastic assistance from
Blacktown in covering the pitch, the St George batsmen came to the crease on a tackier pitch to commence their chase. It didn’t take long for Josh Moors to return to his destructive ways, brandishing the willow against a hapless Blacktown attack. When he was dismissed at 1 for 61 in the 8th over, Moors had brought up his half century (52) from 31 deliveries, including 8 fours and 2 sixes.
Max Dunne then joined Keiran Beadon at the crease in pursuit of the remaining 68 runs with 42 overs in the bank. Both men playing some impressive strokes and showing restraint when needed.
The pair combined for a 53-run partnership before Dunne was dismissed for 18 looking to target the bonus point. Sohan Kumar joined Beadon and the pair finished the job in the 27 th over, completing a dominant Saints victory. Keiran Beadon finished unbeaten on 44 and played a key role in the bonus point victory which saw Third Grade to the top of the table.
Reported by Nathan Anderson
Fairfield-Liverpool 281 (S Newton 5-64) defeated by St George 8-285 (A Bawa 125, T McLoughlin 64)
A rainy but green Harold Fraser Oval greeted us for the commencement of our two-day cricket calendar against 14th placed Fairfield Liverpool Lions. The skipper put the visitors into bat, and very quickly Sam Newton had them on the back foot with 3 early wickets. At 3-40, seemingly a good start had been made. Unfortunately the weather conspired to firstly slow the Saints momentum, then completely reverse it through destroying the condition of the ball. It took some overs to get things under control as FL got to 3-140, but that man Sahil Pathania did for the dangerous number 4 player and the Saints were on the march again. Wickets fell gradually, and the Saints had done well to get things back to relative parity at 8-180. Enter Brenton Butcher. The man aptly named hacked his way to a dashing 60, in particular taking some 47 runs from 3 overs. Once out the damage had been done, but not before Newton could complete a deserved 5-fa, who was the clear pick of the bowlers on what was a tough day at the office. That said, the bowlers had put the team in positions to win all season, so it was time for the batsmen to step up and do the business.
After Fairfield set a challenging target of 281, St George Fourth Grade faced the mammoth task of chasing it down. With a full day's play ahead and bright sunshine, the Saints were determined to rise to the occasion. A positive team talk and the hope that Harold Fraser Oval would live up to its reputation as a batter’s paradise set the tone for the chase.
However, the top order quickly found out that the pitch wasn’t quite as favorable as expected, leaving us at 5-73. With the pressure mounting, it was up to young stars Anoop Bawa and Taj McLaughlin to steer the team forward.
Ladies and gentlemen of the Stumps Newsletter, I can honestly say I’ve never witnessed a more mature partnership than the one these two young players put together. Bawa and McLaughlin formed a remarkable 180-run stand over the course of 50 overs and two sessions. Together, they ground down the Fairfield bowlers, showing the patience and composure needed in a challenging chase. Taj brought up his first 50 in Fourth Grade, a well-earned milestone, but it was Anoop Bawa who truly stole the show. He scored his maiden century for the club, guiding the team towards a thrilling victory and securing the fourth win in a row. While the pair couldn't quite get us all the way home, James Brown stepped up in the final stages, scoring a crucial 22 runs to close out the innings, including the match-winning runs in the last over.
This was a monumental chase from St George Fourth Grade, a true testament to the team's winning mentality. It showcased their resilience in tough situations and their belief that they can “win from anywhere.” On to Round 6, with Blacktown away!
Matt Baden and Sam Newton
St George 7-233 from 50 overs (A Bawa 94, Preston 31*) defeated Blacktown 7-145 from 43 overs (F Whalebone 2-27, S Newton 2-30)
A rainy day out west for St. George’s fourth grade, and despite the radar showing no rain, Whalen Oval provided a light drizzle all day, making for an uncomfortable day of cricket to say the least. Overcoming adversity was the theme of the day, set by St. George’s newest captain Kieran Montelone, who spoke before the game about how, when things aren’t going your way, you need to find a way to make things happen.
With this in mind, Saints won the toss. After Arman Kumar started the team off with a quick 20, it was youngster Anoop Bawa who continued to show impressive form as he progressed through the grades and found a way to make runs in tough conditions. Coming off the back of an impressive two-day 100, Bawa ran Blacktown into the ground, hitting only five boundaries in his 94 before being selflessly run out while attempting a quick single to push the team’s score in the final overs. Assisting Anoop in the final overs was Brock Preston, with his first batting innings of the season. He started brilliantly, contributing a selfless 31 off 43 balls to help St. George post a total of 7-233.
