Cessnock District Cricket Association’s Bellbird and Singleton’s Valley/JPC are setting the early pace in the Coalfields Cup.
The Tigers disposed of defending joint premiers Greta/Branxton by five wickets in the fifth round at Miller Park at the weekend.
The hosts batted first and were all out on the final ball of their 40-over innings for 172.
Josh Dagg led the way with a crafty 40, with all-rounders Brent Watson (33) and Jace Lawson (32) providing the bulk of the remaining runs.
Nic Siers was the pick of the Bellbird attack with 3-49.
The Tigers then reeled in the target in the 36th over with five wickets in hand.
Incumbent two-time Coalfields Cup player of the year Jason Orr notched 40 at the top of the order, with Joey Millington (33), skipper Joey Main (26no), Pete Brennan (24), Ben Fairlie (23) and veteran Rob Drage (15no) doing enough to keep the Western Cessnock club’s unbeaten streak in check.
Watson completed a fine all-round game for the Blues with 3-38.
Valley/JPC had an early afternoon at the office with a seven-wicket triumph over the Piranhas at East End.
The home side was skittled for just 42 batting first, with Fletcher Sharpe (12) the only batsman to reach double figures.
Scalps were fairly evenly-distributed between the Valley/JPC bowlers, with Tristan Muir (3-1), skipper Isaac Barry (2-8) and Luke Dempster (2-4) taking regular poles.
The visitors took just 10.2 overs to reel in the small target after losing three wickets.
Andrew Knox remained unbeaten on 16.
Wine Country remains the other team not to have dropped a game thus far after it accounted for Glendon by 15 runs at Cook Park No.3.
Batting first, the Wood Ducks were all out for 156.
Matt Lightfoot (40), skipper Andrew Fensom (25), Luke Jeans (19no) and Jason Ambrose (16) all kept the scoreboard ticking over.
Other stats were unavailable at the time of writing.
In the final showdown, Creeks stayed in the top four following a hard-fought three-wicket victory over PCH.
The latter made 110, with Abe Jones (41) and Matt Pearce (30) timing the ball nicely.
Creeks were best served with the four-piece by skipper Blake Cook (3-12), Jarrod Campbell (3-25) and Clint Harman (2-20).
They then took their time running the total down but got there in the 37th over after losing seven wickets.
Harman capped an excellent all-round game with 37, with Ash Borg also playing well with a patient 27.
Mason Knodler (3-15) and Dan Oldknow (2-20) were PCH’s best with the ball.
- Mark Bercini
- Coalfields Cup (points table): Valley/JPC 24 (NRR 2.39), Bellbird 24 (2.06), Wine Country 21 (1.39), Creeks 18 (0.07), PCH 9 (-1.52), Greta/Branxton 9 (-1.60), Piranhas 9 (-2.81), Glendon 6 (-0.68)
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