Jindabyne is replacing Aussie 2 at the top of the ladder as the result of a forfeit, and Berridale slipping to the bottom after a convincing loss to Aussie 1.
Aussie 3 took on Coffey’s at Rotary Oval, batting first to post a very respectable 267. Gary van der Plaat led the charge with the bat for the Aussie 3 side, opening the batting and knocking his way to 87 before being caught off the bowling of Sean Smith. Van der Plaat was well backed up by Dean Wolf and D Jacobs, both scoring 57 runs and both being dismissed by Pete Woodall.
Woodall was the pick of the Coffey’s bowlers, taking three wickets for 39 runs.
Coffey’s offered some resistance, but only managed 141 in response with in form batsman Jimmy Nichols leading the way at the top of the order with 32 runs.
Damien Asanovski was the leading wicket taker with the ball for the Aussie 3 team, taking three wickets for 16 runs, while T Jacobs, D Jacobs and S Wood took three apiece.
Royal Hotel beat the Colts in a close and controversial game, which Colts thought they had won due to an error in the scoring.
Chasing a target of 129, Colts needed three off the last ball to win and the batsman ran four. After adding up the batting and bowling figures, however, it appeared that Colts had not accumulated enough runs, finishing on 127.
John Sutcliffe and Tim Lewis were the top scorers for Royal, finishing with 33 and 28 respectively.
Nathan Boate has found form with the ball in recent matches, and continued to assert authority over the opposition batsmen finishing with the tremendous figures of 5 for 9 off 5.
L Hillman (34), Damo Roach (27) and Boate (21) batted well in reply, but couldn’t do enough to reach the set total in the end.
Andrew Jenkins was the star bowler for Royal, taking 4 wickets for 10 runs off nine overs, which included three maiden overs.
Berridale-Dalgety were set an unassailable total of 393 from the Aussie 1 team, after Troy Saddler and Damo Smith both recorded centuries at the top of the order. Smith and Saddler took to the Berridale bowlers from the onset, taking advantage of the under strength fielding side and the short boundaries.
Berridale mixed up the bowling in a bid to break the partnership, and Saddler attempted to force a single off the variational bowling of Nick Chapman and was run out by a direct hit from John Lovell for 120.
Lovell’s confidence was boosted by his effort in the field, and came on to bowl taking three of the top order wickets, including the prize scalp of Damo Smith who finished on 161.
Alex Bruce was the second highest wicket taker, taking two wickets off his two overs.
The Berridale batsmen were not hugely confident but came out looking to have some fun on an easy wicket. Jerry Lyons made his way to 17 before a run of low scores at the top of the order.
Ben Hearne and Chapman batted for a partnership of 60, before Chapman was caught off Nathan Smith and Hearne was out shortly after for 70.
Berridale recruited two younger players for the match, with brothers Matthew and Alex Bruce both receiving credit from the opposition bowling attack for their straight bat shots and keeping their heads against the older players.
Next week, Coffey’s play Aussie 2 at Rotary, Aussie 3 play Colts at Nijong, Royal play Aussie 1 at Snowy and Jindabyne play Berridale-Dalety at Jindabyne.
