PORT Panthers Pirates has a fight on its hands in the Hastings River District Cricket Association season opener at Oxley Oval, Port Macquarie.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The defending premiers dismissed fellow 2005-06 grand finalists St Andrews for 153 on Saturday, but struggled to reach 4-32 at stumps.
The Pirates won the toss, and opted to send the Saints into bat first.
Despite solid contributions from opener Robert Parker and Jonathon Cook, the Saints lost wickets at regular intervals, which stemmed the run flow.
Cook fell four short of a well-deserved half century while Parker contributed 34.
Late knocks by Steve Cottom (13) and Keiren Watson (16) enabled the Saints to post a competitive 153.
Ken Bennett was the pick of the Pirates' bowlers, collecting three scalps at a cost of 40 runs from 18 overs.
Glenn Kemp and Jason Herdegen snared 2-17 and 2-26 respectively.
The Pirates' innings started disastrously, losing Matt Rankin (8), Rob McColl (0) and Bennett (0) within the space of three runs.
Dean Cecil's wicket for six left the Pirates reeling at 4-32.
Cook backed up his superb batting effort to claim 3-6 off 4.2 overs.
Camden Haven v Port City Leagues
THREE half centuries set up Camden Haven's massive total against Port City Leagues at Laurieton Oval, Laurieton, on Saturday.
Peter Morris and Brad Jackson put on 106 for the opening stand, while Sam Kerr also got among the runs.
Jackson posted his highest first grade score - an impressive 58 - with Kerr belting 57 and Morris chipping in with 51.
Ray Grunsell (38), Daniel Minns (18 not out) and Ryan Beakey (15) also played roles as the Havens accumulated 256.
For Port City, Geoff Isaacs took 3-46 and Darren Hall joined in with 2-30.
The Port Macquarie outfit then faced a fiery 12 overs before the end of play and successfully negotiated the difficult spell.
Ray Atkins (6) and Gav Woolnough (3) will resume this weekend with Port City on 0-13.
Wauchope RSL v Macquarie Hotel
WAUCHOPE RSL kicked off its campaign on Saturday with a solid batting performance at Andrews Park, Wauchope.
Tackling Macquarie Hotel first up, Wauchope compiled 8-208 - courtesy of Lindsay Hopper.
The opener cracked 67, eventually falling with the team's score on 194.
Hopper received strong support from Jason Pierpoint (29), Craig Huender (25), Blake Lyon (16), Brian Fowler (14), Tom Byron (12 not out) and Andrew Murrell (11 not out).
The wickets were evenly shared between Ross Field, Dean Rumbel and Phil Arnell.
Field bagged 2-28, Rumbel picked up 2-40 and Arnell secured 2-57 (off 21 overs).
Cricket scoreboards: Wednesday
