Carruthers' purple patch

Premier Grade Cricket

Round 11 25-26 January 2020 v Hawkesbury

First Grade

The Bankstown Sports Bulldogs secured a vital victory over Hawkesbury last weekend at Memorial. The very much in form Nick Carruthers delivered the knockout blow to the hapless Hawks who failed to soar. His stellar season just got even better with a magnificent 150. The run machine plundered 9 boundaries and 4 stunning sixes as the Hawks took flight from the onslaught. His vast array of powerful strokes entertained the crowd immensely as the barking Bulldogs surged to a record total of 5-427. It was a wonderful day for the Doggies batsmen with all making solid contributions. Mark Stoneman and Daniel Solway gave the side a useful start with a handy 74 run opening stand. Solway fell for 28 and Stoneman was dismissed for a classy 47. Zeeshaan Ahmed flew into the Hawks. The visitors had no answer to the rampaging Ahmed whose 83 contained 8 sizzling boundaries and a massive six. Daniel Nicotra chimed in with a handy 20 whilst Ben Taylor added 45 not out in an entertaining hour at the crease. Just when the Hawks thought Bankstown had done enough damage in came Jarrad Lysaught to add to their woes. He delighted the crowd with 3 towering sixes in his 25-minute stay at the crease adding 39 not out. Bankstown declared with enough time to capture a wicket and it was Matt Bursa who did the damage with a fine catch behind by Matt Simpson. The Hawks were 1-15 at stumps in what was the Doggies day!!

When play resumed on Sunday the Bulldogs dominance continued unabated. The quicks were totally in charge as the visitors collapsed to be 4-89. A fighting stand ensued but Ben Taylor wore down the Hawks batsmen with 3 well deserved wickets. Tushaar Garg rattled the lower order with some ferocious bouncers and the Hawks capitulated for a meagre 177. Matt Bursa took 3-52 with two more catches to the ever-alert Simpson whilst Ben Taylor bowled with plenty of flight and guile to capture 3-33. Keeper Matt Simpson had a field day and finished with seven fine catches for the match. Nicotra grabbed two beauties and Stoneman hung onto a very sharp one as Bankstown prevailed. Hawkesbury were asked to follow on and were 5-101 at stumps. Matt Bursa was again a handful for the Hawks with 2-19. Wicketkeeper Matt Simpson was in fantastic form with the gloves and finished with seven catches for the match.

Next Saturday the Bulldogs take on Penrith in a two-day fixture at Memorial Oval commencing at 10.30am

Second Grade

Bankstown skipper Tony Clark won the toss at Owen Earle last Saturday and invited Hawkesbury to bat. It proved a very shrewd decision as Blake Pearson and Chris Stefanish claimed the wickets of the openers. Stefanish caused the Hawks to take flight as he ripped into the top order with 4-14 from 8 pacy overs. It was a fiery display from the rampaging quick as he had batsmen backpedalling hesitantly. Lively Dayne Heward chimed in with a crucial wicket and the Hawks were in total disarray. Enter the skipper who was even more devastating as he moved the ball around alarmingly. Clark finished with the fine figures of 4-11 as the Hawks failed to soar and were all out for 68. In reply Bankstown made hard work of the chase but finished with 5-69. Mansukh Singh contributed a defiant 23 at the top of the order. At 1-41 the Bulldogs appeared cruising to an easy victory but then came a major hiccup. They lost 4 wickets for 3 runs and it was left to Tom Sowden with 11 not out and Ethan Debono with 12 not out to guide the Dogs home. It was such a convincing victory that Bankstown earned what could be a very valuable bonus point.

Third grade

At Kelso Park North Hawkesbury cobbled together 149 but in reply the Bulldogs fell for 138. Brady Polkinghorne once again was right on target with 4-25 in another wonderful spell and he troubled all batsmen. Koby Layton made the visitors work very hard for their runs and gave away nothing with his 2-22 from 10 very accurate overs. Justin Felsch showed just as much control with 2-26 from his 10 very containing overs. In reply several batsmen got a start but could not carry on with the job. Felsch scored 26 to highlight his all-round value whilst Matt Dedes put together a handy 21. However, it was Daniel Hayes who top scored with an excellent 31 as he tried hard to get the Bulldogs barking.

Fourth grade

A defiant rear-guard action between Skipper James Bourne and Ryan Freeman guided the Bulldogs to victory last Saturday at Bensons Lane. The home side scored 175 which looked like being plenty as Bankstown slumped to 6-63. The Bulldog bowlers had worked hard to contain the Hawks. Anthony Melnyk claimed 4-27 in his incisive 9 overs spell and he troubled all batsmen. Mat Kelly was also right on target with 3-30 in his probing spell. Daniyal Naveed Khan flew into the Hawks with 2-40 in his accurate 10 overs spell. After a diabolical start Bourne and Freeman were sensational with their match winning stand of 113. Freeman top scored with his defiant 62 not out and included 5 sizzling boundaries and a towering six in his classy knock. Captain Bourne certainly led by example and clipped the Hawks wings with a typically spirited 50 which helped turn the game around as Bankstown totalled 6/176.

Fifth grade

Despite a fighting 40 from the elegant stroke maker Sanjiv Weerasingham the Bulldogs collapsed to be all out for 105. The extent of the Bankstown batting disaster was highlighted by the fact that second top score was Extras with 22. Bankstown bowlers tried hard but simply did not have enough runs to defend as the Hawks cruised to 2-107 in just 20 overs.