Somerville Cricket Club consolidated their position on top of the MPCA ladder by defeating top 4 team Long Island in the Round 11 fixture on their turf, 8/182 to 10/101.
In their most comprehensive win of the season, the close-knit Eagles team turned potential disaster into an outstanding victory, with every team member playing a part at some stage of the contest.
Against a well-organised Long Island attack, Somerville lost top order bats in Luke Rowe, Nick Mann, Jack Barbour, Captain Chris Brittain and Brad McDonald to plummet to 5/44, to find themselves on the precipice of conceding a must-win game.
Not to be denied, opening bat Kiefer Peries anchored the innings to compile a resolute 62 and was well supported by Jake Evans (28) and club legend Craig Black with a punishing 33*.
Long Island opening pair Aiden McKenna and Josh Swainston blitzed the Somerville attack to pile on 55 runs from 6 overs to put their team in a strong position to secure victory. However, in one of the team’s most power-packed victories in recent memory, Somerville answered in the best possible way to demolish Long Island for 101, disintegrating to lose 10/46 in quick time.
Opening bowler Ryan McNamara sizzled to rattle the stumps 3 times to finish with 3/34 and Chris Brittain made it 22 wickets for the season to collect 3/22. Craig Black and Jake Evans put the icing on the cake with a wicket each. Coach Jason “Jugga” Nagel has emphasised the importance of each player performing their role and he was justifiably delighted to secure an important win.
Round 12 at The Nest sees Somerville take on traditional rivals Mt Eliza in what will be a hard-fought contest. Round 13 it’s Rosebud away and Moorooduc at home.
2nds
Somerville 174 lost to Long Island 7/178. Best performers included Jack Haydon 32, Cooper Staff 40 and Charlie Dixon with 3/20.
3rds
Somerville 8/227 defeated Pines 203. Ryan Johnson 83, Alex Simpson 38, Ross Duggan 37 and Captain Russell Wilkes had the opposition jumping to finish with 4/38.
4ths
Somerville 9/217 defeated Mornington 6/216. Jarrod Hodgins 43. Josh Collie 57* Stuart Downs 32 Andrew Patterson 2/33.
5ths
Somerville 8/219 defeated Hastings 125. Ben Wickham 47, Doug Haskett 39, Anton Bergman 43. Jacob Watson 5/46, Tom Minton 3/13.
Women
Somerville 2/204 defeated Rye/Boneo 130. Bethany Reece 34, Julie Fearns 51*, Marlee Black a dazzling 91*, Tilly Black 3/24, while Marlee Black, Katelyn Van Loo and Kasey Black took 2 wickets apiece.
Congratulations to Julie Fearns, who has 247 runs at the whopping average of 247, while speed demon Katelyn Van Loo leads the competition bowling aggregate with 18 wickets at 4.5 runs per wicket.
