Harvey-Benger’s second and fourth grade sides receive reality check as women score hard-fought victory

Harvey-Benger second grade suffered another reality check with a defeat away at the hands of Burekup on Saturday. Losing the toss, Harvey found themselves in the field in sapping conditions. They were able to make a couple of early breakthroughs with the shares spoiled between all three seamers Matt Cooke, Kye McCreery and Joryn Scarlett. Scarlett removed the dangerous Ryan Gibbs to leave Burekup 3-35. Burekup were able to soak up the pressure throughout the middle overs and while they never put the game too far out of reach, they were chance-less in their batting approach, which made it difficult for Harvey to make inroads. Eventually Cooke made the second of his two crucial breakthroughs to dismiss Nathan King for 49. Matt Chave and Francois Roelofsz chimed in with wickets to help restrict the Burekup score to a very chaseable 9-208 from their 50 overs. In reply, Harvey lost Captain Anton Fimmano for a duck. Haydn Jones continued with Mahdi Saleem before Saleem was dismissed for 11. Jones eventually fell for 49 and that’s where things turned from bad to worse for the visitors, as Roelofsz came and departed for a duck and Chave was run out for the second week in a row. Kyle Hickman attempted to resurrect the innings with an aggressive 22 but when he fell it was inevitable that Harvey would suffer yet another defeat. Harvey-Benger were bowled out 115, 93 runs short of the Burekup total. The team will be hoping their batters improve in the coming weeks with a couple of tough fixtures ahead, beginning with Marist in Harvey next Saturday. Young gun Brady Oxford’s maiden senior half-century wasn’t enough for Harvey-Benger’s fourth grade as they fell to an 11-run defeat against Rising Stars. Losing the toss on a hot day at the Harvey Recreation Ground, the side found themselves in the field to begin the game. Some early wayward bowling saw Rising Stars scoring at a fast pace, but the combination of Junior players and brothers Lachlain Brass (1-12) and Tyson Brass (1-27) both found breakthroughs. Scott Fowler (3-28) and Blain McCavanagh (2-41) then ripped through the middle order to leave Rising Stars reeling at 7-100. Harvey Benger struggled to land the killer blow though as the visitors’ tail wagged. Rising Stars scrapped through the back part of the innings to see the score to 168 before Rob Fitzgerald (3-28) targeted the stumps to take the final wickets. In reply, Harvey-Benger began confidently with openers Jarod Maughan (13) and Rowan Morrison (16) both making starts before falling. Captain Morrison upheld the spirit of the cricket by walking after being given not out by the umpire on a fine edge to the wicket keeper. Whilst Rob Fitzgerald (23) and Nick Blunt (13) made solid contributions, the star of the batting innings was Brady Oxford. After scoring an unbeaten 50 in his Juniors match in the morning, Oxford was impeccable in his approach to playing Seniors stroking the ball to all parts of the ground en route to an unbeaten 54. Despite Oxford’s sparkling innings, Harvey-Benger fell 11 runs short in their chase finishing their 40 overs on 5-157. They will look to bounce back when they play away at Marist next week. Harvey-Benger’s women’s team returned to the winners list with a close win over Leschenault on Sunday. Leschenault won the toss and elected to bat but lost Kim Mortimer for a duck off the bowling of Megan Minton, after a good catch from Trinity Brown. Harvey-Benger were reduced to 10 players after an injury to Sammie Bozanich which Ella Harrison took advantage of. Harrison’s innings included 10 fours on her way to 62no as Leschenault posted 3-133 off 20 overs. Amy Capagreco was the pick of the Harvey-Benger bowlers with 2-20 off four overs. In reply, Harvey-Benger opener Renae Adams was dismissed early for one but that brought Taneeka De Ridder and Capagreco together. The pair were watchful as Capagreco dispatched anything short to the boundary, sharing in an 80-run partnership before De Ridder (10) retired. Needing a run a ball off the final six overs, Minton and Capagreco were vigilant in their approach, keeping out the good balls while keeping the score board ticking. Capagreco closed out the match with a boundary, finishing on 71no as Harvey-Benger won with one ball to spare.