CRICKET: A narrow loss to rivals Colts was enough to see the Marist Cricket Club fall from the Bunbury and Districts Cricket Association top four on Saturday.
Batting first, Marist put together an even paced innings with mid-strength contributions from multiple batsmen.
Matt Foreman (2) and Corey Fitt (14) fell early before Paul Reynolds and Recce O’Connell put up 25 and 23 runs respectively.
With Sam Roots dismissed quickly for six, Marist again needed a strong contribution.
They looked to Shane Cristaldi who posted 29 runs and Adam Spinelli who notched 32.
However there was not much to be found after that as the Blues finished their innings with 182 runs.
Cruize Ciallella tore through the Marist attack, claiming five wickets at the cost of just 10 runs over 9.2 overs.
Now chasing 183 for the win, Colts began their innings on a similar pace with Marist.
Ciallella was booted from the crease for just three runs but Ian Prosser (33) and Kyle Davis (18) managed to get the side back on track.
The wickets were falling steadily and Colts seemed in trouble but a stand from Brandon Walters and Nick Barr saw them in a position to claim the points.
Walters hit 31 while Barr top scored for the match with 48.
However a slight collapse of wickets after that would see Colts on edge with no wickets in hand.
Luckily the tail order was able to carry the side to the finish.
Now sitting in fifth, Marist will want to win their next two matches against Dalyellup Beach and Eaton to have their best chance at claiming a finals berth.
Colts will have a bye next week before playing Dalyellup Beach in the final round.
Ross Knoll put on a show in his side’s victory over the Eaton Beavers, scoring almost double the amount of runs that his opposing side could manage.
Knoll put up 123 runs from 125 deliveries as Hay Park set Eaton the target of 233 to win.
Kris Miller (25), Ben Saunders (18) and Chris Waddingham (19) also contributed for the Redbacks while their bowlers shredded Eaton in the second innings.
Saunders picked up the figures of 5/18 as Eaton only had two batsmen exceed the score of seven runs, finishing all out for 67 after 29.4 overs with 13 of those runs coming from extras.
Collie moved to nine points clear on top of the ladder on Saturday with their victory over the Leschenault Green Caps.
A strong performance from the Collie top order saw them in a dominant position early.
Blair Malatesta (66) and Chris Michalak (57) posted an opening partnership of 105 runs while Seth White (33) and Mark Williams (31) both contributed to the run total.
However the scoring was not coming fast as the Coalminers batted out their innings for the score of 5/206.
The Green Caps started their innings off well with an opening partnership of 45 between Ben Parker (24) and Matt Buchanan (19).
Tom Buchanan (31) and Kurt D’Agostino (25) also helped the cause, but a collapse in the tail saw Leschenault fall short.
Collie will now go into preparation for their final match of the season next week against Eaton as they look to finish the year on top of the table.
Pictures by Ashley Pearce.
