By Justin Flynn
OCEAN Grove’s B Grade side enjoyed a comfortable win against cross-river rivals Barwon Heads.
With the weekend of cricket affected by heavy rain on Friday and Saturday, not many games were played, but the Barwon Heads main oval was fit for play and the Grubbers cruised to a seven-wicket win.
Resuming at 1/81 chasing the Seagulls’ total of 174, Nathan Madden (39) and Jay Dawson (34) put on 50 for the second wicket to have the Grubbers in control at 1/106.
But at 3/109 some nerves may have kicked in. Michael Carroll (32) and Craig Byron (41) then joined forces to put the game beyond doubt. The pair combined for an unbeaten 76-run stand with both batsmen not out when play was called off after Ocean Grove got to 3/185.
On day one, Cam Habgood was the chief wicket taker with 3/27.
In C Grade, Ocean Grove had a 31-run victory against Barwon Heads.
The Grubbers made 8-249 on day one with veterans Pat Kuipers (59) and Greg Scarpa (65) steering the ship while Callum Docherty (26) put the finishing touches on the innings.
Barwon Heads made a good fist of the run chase, but it was only one batsman who stood in the Grubbers’ way. Tyler Friswell made his maiden century with a superb 108, but no other batsman passed 18 and the Gulls were out in the 60th over for 218. Kuipers took 3/49 while Ben Hughes grabbed 2/50 from 15 overs.
Saturday’s D Grade game was washed out, but Ocean Grove had a win in round one against Wallington. Jeff Erskine took 3/13 to help the Grubbers rout Wallington for 106 and Darren Roddis smacked 10 fours and four sixes in a brilliant unbeaten 94 to give his side a 10-wicket win.
