Despite Matt Ridgewell picking up his first 5 wicket haul, the 1st Grade side are in a tense struggle against Port City with the game in the balance going into the second day of play at Laurieton Oval. 3rd Grade remain well clear at the top of the competition with a dominant win over Port City highlighted by an outstanding all round performance by Andrew Howe who backed up his 4 wickets with the ball by smashing an unbeaten half century with the bat. Darren Hudson was also in form with the bat, posting an unbeaten 79 in the 4th Grade’s nail-biting 4 run victory over Beechwood.

1st grade were in the field after Port City won the toss and batted and some tight bowling had the batsmen under pressure. Brad Aldous got the early break and Sam Kerr picked up a wicket but a couple of steady partnerships saw the score move on to 85. When Matt Ridgewell was introduced into the attack the game took a turn and wickets fell at regular intervals. Nathan Kerr and Al Williams also chimed in with wickets and Aldous also produced a brilliant run out, hitting the stumps from side on. The run rate had slowed and with some good line and length bowling Ridgewell demolished the tail to have the visitors 9 for 120. However the dreaded last wicket stand struck again, adding an annoying 41 runs until Ridgewell finally put an end to the innings, finishing with the excellent figures of 5 for 35 off 18 overs and leaving the total on 161. The Havens batsmen then had a tricky hour to bat out and the game took another twist when Ridgewell was run out in the first over. The problems continued when Andy Hall was ruled to be in front but Williams and Sam Kerr got back on track and appeared to be in control however a mistimed cut shot by Williams and an unlucky LBW for Kerr saw them both depart for 12 and the innings was shaky at 4 for 41 at the end of the day. The remaining Havens’ batsmen will have it all to do as they try to muster the 120 runs needed for victory on Saturday.

The 3rd Grade batsmen were hoping for a good hit out at Inmon Field but after losing the toss they were in the field first. Dave Balaam bowled with his usual pace and accuracy to knock over the openers and James Palmer picked up a caught and bowled to have the visiting Port City side 3 for 25. A middle order revival aided by 25 sundries saw the score move on to 82 but then Pete Hayes halted the momentum with 3 wickets for 17 and the score had slumped to 6 for 99. Enter Andrew Howe and the innings was over. He claimed 4 for 4 to see the visitors crumble for just 104 in 26 overs. Howe and fellow opening batsman Dean King then set about the run chase in fine style with Howe doing the early damage, hitting 4 sixes and 4 fours in a powerful display. King then got in on the act, consistently piercing the gaps to find the boundary and maintaining the run rate at around 8 an over. Howe reached his half century and when King hit another boundary to also bring up his 50 the game was over with the Havens achieving victory without losing a wicket. They take on the Port City 1 side at Wood St on Saturday.

In hot conditions at Kendall the 4th Grade side batted first and were rocked early by some hostile bowling from the Beechwood openers. It’s doubtful that Beechwood will figure in the Spirit of Cricket awards after the tactics of relegating higher grade players but it had the desired effect and the usually consistent Havens were in trouble at 4 for 29. A 34 run partnership between Darren Hudson and Pete Price got the innings back on track and the heat was taking its toll with a very slow over rate. When Price and Wayne Smith were both out before drinks the innings was again in trouble at 6 for 84. Hudson (79 no) showed his fighting qualities and he was very ably supported by a fine knock of 37 from Nathan “Warrior” Edwards in a partnership of 82. The tail didn’t offer much but an important not out innings by Rod Duncan saw the visitors only manage to bowl 34 overs as the Havens posted a score of 9 for 184. On a very fast ground and with some big hitters in the opposition line up it was always going to be tough defending the score. Opening bowlers Zac Hussein and Keegan Raccani had them 3 down but the runs were coming at 5 an over. Col Harris took 2 catches and picked up an important wicket while Duncan also bowled a very important spell of 5 overs, 1 for 11 to slow the run rate. The score climbed past the 100 mark and Paul Mobbs also grabbed a couple of catches. However it was the reliable bowling of Wayne Smith (4 for 44) that helped the Havens to an exciting victory as the Beechwood side fell 4 runs short to be 9 for 180 after their 34 overs. The win sees the Havens still at the top of the competition and take on Bonny Hills in the local derby at Inmon on Saturday.