Coolabah Cup:

Reedy Creek defeat Honey Badgers by 4 runs

At Woodward Oval: Reedy Creek 7/133 in 30 overs (Shane Jessep 42, Grant Dunn 37, Paul Carty 17, Stuart Milne 13, Lindsay Hughes 12, Nathan Gaidzionis 3/34 off 6, Mal Bruce 1/4 off 2, Dan Gordon 1/21 off 6 & Andrew Pigram 1/4 off 3) defeated Honey Badgers 6/133 off 30 overs (Mal Bruce 26, Aaron Thorne 22, Dan Gordon 22, Matt Spedding 18, Peter Batt 17no, Michael Ostler 3/24 off 6, Ryan Dunn 2/30 off 6, Stuart Milne 1/11 off 6). Reedy Creek won by 4 runs to advance to the Coolabah Cup Final.

This was a very closely contested match.Batting first Reedy Creek were best served by the ever-consistent Shane Jessep (42 off 50) and Grant Dunn (37 off 47). Early in the Reedy Creek innings Carl Redenbach produced a superb inswinger to clean bowl Craig Dunn while Matt Spedding took a smart catch to dismiss Reedy Creek's star run maker Stuart Milne.

Dan Gordon once again produced a splendid spell of well flighted bowling to cause plenty of problems for the Reedy Creek batsmen. Nathan Gaidzionis (3/34), Andrew Pigram (1/4) and Mal Bruce (1/4) all produced tight accurate bowling to restrict the Reedy Creek batting line up as Reedy totalled 7/137 in their allocated 30 overs.

In reply, Honey Badgers opening pair Aaron Thorne and Dan Gordon presented very straight bats and sound technique to repel the good bowling of Stuart Milne, Paul Carty, Craig Chapple and Ryan Dunn.

After putting on 39 for the first wicket it took the entry of Michael Ostler to the bowling crease to dismiss Dan Gordon for 22. Aaron Thorne smashed a huge six before eventually falling for 32 runs. At this stage the Honey Badgers run rate was behind the required rate however the Badgers had plenty of wickets in hand. Matt Spedding did well to score 18 runs before Mal Bruce demonstrated that he was keen to score quick runs as he produced the long handle to smash a series of powerful shots to score 26 runs off 26 balls before Ryan Dunn executed a smart outfield catch to dismiss Mal off the persevering bowling of Michael Ostler. Peter Batt (17no) and Cody Hall (6no) batted valiantly in the closing overs to just fall short of the winning score for the Honey Badgers. The Honey Badgers should be proud of their efforts during the season as they play their cricket in good spirit and with plenty of enthusiasm.

Raptors defeat Railway Pitbulls by 11 runs

At Spicer Oval: Raptors 7/142 in 30 overs (Aaron Halls 81, Kurt Matthews 30, Gary Dukes-Rankmore 3/10 off 6, Brad Fletcher 2/24 off 6 & Jacob Parker 2/20 off 6) defeated Railway Pitbulls 131 in 27.4 overs (S Bale 28, David Hansen 24, Tim Allen 15, Brad Fletcher 11, Daniel Sladek 12, Gary Dukes-Rankmore 13, Kyle Branscombe 2/23 off 4, Max Keith 3/5 off 3.4, Neil Cole 1/9 off 2 & Luke Nash 0/3 off 2). Raptors won by 11 runs to advance to the Coolabah Cup Final.

Batting first the Raptors innings was in disarray as they lost three key early order batsmen in Ben Coultas, Jacob Hutchings & Luke Nash to see their score standing at 3/8. Pitbulls opening bowlers Jacob Parker & Gary Dukes-Rankmore continued their recent excellent efforts to put real pressure on the Raptors team

. Gary Dukes-Rankmore recent form included an unreported hat trick that did not show up on the results sheet and was on a hat trick in this game again after taking 2 wickets in consecutive balls but was unable to capture the third. Aaron Halls (81) and Kurt Matthews (30) then produced a match winning 109 run partnership for the 4th wicket to put the Raptors back in the game. The Pitbulls took three late wickets to reduce the Raptors score to 7/142 off their allocated 30 overs. In reply, the Pitbulls lost wickets at regular intervals with Max Keith gaining a significant breakthrough to bowl out the inform Paul Logan for 0. A late order rally by S Bale (28) and David Hansen (24) gave the Pitbulls a chance of victory before Max Keith (3/5 off 3.5 overs) gave the Raptors a narrow victory in a well contested semi-final

Radiola Cup:

Pythons defeat Northparkes Cricket Club by 5 wickets

At Northparkes Oval: Northparkes Cricket Club 7/132 in 30 overs (U Cheema 34, Jonty Ralph 24, Nick Baird 23, M Farooq 13, Maddy Spence 11no, Tom Jackson 1/19 off 6, Al Smith 1/9 off 2, Adam Ashford 2/6 off 6 & Dale Davies 2/6 off 2) lost to Pythons (Joe Van Opynen 60, Adam Ashford 23, Grant Gaut 15, Greg Powter 3/9 off 2, Jonty Ralph 1/4 off 5). Pythons won by 5 wickets to advance to the Radiola Cup Final.

This game continued the quite amazing run of form reversal between there two teams as the Pythons played up to their best form to record what was eventually a comfortable victory. Batting first, Northparkes were best served by Usman Cheema, Jonty Ralph and Nick Baird as Adam Ashford put in a fine spell of bowling to capture 2/6 off 6 overs for the Pythons. In reply to the Northparkes total of 132, Joe Van Opynen played a fine innings of 60 runs to lead his team to victory with Adam Ashford backing up his good bowling to score 23 and Grant Gaut hitting a useful 15 runs to give the Pythons a victory and a place in the Radiola Cup Final.

Star Hotel win on forfeit over Bowling Club

At Keast 2: Unfortunately, the match between Star Hotel and Bowling did not proceed following a forfeit by Bowling Club. Players from Bowling Club were away or involved with other commitments. This was a disappointing outcome for the Bowling Club side that had played some good cricket in recent weeks and were looking as likely challengers for the Radiola Cup.

Draw - Grand Final - Saturday 30/3/2019

All grand finals to commence at 1pm

Coolabah Cup - Reedy Creek Raptors v Reedy Creek at Woodward Oval

Umpires are Trevor Chatman & Glenn Pepper

Radiola Cup - Pythons v Stat Hotel at Northparkes Oval

Umpires are Greg Morrissey & Shane Jones

Following the grand finals, the annual PDCA Presentation will be held at the Parkes Leagues Club commencing from 6:30pm. All welcome.

Also making news:

Parkes to host Group 9 competition this weekend

Woodbridge Cup season preview