Bunbury & Districts Cricket Association continue momentum in senior men’s country week A and B grade contests

The Bunbury & Districts Cricket Association has continued its strong start in this year’s senior men’s country week competition, heading into Wednesday undefeated in the top two grades. Following on from Sunday’s 35-run win over Geraldton, the A-grade side came from behind to win Monday’s match against Upper Great Southern by a narrow six runs. Bunbury’s opponents won the toss and elected to bat first, seeking to get ahead in another day of warm and humid conditions. Zane Verhaaf and Corey Fitt did the heavy lifting in the bowling, dismissing the No.3 and No.4 batsmen respectively to leave Upper Great Southern all out for 118. Bunbury had a less than ideal start to its innings, with opening batsman Bradman May dismissed for a duck. Fellow opener Mitchell Boyle managed 54 balls to make it to 16 as a batting collapse ensued. Jaxon Cornford, Tyne Dodds and Blair Malatesta failed to make it to double digits, while Daniel Brabham made only 13. It was left to Fitt to try save the side’s chances of clenching a win, with the Marist spinner putting the side back into contention after hitting 46 off 106 balls. He was assisted by captain Liam Renton, who scored 26 off 52. It was just enough to get Bunbury over the line, with Riley Stenhouse responsible for the winning run. The side was sitting third in the A-grade ladder heading into Wednesday’s clash against West Pilbara. After a 45-run win against Newman on Sunday, Bunbury’s B-grade side enjoyed a comfortable victory against Warren Blackwood on Monday at Bayswater’s Lower Hillcrest Reserve. The Lower South West side elected to bat first, with Riley Liddelow and captain Daniel Ward making a 63-run partnership before Liddlelow was run out by Scott Fisher. Ward made 47 off 26 balls before retiring not out and Josh Miller was the only remaining batter to reach double digits before getting out. Warren Blackwood declared on 9-128 and Mahdi Saleem and Hasan Zaman were the first duo sent to the crease in the new innings. The pair made 47 before Zaman was dismissed for 34. Keagan Lynch and Nic Rep helped Bunbury close in on the total, making 51 and 55 respectively. Lynch was the last of the side’s five bowlers to get out before the result was declared, with Bunbury winning by four wickets. The B-grade team sat at the top of the competition going into Wednesday’s game against Peel Country.