B2 Grade

WPHC Red (Rob) 174 lost to Normanhurst-Warrawee 252

Day 1

WPHC Red 0/7 Vs Normanhurst-Warrawee 252

We won the toss and sent the Opposition in to bat on a good wicket that offered the chance of early wickets after the covers were left on and the wicket sweating. After delaying the start for 7 overs to give the wicket a chance to dry out it played well.

Our opening bowlers worked hard, with Aaron Hawkins (1/45) getting the breakthrough. Matt Digby (2/41) bowled first change and found his line and length early. Matt continued to build pressure and brought about a forced shot from the batsman that was held in slips. In a return to form, we held on to 8 catches, with just 2 half chances going down. A vast improvement on our efforts last match.

Another couple of wickets fell and the opposition were 4/99. The next partnership was worth 72 runs until Brent Larkham (4/32) got the important wicket thanks to a great falling catch by Ray Khamis.

Brent bowed a great spell taking 4 wickets and putting us in a good position at 9/191. Unfortunately the last wicket partnership put on 61 runs to see Normo all out for 252.

Andrew and Zac Morris went out to negotiate the remaining 8 overs and did so without loss. We return tomorrow with 90 overs to chip away at the total and push forward for the win!

Day 2

WPHC 174 lost to Normanhurst 252

We started the day with the Morris twins at the crease with the score at 0/7. Zac Morris continued his stellar season scoring 41 before holing our to square leg. The first wicket fell at 1/77. A great opening partnership that set a great platform to push on. Andrew Morris continued his great season, scoring 42 before being dismissed.

Unfortunately we lost 4/17 to see us slump to 5/93. Brent Larkham and Ryan Gunn (9) dug in to eat up overs and chip away at the total. Brent was joined by the tail in Rob Knapman (3) and Matt Digby (1) to see off 26 overs and eat up overs. Brent was eventually dismissed for 60. This caps off a great season for Brent where he really excelled in all facets of the game.

Unfortunately we fell short of the total with 18 overs remaining in the day. A great effort shown by all with a ‘never say die’ attitude.

Personally I would like to thank my team for being committed each week and making sure we always had 11 on the Park. It has truly been a pleasure to captain this team, and I look forward to seeing the progress of each and every member of this squad into the future.

Thank you to the fantastic support we had over this weekend and also the Semi Final. It is very much appreciated by the whole team.

Congrats to D2 in their Premiership! It has been many years since we have had a D2 Premiership. Well done gents!

Team – Dean Carlin, Matt Digby, Ryan Gunn, Aaron Hawkins, Phil Hayes, Eric Junkkari, Ray Khamis, Rob Knapman (C), Brent Larkham, Andrew Morris, Zac Morris, Tony Mandile (12^th)

D2 Grade

WPHC 162 defeated Hornsby 81

Day 1

WPHC 162 Vs Hornsby 2/24

We lost the toss and Hornsby sent us into bat at Thornleigh Oval. Hornsby is the leader in the D2competition. The boundaries are fairly long and the outfield was slow. Two of our better batsmen and bowlers John Rose and Wanam Tamhankar sustained hand fractures in the semi-final match last week.

Both played today with casts and John had a surgical operation last Sunday and stitches as well. As well, another of our good batsmen Brent was suffering from blood poisoning and was on antibiotics. Another player Ian Williams has had only 4 hours sleep due to the arrival of his first newborn baby girl. So we were a team of walking wounded. The fortitude shown by these four players is extraordinary and shows the fantastic spirit in this team. Steve Quanborough and Tim Worthington played as substitute fielders and we were grateful for their kind assistance.

We lost our first wicket in the 13th over when Captain Mike was run-out trying for an ambitious second run in his 15 run score. Hornsby bowlers were very disciplined in the first and second sessions of play.

It was difficult to get anything other than ones or twos. Ben Kinchington hit 35 runs in his innings before being caught at first slip in the 24th over. That catch was taken by a fielder at mid off off his toes.

Ian Williams came to the crease and occupied it for the next 20 overs hitting 10 runs. Brent Van Wck then came in and proceeded to hit 58 runs with 4 sixes and 8 fours. That took our score to 128 for the loss of 3 wickets. We had a mini collapse with the next four batsmen out for only 4 runs.

