Round 5 of Newcastle District Cricket Association was the last round of 40 over cricket before the start of the longer format and it turned out to be a solid set of results for the seagulls with three grades winning. The first grade team lost the toss of the coin at Lynn Oval and were sent in after plenty of rain late in the week but responded beautifully by posting 7 for 189 in tricky conditions. Keith Moody was again the top scorer with 52 and Sam Jenkinson finished the innings in style with 45 not out from 35 balls. In response Wests put on 99 for the first wicket until the Nick and Daniel Foster put the brakes on in the middle overs with Daniel Foster turning in an outstanding spell into the wind with 3 for 25 and Nick Foster only taking the one wicket but being miserly with 1 for 18 from 8 overs. Wests finally reached the total for the loss of five wickets with 12 balls to spare. Second grade recorded an emphatic win at Harker Oval, routing the Wests batting line up for 54. Brodie Cox continuing his strong form with 4 for 23 and Paul Kelly making light work of the tail taking 3 for 5. The batters made light work of the small total and secured a comfortable win. Third grade won the toss and batted first and posted a very competitive 7 for 127 from the allotted overs with Ameen Khiyani top scoring in his club debut with 32 and John Allanson turning back the clock with 30 not out. A fine spell fast bowling from Tyson Beatty meant Wests were never really in the hunt. Tyson's return of 6 for 5 from 8 overs with 4 maidens showed punctuated a strong all round team performance. In fourth grade, the seagulls recorded their first win for the season with a comfor
table victory against the rosellas. The seagulls started strongly by bowling Wests out for a very modest 63 with Alex Ward leading the way with 4 wickets. Alex Ward and Charlie Grainger then made light work of the chase to secure a bonus point win. Our suburban districts partners the Port Stephens Pythons suffered their second straight loss to start the season after falling 14 short of Merewether District Cricket Clubs total of 161.
Photo: Neil Zanardi 📸📸
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