Graham Croker
Sydney University No.11 Tim Ley belted a six off the last ball of the innings to secure a tie with Western Suburbs in their Sydney Grade Cricket third round encounter at Pratten Park on Saturday.
Ley, 12 not out, and No.10 Marty Paskal, 4 not out, shared a 17-run partnership to produce the nail-biting result in the limited overs fixture which saw Western Suburbs score 198 off 48.4 overs and Sydney University finish with 9-198.
The two frontline bowlers also finished among the wickets with Paskal collecting 3-47 and spinner Ley 2-34.
But it was skipper Greg Mail who collected the bowling honours with 3-11 off 4.4 overs as Wests lost 5-49 after reaching 5-149.
Openers Mail (39) and Will Hay (33) put on a 63-run stand and when No.3 Ben Larkin contributed 57, the Students were in a healthy state at 3-123.
But Jonathon Turner (3-20) and Ross DiBartolo (3-60) swept through the University middle order and when Ley entered the fray they were 18 from victory.
While he and Paskal missed the target by one run, the last ball six was worth three points to the team, and they could be crucial at the end of the season in limited overs wash-up, the Belvedere Cup and the club championship.
Sydney University’s lower grades played their role in the club championship on Saturday, with a clean sweep over Western Suburbs.
Josh Toyer top-scored with 57 as Sydney University Seconds scored 9-212 in reply to Western Suburbs’ 9-208; Chris Jones (71) and Ken Huckle (68) led the way as University Thirds posted 4-213 in reply to Wests’ 9-212; Dave Crawford top-scored with 64 as University Fourths amassed 6-182 in reply to Wests’ 181; and Kerrod McPherson contributed 39 as Fifth Grade finished with 8-184 in reply to Wests’ 7-182.
Scores:
First Grade: Sydney University 9-198 off 50 overs (Ben Larkin 57, Greg Mail 39, Will Hay 33; Jonathon Turner 3-20, Ross BiBartolo 3-60) tied with Western Suburbs 198 off 48.4 overs (Brad Rasool 91, Manjot Singh 40, Greg Mail 3-47, Tim Ley 2-34) at Pratten Park.
Second Grade: Sydney University 9-212 off 49.1 overs (Josh Toyer 55 not out, Adam Theobald 24; Michael Tudehope 3-38, Tim Sallway 2-42) d Western Suburbs 9-208 off 50 overs (Nick Pryde 60, Dave Paterson 54, Vinayak Sasitharan 22; Nigel Cowell 2-40) at Sydney University No.2 Oval.
Third Grade: Sydney University 4-213 off 46.5 overs (Chris Jones 71 not out, Ken Huckle 68; Emmanuel Parmakellis 2-28) d Western Suburbs 9-212 off 49.5 overs (Toby Hynes 54, James Winder 44, Vishnu Sarpeshkar 31, Ben Georgson 29; Stuart McLean 3-28, Mark Hacket 3-33) at Punchbowl Oval.
Fourth Grade: Sydney University 6-182 off 46.3 overs (Dave Crawford 64, Jack Hammond 36, Michael Culkoff 35; Ben Murphy 2-24, Luke Strudwick 2-29) d Western Suburbs 181 off 50 overs (Michael Stead 60, Suffan Hassan 50, Ben Murphy 28 not out; Dave Crawford 2-24, Jimmy Kazaglis 2-34) at St Paul’s College Oval.
Fifth Grade:Sydney University 8-184 off 44.2 overs (Kerrod McPherson 39 not out, Michael Barwick 34, Nick Fitzgerald 26; Ansel Castelino 3-35, Dominic Charlker 2-35) d Western Suburbs 7-182 off 48 overs (Nirmalan Thanabalsingam 66, Lee Maggs 33, Rizwan Meghani 34; Andy Greene 2-41) at Blick Oval.