Simon Rahmani, Parin Pillamarri and Wanam Tamhankar (who batted one handed) managed to scrounge another 17 runs plus a number of sundries to bring our total to 162 runs after batting 67 overs.

The umpires decided that we had to bowl another 10 overs but because our innings closed about 5.40 pm we ended up bowling 20 overs for the day. The first Hornsby opener who is the leading batter in the grade with about 800 runs to his name came in to bat. John Rose managed to get a edge off this batter and Ben Kinchington took a screamer of a catch one handed at first slip in the 14th over. That opener was out for 4 runs. Hornsby batsmen then decided to close down and just bat out the remainder of the overs.

We decided to surround the batters in close to try and pressure them. Captain Mike who bowled the last over of the day managed to bounce the ball up with sufficient rip that the batter hit it high to square leg and John Rose took the catch. That batter who has an average of about 35 was out for zero.

So Hornsby are 2 for 24 off 20 overs today. We’re hoping to take some early wickets to continue the pressure and hopefully get the reward.

Day 2

WPHC 162 defeated Hornsby 81

Day 2 was supposed to be 40 degrees heat with blustery winds from the north. We bowled 20 overs in the first session without getting a wicket. John Rose had a belief that their second main batter was susceptible to LBW. He bowled according and achieved that LBW in the 21st over on Day 2 with Hornsby on 3 for 48. That batter has hit over 600 runs this season and prior to getting out had hit 32 runs.

This was the highest score from a Hornsby batter in this match. We now had Hornsby’s two best batters out. This strengthened our resolve and we upped the pressure by bringing in two fielders close to the pitch and batter. The bowlers bowled a really good line and length throughout the remainder of the match with only 13 sundries conceded. The next batter retired hurt when John Rose connected with that batters arm with him only scoring 3 runs. He did not return to the field.

The Opposition seemed to despair about this time and never really managed to bat that well from this point onwards.

They lost a further two wickets with John Rose and Captain Mike taking one each. At the 29th over of Day 2 Hornsby were 5 for 56 and struggling to deal with very good pace bowling from Ben Kinchington and John Rose and the slower bowling of Nirav Desai, Wanam Tamhankar and Captain Mike.

Nirav was bowling a difficult length and our substitute fielder Tim ”Nathan Lyons” Worthington managed to stretch his frame over the pitch and take a superb low lying catch on the pitch. So we had Hornsby at 6 for 63. Ben Kinchington managed to get a LBW against the Hornsby captain who had scored 6 runs. We finally managed to get the last two batsmen when John Rose trapped the 8th batsmen LBW for 9 runs and Nirav Desai got the last batsmen for a duck with Luke Christensen holding the catch after juggling it several times as the wicket keeper.

Luke Christensen did a fantastic job of wicket keeping today. As the retired batsmen did not come out to bat Hornsby conceeded the match with the loss of 9 wickets for 81 runs. So the match ended after 48 overs on Day 2 and 68 overs in total. Further Hornsby decided not to put us back in to bat. John Rose took 4 for 10 off 16 overs. Captain Mike took 2 for 12 off 11 overs and Nirav Desai took 2 for 22 off 14 overs.

Ian Williams, Thiru Pukazthenthi and Parin Pillamarri fielded diligently all day stopping numerous runs. A big thank you to Steve Quanborough and Tim Worthington who were substitute fielders throughout both days and were instrumental in cutting down so many runs going towards boundaries.

Captain Mike, Ben Kinchington and Tim Worthington are blood relatives which makes this match winning premiership very special. What a fantastic result considering that we had two players Wanam Tamhankar and John Rose with fractures in their hands, Brent Van Wck suffering from blood poisoning and Ian Williams sleep deprived from the birth of his first newborn baby mid week.

Well a premiership in D2 with a wait of some 12 years since the last. Also the only premiership in the Club for 2018.

All I can say is that the ‘drop kicks’ did well. A fantastic result due to the combined efforts of all our players who brought determination, fortitude, true grit and discipline to every game this season including the last seven which we won. Well done lads.

Team – Nirav Desai, Luke Christensen, Ben Kinchington, Mike Kinchington (C), Parin Pillmarri, Thiru Pukazhenthi, John Rose, Steve Quanborough, Waman Tamhankar, Brent Van Wck, Ian Williams.