City United, Kurri Weston and Raymond Terrace have emerged as the sides to beat after the third round of district cricket.
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City had a resounding 100-run win over the struggling Eastern Suburbs, Raymond Terrace took the honours again in their grand final replay against Norths, and Kurri Weston had a strong win over Thornton.
Port Stephens also bounced back from a loss to conquer Western Suburbs.
Raymond Terrace got off to a great start in their clash at Lorn Park, keeping Norths to a modest total of 124.
Cameron Bates did most of the damage with 4-44 and 15-year-old Alex Lidbury picked up two wickets in his first grade debut.
After a bit of a shaky start to their innings being at 2-18, Terrace opener Joseph Harden (41) and top scorer Jaymes Thomas (47) combined to put on a partnership of 76 to steer their side to victory.
Daniel Upward also added a handy 20no to help his side pass the total in the 35th over with five wickets in hand.
Raymond Terrace captain Steve Smith said he was pleased with the result.
“It’s always hard when you go to Lorn and play against Norths,” he said. “It was a good test for us.
“They were definitely under strength, but you can only play against who is out there on the day.”
City United skipper Matt Trappel scored a century to lead his side to victory over Easts at King Edward Park.
Trappel (101), Ricky Dent (51) and Michael Henrich (37) did the heavy lifting with the bat while Lachlan Wishart was Easts best with the ball, finishing with 3-35.
Eastern Suburbs were bowled out for 142 inside 33 overs. Jesse Budden was their best, scoring 48 including three fours and four sixes.
Nick Bower was City’s strongest bowler, finishing with 4-39 while Tim Burton did well to pick up 3-25. Under-16s player Cameron Wynn also took two wickets.
After what was city’s second match in a row being sent in to bat first, Trappel said he was very happy with how his side played.
“It was great to go out and put on a good total then back it up with the ball,” he said.
Kurri Weston defeated Thornton by seven wickets at Kurri Central.
Thornton put up a total of 226 with Peter Gabriel notching up 65, and Jonathan Gabriel (37), Jamie Krake (36) and Jason Bartlett (29) all making starts. Kurri’s Jack Sylvester took out the middle order with 4-53 while Alex Seamer picked up 2-46.
Kurri Weston smashed their way to the total inside 39 overs. Casey Capper was the standout, finishing 75no followed by captain Joshua Tuckwell who opened with 45 including six sixes.
Port Stephens recorded their first win thanks to a strong performance by Jarrod Moxey (88) which helped the Pythons to 169. Wests mustered up 151 in reply.
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