A Lincoln Mills century led Northern Suburbs to their first win of the season.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Norths all-rounder has been in great form with the ball, but on Saturday against Wests he was back to his devastating best with the bat.
His inning of 118 off just 106 balls included 20 fours and three sixes and was just the tonic Norths needed after failing in run chases in their two completed games to date, losses to Raymond Terrace and City United.
Set what looked a respectable 7/190 in the conditions, Norths reached their target in just 33.1 overs with seven wickets in hand.
“There haven’t been too many chances to bat so far this season, but it’s definitely been a case of feast or famine for me,” he said.
“My only other inning with Norths was a duck, so it’s nice to get some runs.
“It was disappointing for myself and Luke (Stewart) to get out so close to the end, but the main thing is we got the win on the board.
“We were able to build partnerships. First it was me and Will Fort and then myself and Luke.”
Fort scored 17 when he was out with the score on 51 and Stewart was out for 38 with 163 runs on the board.
Mills fell with the score on 184 just six runs short of Wests total.
Michael Wilson (11) and Callum Gabriel (2) saw Norths home.
“We have struggled to chase down those sort of medium-sized targets in our games so far,” Mills said.
“The pitch had a bit early on for the fast bowlers but settled down into a belter.
“The outfield was lightning fast, so anytime you beat the infield you were virtually assured a four.
“I had no idea we were scoring at the rate we were. To finish before the second drinks break meant there was plenty of time for celebrations back in the clubrooms.”
Wests co-captain Mitchell Fisher said he thought they had every chance of defending there of 190 as it appeared some cracks were opening up on the pitch and it could be difficult to bat on.
“Lincoln put paid to that and the pitch really settled down to be a real belter.”
West were without key players Aaron Mahony, co-captain Tom Irwin, Luke Knight and Michael Rees, however, Fisher said the way Norths played it would not have made any difference to the result.
“Lincoln really took hold of us, he batted very well and probably didn’t give us a chance until he went out.”
Luke Merchant was the best of Wests batsmen scoring 65, with Justin Lanty (32), Josh Fisher (32) and Mitchell Fisher (25 not out) all making starts.
Mills took 3-40 off 10 overs. Tim Field, Ben Sayers and Jordan Callinan got a wicket each.
Norths play Kurri Weston in round five. Wests have the bye.
Lions have answers for City
Raymond Terrace shares top spot with Eastern Suburbs after an eight-wicket win against City United.
An unbeaten partnership of 135 between Jaymes Thomas (80) and skipper Steve Smith (58) saw the Lions pass City’s total of 9/196 with almost six overs to spare.
Shannon Bills departed early for five and Joseph Harden made 36 before being trapped leg before.
The Lions bowlers had City on the back foot early with Cameron Bates capturing openers Michael Heinrich (15) and Ricky Dent (14). When Brad Bidner fell for four off the bowling of Will Maher, City were 3-41.
Matt Trappel (52) and Anru Kriel (43) turned things back in City’s favour. Kriel became Bate’s third victim with the score on 132 and Trappel fell to Nick Savage just three runs later.
Jordan Burton was unbeaten on 32, but Jacob Page made life difficult for the tail claiming 3-31.
Thornton fall short against Warriors again
Thornton has suffered their second agonisingly close loss to Kurri Weston for the season falling eight runs short of the Warriors total of 197.
The Thunder were restricted to 8/189 from their 53 overs in the rain-affected two-day game.
The Warriors prevailed by 12 runs against Thornton in round two after posting just 155.
A fine 54 from Kurri Weston’s Justin Kavanagh and contributions of 33 by Simon Marshall, 27 by skipper Tim Harding and 23 by opener and wicketkeeper Tyler Power enabled the Warriors to post 7/197 bowlers something to defend.
Elliott Thomas and Dan Willis both collected two wickets.
Steve Abel sent out a warning to opposing teams claiming 4-54 off 19 overs and Harding finished with 3-67 off 19 as well..
Teenager Jack Sylvester chimed in with the other wicket to end with 1-23 of seven overs.
The victory lifts Kurri Weston to third spot on the ladder with 13 points, one behind Eastern Suburbs and Raymond Terrace.
Thornton are on the bottom with three losses and a draw, but in an extremely close competition they are still only six points out of the top four.
They face City United at Robins Oval in round five. Kurri Weston travel to Lorn Park to face Norths.
LADDER:
- Eastern Suburbs 14
- Raymond Terrace 14
- Kurri Weston 13
- Western Suburbs 11
- Northern Suburbs 10
- City United 9
- Thornton 5