With play delayed by the drizzle that lingered over Whalen Oval, after a 20-minute wait post-lunch, St. George was hunting their fifth straight win of the season. Removing the captain on the second ball of the innings from one end, and then Michael Dettman removing the number 3 from the other end, St. George had Blacktown at 2-16 in quick succession. A few handy bowling spells from Sahil Singh Pathania (1/27 off 9) and Freddie Whalebone, who took an impressive 2/27 on his fourth-grade debut, kept the pressure on.
St. George ended their reduced bowling innings by keeping Blacktown to 145, thus securing their fifth straight win and staying on top of the table heading into round 6.
Reported by Sam Newton
Fairfield-Liverpool 5 dec 274 (M Kennedy 2-59, F Whalebone 2-60) drew with St George 3-170
(L Pengue 57*, F Whalebone 48)
Round 4 brought fifth grade to two-day cricket and first away game at Fairfield. Things got off to a slow start with a wet patch on the wicket delaying play by around 1 hour. St George won the toss and sent Fairfield in to bat. Good opening spells from Preston and Dhongade, allowed Freddy Whalebone and Michael Kennedy to cash in with a few wickets leaving Fairfield 3/53. A grinding partnership and tight bowling by St George meant that at an early close of play due to rain, Fairfield finished on 4/127.
Fairfield continued to bat on day two, with a first over wicket from Kennedy giving plenty optimism for the day ahead. However, a 150-run partnership from Fairfield meant they made it to 5/274 declared. This left St George around 45 over to chase down the 274 set by Fairfield. George Kazkonis and Luca Pengue got off to a great start. A few dismissals had some nerves running through the sheds however quality innings from Pengue (57*) and Whalebone (48) meant there was never a chance of losing. Ultimately, the target was too much with St Geoge finishing on 3/170 and the match closing out as a draw.
Reported by Michael Kennedy
St George 7-185 from 50 overs (P Francis 47, M Kennedy 42*, P Witherly 33) defeated Blacktown 14 (M Kennedy 2-15, B Whitbread 2-15, T Phelps 2-19, J Turner 2-40)
After a disappointing draw to Fairfield in Rd 4, Fifth Grade set about getting back in the winners circle against Blacktown at their Olds Park home. Losing the toss and batting on an unusually green deck, the boys were in trouble at 3/29 and then 5/62. Experience prevailed with Francis (47) and Witherly (33) putting on 52, setting the platform for Kennedy (42*) to finish the innings in style as the Saints finished on 185. A slow start with the ball meant Blacktown had raced to 1/71 after 15 overs. A fantastic runout from Phelps kick started a dramatic collapse as the boys took 9/69 to close the innings. Kennedy ever reliable with 2/15 from his 10, while debutants Byron Whitbread (2/15) and Jackson Turner (2/40) chipped in at valuable times. Phelps cleaned up with 2/19 to supplement his run out. The boys did it the hard way and will face a much sterner test in the coming weeks against Campbelltown, Easts and Manly.
St George 202 (R Kumar 38, J O’Sullivan 37) drew with Sydney University 9-162 (O Astuy 3-9 from 13 overs, R Kumar 3-29, B Whitbread 2-46)
St George 134 from 45.2 overs (A Mahadik 40, A Kandari 25) defeated by Randwick-Petersham 9-135 from 49.5 overs (R Kumar 3-4 from 10 overs, S Dhongade 3-36)
Match winning Heroics in 4th Grade for Anoop Bawa (125) and Taj McLoughlin (64) with a 177 run partnership
Back to back centuries for Matt Rodgers with 135* (including a 263 run record partnership with Blake Nikitaras) and 101.
Recent First Grade Debuts
This Weekend Games – All games 2 Day games Vs Campbelltown Camden– 9th & 16th November 2024
1st Grade at Raby 1 2nd Grade at Hurstville Oval
3rd Grade at Raby 2 4th Grade at Harold Fraser Oval
5th Grade at Raby 3 Metro Cup at Olds Park
Poidevin-Gray U21 Rd 4 Vs Randwick Petersham – T20 at Grahame Thomas Oval Sun 10th Nov 3.00pm
The Slayers are currently running 2nd in the Club Championship just 5 points behind Gordon
1st Grade – 2nd / 10 2nd Grade – 6th / 12 3rd Grade – 3rd / 8 U18’s – 1st /14
