BDCA men’s: Leschenault and Collie win both games of T20 double-header

The race for the Bunbury and Districts Cricket Association men’s first-grade finals has been shaken up, with sixth-placed Collie and fourth-placed Leschenault winning both games of the competion’s T20 double-header at Forrest Park on Saturday.

Collie came into the day having won only one game for the season but beat Marist by three wickets in their first game and followed up with an 18-run victory over Dalyellup, while the Green Caps defeated Dalyellup by six wickets and Hay Park by five wickets.

The results have seen Leschenault move one win ahead of Marist into fourth, the last finals place, while Collie now sit three wins adrift of the top four and two behind the fifth-placed Blues.

In the upset of the day, Collie batted first against Dalyellup and were able to recover from some early trouble at 5-55 to post a total of 9-107, with five batters contributing double-digit scores.

Izaak Bedford (2-11 from four overs), Ty Verhaaf (2-18 from four overs) and Riley Mammone (2-12 from two overs) took multiple wickets for Dalyellup.

On a difficult pitch, Collie were able to put the squeeze on in the second innings, restricting Dalyellup to 7-89.

Captain Blair Malatesta was the best of their bowlers with 2-14 from his four overs as part of a standout team effort where five of their seven bowlers conceded less than five runs per over.

Collie gave up a score of 8-104 to Marist in the first innings of their first game, which was lifted by some late hitting from Sheldon Johnson (22 not out from 17 balls) and Jack Wilson (14 not out from eight balls).

The late dismissals of set batters Mark Williams (31 from 33 balls) and Arron Quartermaine (25 from 33 balls) made for a dramatic end to the chase but Collie were able to cross their target with four balls to spare.

In the Green Caps’ first game, a strong effort with the ball saw Dalyellup restricted to 8-87 in the first innings, with Jason Shine (2-11 from four overs) and Rob Turner (2-15 from four overs) the best of the bowlers.

An even spread of contributors allowed Leschenault to cross their target in the 17th over, with Corey Chantrill (20 from 22 balls) top-scoring.

Then up against the Redbacks, Jacob Templeton (3-9 from three overs) ran riot early as part of a start which saw the score reduced to 4-21, but Ratha Alphonse (40 from 59 balls) played the anchor role as they managed to post a score of 6-96.

The Green Caps were in an early spot of bother of their own at 4-27 but Turner saw them home with a brilliant 50 not out from 35 balls, including six boundaries and a six.

In a clash between last season’s one-day and T20 premiers, Hay Park beat Colts by four runs.

A brilliant all-round effort from Fida Hussain got the Redbacks over the line, with the all-rounder top-scoring with 55 from 38 deliveries in their total of 123 before taking 2-20 from four overs as Colts were restricted to 7-119.

Defending eight from the final over, Evan Crowley gave away only three runs in a brilliant display of death bowling.

Colts were able to atone for the loss in their first game by beating Marist by eight wickets in their second.

A 70-run opening stand between Caillin Blackwood (42 from 38 balls) and Christian Pitcher (41 from 32 balls) helped Colts chase Marist’s total of 4-119 inside 17 overs.