Three Albany and Districts Cricket Association teams in country week semifinals as top guns finally break duck

Albany and Districts Cricket Association will have three sides in CSBP country week semifinals in Perth on Thursday after their final group games played out on Wednesday afternoon. Despite losing their opening two contests, the top team squeaked into second spot in pool B of A-section to set up a clash with Upper Great Southern, the ladder toppers of pool A, on Thursday. ADCA 1’s five-wicket victory over West Pilbara was enough for them to leapfrog Bunbury and Districts and West Pilbara, having been bottom of the pile at the start of the day. Meanwhile, ADCA 2 topped pool A in B-section, winning their game against Newman B in style to set up a semifinal against Esperance B. The third team also prospered, finishing top of pool B in C-section thanks to a crushing win over Northam which earned them a battle with Busselton-Margaret River for a spot in the grand final. The ADCA top guns restored some pride – and grabbed an unlikely semifinal spot – with their victory over West Pilbara. Their decent performance at Charles Veryard Reserve was a long time coming though two top-order ducks were not helpful when it came to their turn to bat. Having won the toss, ADCA 1 opted to bowl and after West Pilbara made a decent start, Seb Stanton ran out the troublesome Dean Whiteford (29) and then skipper Coen Marwick had Christy Kuruvilla (18) caught by Liam Davies. Milan Jaggi then got going, ending up with 3-24 in his best performance of the week so far, with Marwick finishing with 2-20 and Liam Davies 2-23. With their opponents all out for 127, ADCA 1 set about their task. Billy O’Meara, with 48 off 34 balls, and Buddy Robinson, with 49 off 25, were the stars of the response with Alexander Fergie chipping in with 21 in his first outing. Fergie had replaced Mitch Green, who played the first two matches, following the withdrawal through injury of Lincoln Joy. His effort paved the way for Stanton and Alby Berridge to finish off the contest, Berridge striking the winning run as ADCA 1 reached 5-128. ADCA 2 chalked up a stack of good scores as they set Newman B a mighty target of 310 in their clash at Tompkins Park. Batting first, Lochie Otway (52) and Oli Clark (35) put on 73 runs for the first wicket and although Jed Schwarzbach went for a second-ball duck, Ryan Kinnear (56), Dylan Belward (35) and Angus Thompson (45no) all prospered, Belward and Kinnear each walloping three sixes in the process. If Newman thought ADCA 2 might lighten up late on, they were wrong as Ryan Davies’ 32 added the final gloss to their mammoth total of 9-309. Jack Hastie’s three wickets came at a cost of only 19 runs and ensured Newman were not going to come close. Their chase eventually ended at 141 all out as ADCA 2 won by 168 runs. ADCA 3 maintained their winning streak in C-section, recording a convincing victory on Wednesday to finish top of pool B. The five-wicket triumph at David Cruikshank Reserve over Northam cemented their place at the top of the ladder and a semifinal spot. Batting first, Northam were left stranded on 9-106 with Lewis Culver and Ian Waugh each taking three wickets. In reply, the ADCA openers were dismissed quickly but Angus McSweeney steadied the ship with 17 off 35 balls and then Peter Ross did the hard work with an unbeaten 39 off 54. He hit out when given the opportunity, nailing five fours and a six with Tarik Hartfield providing 13 runs of backup to see them home at 5-108. ADCA 4, playing in F-section faced Bunbury and Districts F2 on Wednesday. Lurking in mid-table after an opening day win over Bunbury and Districts F1 and Monday’s loss to Green Range-Ongerup, they have a bye on Thursday before a final outing on Friday against Busselton-Margaret River. On Wednesday, they put Bunbury F2 into bat and spent 50 overs scurrying around the field as their opponents put on 9-222 in their 50 overs. Jake Schwarzbach and Will Elms both made inroads, collecting three wickets apiece. Jordan Draper (68), Damian Schwarzbach (46) and Jeremy Watson (60) led the chase which reached 4-223 for a memorable victory and a chance finish top the table after Friday’s finale.