Harvey-Benger Cricket Club second and fourth grade teams extend winning streak while T20 side suffers loss

Harvey-Benger’s second grade carried their formidable form into the first match after the Christmas break with a clinical 106 run win over second-placed Leschenault in Harvey on Saturday. Electing to bat first, Harvey found themselves losing Joseph Cambrea early to be 1-6. Haydn Jones and Hamish Minton set about restarting the innings until Minton was bowled trying to play an expansive shot. Harvey lost another two wickets quickly and found themselves reeling at 4-56. Matt Chave and Jones worked to limit the damage prior to drinks. Post drinks, they we able to turn the pressure back on Leschenault with a steadying 98 run partnership before Jones fell for a well made 69. Harvey had some quality lower order batting with Francois Roelofsz and Zak Italiano contributing to the cause with Chave supporting. Chave eventually fell for 74 with Harvey setting 235 off their 50 overs all out. In reply, Leschenault started well before Rob Turner changed the game taking three wickets in quick succession. Roelofsz and Italiano also took early wickets to leave Leschenault under serious pressure at 5-58. Wickets continued to tumble with Kye McCreery taking his maiden second grade wicket and Roelofsz cleaning up the tail to finish with 5-23. Leschenault were bowled out for 129. The win extends Harvey’s stranglehold on the BDCA second grade competition with a nine-point gap on second place with four games left. Harvey-Benger return to 50 over action on January 28 against Burekup. It was also a successful day for Harvey-Benger’s fourth grade as they defeated Leschenault by 30 runs at the Harvey Primary School. After winning the toss and electing to bat in favourable conditions, the home side lost both openers cheaply to fall to 2/18. This brought Nigel Hill (28) and the exceptional Darren Bozanich (62) to the crease who set about rebuilding the innings. The pair shared in a 65-run partnership before Hill missed a full ball and was adjudged out LBW. Charlie Italiano (23) was next in to bat, striking the ball well in another solid partnership of 58 runs before both he and Bozanich fell in quick succession. It was then down to Justin Faulkner (27) to bat with the tail and ensure Harvey-Benger put a competitive total of 193 on the board. In reply, the big hitting Brendan Fisher got Leschenault off to flying start making 49 off 23 before veteran Murray Italiano (2-43) drew a false shot for the catch. David Cooper (2-27) was again impressive in bowling tight areas to restrict the opposition, but Leschenault continued to build small partnerships as they approached the total with overs in hand. It was Charlie Italiano (3-37) who was able to clean up the lower order and guide Harvey-Benger to victory however, with Leschenault eventually all out for 163. Harvey-Benger fourth grade remain two games clear atop the ladder and will be back in action after the Country Week break, at home to Dardanup. The Harvey-Benger Cricket Club also kicked off their 1st Grade T20 campaign away against Donnybrook on Sunday with a 32 run loss. Losing the toss, Harvey-Benger found themselves in the field. Rob Turner struck in the first over removing the dangerous Mark Manea, and the visitors found themselves with a second not long after with Francois Roelofsz removing another. Donnybrook put together some decent partnerships to eventually post a total of 5-153 off their allotted 20 overs. Matt Chave (2-22 off 4) and Roelofsz (2-25 off 4) were the pick of the bowlers. In reply, Harvey struggled to gain any momentum in their chase losing wickets at regular intervals. Turner (26 off 17) and Roelofsz (20 off 16) tried their best to get Harvey in position to chase down the score but fell just as their innings was gaining momentum. Rowan Morrison made 23 runs at the end of the innings to bring some respectability to the score with Harvey-Benger being bowled out for 121. Harvey-Benger welcome the Colts Cricket Club to the Harvey Recreation Ground this Saturday for the second round of the first Grade T20 competition.