Men’s First Grade
Sydney University chased down the big target set by Eastern Suburbs to collect first innings points in their two-day NSW Premier Cricket match at University Oval on Saturday.
The Students racked up 6-278 in reply to Easts’ 274, with No.4 Damien Mortimer unbeaten on 89. His 141-ball innings included seven boundaries and a brace of sixes.
Other solid contributions came from opener Nick Larkin, whose 66 included seven boundaries and a six, No.2 Don Butchart (41), No.8 Devlin Malone (32 not out) and No.5 Ryan McElduff (21).
Manly Warringah heads the First Grade Belvidere Cup ladder with one round of the competition proper to play. Sydney University lies second, with St George, Parramatta, Northern District and Randwick Petersham making up the top six. The Students will meet Manly in a Limited Overs match at Manly Oval on Saturday to round out the competition proper and decide the minor premiership.
Men’s Second Grade
Sydney University Second Grade also claimed first innings points over Eastern Suburbs in a high-scoring two-day fixture at Waverley Oval.
Having posted 279 on the back of Ravi Wikramanayake’s 108 on day one, Sydney University Seconds had Eastern Suburbs 9-265 at stumps on day two.
Will Lawrence top scored for the hosts with a patient 81, which included eight boundaries, before he became one of George Barlow’s three wickets. Yianni Theodorakopoulos (63), Akshay Prasan (31) and skipper Tom Gallop (24) kept Easts in the hunt. Barlow finished with 3-60, while Lewis McMahon claimed the bowling honours with 4-64.
Men’s Third Grade
Eastern Suburbs Third Grade took the honours with a four-wicket win over Sydney University in their two-day match at St Paul’s College Oval.
Chasing University’s day one 211, the visitors resumed at 1-34 and finished with 6-214 on the back of opener Henry Pike’s unbeaten 105, which included 10 boundaries and a six.
Having won the toss and chosen to bat, Sydney University’s tally was helped by Thomas Lynch, who hit two boundaries and four over the fence in top-scoring with 56, and Matthew Powys, whose 46 off 50 balls included eight boundaries. Allie Anable kept the Students in check, finishing with 6-28 from his 12.4 overs.
Men’s Fourth Grade
Eastern Suburbs also claimed first innings points in the Fourth Grade encounter with Sydney University at Trumper Park.
The hosts won the toss and decided to bowl first, a decision that was justified 58 overs later when the Students were all out for 98, with most of the runs coming from Jack Lawson (36), while Rehaab Afzaal claimed 3-11 and Steven Lewis claimed 3-28.
In a push for outright points, Easts declared at 7-102, with Max Cotter (26) and Rehaab Afzaal (21) the top scorers and had University 3-61 when stumps were drawn.
Men’s Fifth Grade
Sydney University Fifth Grade claimed first innings points in their clash with Eastern Suburbs at Camperdown Park. The Students racked up 176 after winning the toss and electing to bat, with Mitchell Cotton (43), Avijay Mararaj (25) and Murray Miles (21 not out) leading the way, while Ben Revai claimed 4-41.
The Students then dismissed Easts for 125, with Cotton claiming 5-36, Murray Miles (3-30) and Arnav Yadav (2-20), while George Nash (25) and Nick Farrar (22) were the leading willow wielders. The Students were 3-66 in their second innings when stumps were drawn, with Pranav Kalia unbeaten on 41.
Women’s First Grade
Meanwhile, Parramatta claimed a 10-wicket win over Universities in their Round 19 NSW Premier Women’s Cricket Limited Overs match at Merrylands Park on Sunday.
Parramatta openers Kate Pelle and Zoya Thakur racked up 108 off 13.3 overs in reply to Universities’ 9-106 off 34.4 overs. Pelle’s 46-ball knock of 57 included five boundaries and a six, while Thankur’s 37 came off 36 balls. Ira Patel was the mainstay of the Universities batting, finishing unbeaten on 41, while Thakur completed a fine double, claiming 5-26.
Sydney claimed the minor premiership in First Grade, with Penrith, Northern District and Parramatta also earning semi-final berths. Universities finished ninth in the 10-team competition.
Women’s Second Grade
Parramatta also claimed the points over Universities in the Second Grade Limited Overs match at David Phillips Memorial Fields on Sunday. The visitors posted 2-66 in reply to Universities’ 65, with Aayra Shipurka (21) and Tuvini Jayakody (12) to only batters to post double figures.
Northern District claimed the minor premiership in the Second Grade competition, with Sydney, Parramatta and Gordon to fight out their semi-finals.
