1ST GRADE
1st grade won the Kevin Sullivan Silver Cup with a dramatic one wicket win over Midland-Guildford at Burrendah Park.
Kallen Bond won the toss and sent the visitors in, with the bowling innings getting away to a perfect start with Ben Gibbon grabbing a wicket from the first ball of the game thanks to a glove down the leg-side.
Matt Hanna and Brock Larance claimed wickets to go with a brilliant run-out from Iszak Milentis in the covers to plunge the visitors further into trouble at 4 for 33.
The Black Ducks rebuilt with a 51 run fifth wicket that was eventually broken by Luke Holt, with the Dragons rolling through the lower order to end the innings for 127 after just 33.3 overs.
Hanna (3/12 from 6.3 overs), Gibbon (2/32 from 8 overs), Larance (1/10 from 2 overs) and Holt (1/30 from 5 overs) all did their part, with Kallen Bond also coming up with two run-outs from point to cap off a brilliant fielding effort.
In reply, wickets came early and often, with the Dragons slumping to 5 for 16 as Bond, D’Arcy Short, Milentis, Shayne Wornes, and Larance all came and went
The innings was rebuilt with a 45 run sixth wicket partnership between Blair Walsh (21 from 29 balls) and John Sanders (28 from 59 balls), but the departure of the two set batters alongside Holt and Hanna meant the game was just about gone at 9 for 83.
Against all odds, the Dragons managed to pull off the great escape, with an unbroken 47 run last wicket stand between Gibbon (35* from 42 balls) and Guru Dhillon (9* from 42 balls) securing a top of the table finish and creating a perfect send-off for the English import.
2ND GRADE
2nd Grade took care of Midland-Guildford at Lilac Hill, winning by 68 runs.
Nic Geisler won the toss and batted but the Black Ducks made a decent start to reduce the score to 3 for 46, before the batting innings was set up by a 128 run fourth wicket partnership between Oliver Arkinstall (80 from 94 balls) and Sean Boers (72 from 94 balls).
Some late fireworks from Liam Hindle (38* from 21 balls) further lifted the score to 9 for 247 from 50 overs, with the Dragons putting the ball over the fence ten times.
With the ball, