The week leading up to Round 4 against Cardiff Boolaroo District Cricket Club saw lots of rain, inclement weather and uncertainty. Fortunately, three out of four grades were able to take the field and the seagulls were able to secure wins in both First and Second grade to continue the solid start to the season for the club.
In First Grade at the new Pasterfield complex , a delayed start due to leaking covers meant the match was reduced to a 32 over affair. Skipper Foster lost the toss and Cardiff were only too happy to ask the seagulls to bat. Despite the underdone nature of the pitch the batsmen made light work of the job at hand posting 6 for 201 after 32 overs with Keith Moody the star with an outstanding 95 from just 89 balls. In response Cardiff Boolaroo could only muster 9 for 93 by the close of the innings with Tom O'Neill, Andrew Nicolai and Daniel Foster all bagging two wickets a piece.
At Lynn Oval, Second Grade won the toss and inserted the CB’s and were possibly rueing that decision at oranges after Cardiff Boolaroo posted 8 for 204 from their 40 overs. A fantastic chase ensued from the seagulls and victory was secured with 4 balls to spare. James Beatty and Laurence Kelly showed their class with the bat to get the seagulls across the line to make sure pace in kept with the top 4 Third Grade travelled to Cardiff No.1 and took on an experienced Cardiff Boolaroo team. Batting first Cardiff Boolaroo posted 9 for 157 after 40 overs with Nick Bright the shining light with the ball taking 3 for 27 from 8 tidy overs. Unfortunately, early wickets curtailed the response and the seagulls fell well short and were all out for 88 with only Cam Hainsworth and Tyson Beatty reaching double figures. In Suburban Districts, our partners the Port Stephens Pythons took on Wallsend Tigers at Jesmond Park and were set a challenging chase after Wallsend posted 190 after they were sent in by captain Josh Moxey. In return the Pythons were on target until a flurry of late wickets saw the run chase fall 28 runs short.
