Senior country week: Bunbury send statement of intent with victory over defending A-section champions Albany

Bunbury’s mission to win back the Boan Cup started in fine style on Sunday, with the Blue Swans beating defending A-section champions Albany in the first pool stage game of senior country week. Having had their hopes of a three-peat thwarted by failing to make the final last year, the Blue Swans started this year’s tournament with a statement of intent, winning by 31 runs at Abbett Park in Scarborough. In a match reduced to 40 overs because of extreme heat, the Whalers made the early running with the ball in the first innings, having Bunbury on the back foot at 8-128. Vinnie Poller (29 from 69 balls), Corey Chantrill (23 from 29 balls), and Bradman May (23 from 37 balls) all failed to capitalise on promising starts in a frustrating beginning to the batting effort. But the innings was given some serious late impetus by an unbroken 59-run ninth-wicket stand between Tom Sletten and Riley Stenhouse, boosting the final total to 8-187. Sletten hit four sixes and three boundaries in a blistering 50 not out from just 20 deliveries which proved critical for his side. Albany started their response with a 31-run opening stand before Zane Verhaaf (3-39 from eight overs) stepped up to make the breakthrough, inducing Whalers star Lincoln Joy to chip a catch into the covers for 23. Adam France (2-15 from six overs) followed up the wicket by claiming two of his own in the very next over, knocking over Ryley Valli for seven and the big scalp of Harry Grigson — who put the Blue Swans to the sword with 56 from just 31 balls in November’s Country Cup game between the pair — for a duck. After Verhaaf claimed yet another victim in his next over, the Whalers had endured a spectacular collapse of four wickets for just two runs. Albany captain Coen Marwick tried to lead a revival as he lost yet more partners, but when Fida Hussain (2-28 from eight overs) breached his defences for 22, the match was all but over at 8-85. No.10 O’Shea Durack delayed the inevitable with an impressive run-a-ball 39 in the stifling conditions, but Bunbury were eventually able to capitalise on a mix-up between him and No.11 Ben Southern to seal the result with a run-out. The side continued their momentum on Monday with a seven-wicket win over newly promoted South Midlands at Sutherlands Park. On another scorching day when the mercury touched 42C in Perth’s south, the Blue Swans were able to restrict their opponents to a score of 7-151, which they needed less than 21 overs to chase down. Much of the load was borne by spin in the heat, with Nico Le Roux (4-15 from five overs) doing the bulk of the damage as Stenhouse (1-34 from eight overs) and Hussain (0-12 from eight overs) played supporting roles. The loss of Le Roux for one and Ratha Alphonse for 14 left Bunbury at 2-43 in the chase but May and Kris Miller then shared an 88-run third-wicket stand at a rate better than a run a ball, which made a certainty of the result. May fell for 69 from 56 deliveries with the win in sight as Miller finished 46 not out from just 33 balls. Other results were still to be confirmed at time of publication but Bunbury appeared near-certainties to enter the third day of the tournament on top of the ladder, putting them in the box seat for a semifinal place against the fourth-placed finishers on Thursday ahead of Friday’s final at the WACA Ground. After a rest day on Tuesday, the Blue Swans will resume their tournament on Wednesday at Mt Lawley’s Breckler Park against Upper Great Southern.