Students stunned

ILLAWARRA CRICKET
JOEL RITCHIE

A NEW year, but it was the same story for Illawarra Cricket, with some matches washed out due to weekend weather.

The Northern Districts/Keira clash at Hollymount Park was abandoned with the hosts needing 136 runs with seven wickets in hand.

That was more action than was seen at Helensburgh Oval, where the match between the Tigers and Wollongong was called off without a ball bowled.

Meanwhile, defending one-day champs University are in danger of missing out on the semi-finals after 42-run loss to Dapto at Reed Park.

Chasing 164, the Students looked good at 0/44 before a collapse left them at 3/57. From there Uni lost regular wickets before being dismissed for 122.

Adrian O’Donnell (3/24) and Greg Wray (3/36) spearheaded the Dapto attack, although all bowlers claimed wickets.

Batting first, Dapto were in early trouble at 4/24 before Chris Georgiou (55) and Greg Jones (42) added 97 runs for the fifth wicket.

Greg Wray chipped in with a handy 27 as Dapto posted 164.

Graeme Stinson was the pick of the Uni bowlers with 3/26.

Meanwhile, Balgownie moved to the top of the one-day table with a seven-wicket win over Corrimal at Ziems Park.

The win earned the Magpies two bonus points and nudged them ahead of Helensburgh and Wollongong on the table.

Corrimal batted first and were in a strong position at 3/88 before losing their last seven wickets for 46 runs to finish on 134.

Three Bally bowlers claimed a brace of wickets while Dylan Scott (41) and Dean Merola (37) provided the only resistance for Corrimal.

Paul Mason (58) and Chris Sheppard (53) both hit unbeaten half-centuries as the Magpies cruised to victory after being 3/19 at one stage.

Wests are in the semi-final mix after a commanding nine-wicket win over Port Kembla at Figtree Oval.

Phil Warren hit 57 not out as Wests cruised past their victory target of 106 with nine wickets in hand, earning two bonus points in the process.

Earlier Port could only muster 106 batting first thanks to a balanced bowling effort from the hosts.

All four bowlers claimed wickets, led by Peter Rowe with 4/25, while Ryan Mattas hit a defiant 39 for Port Kembla.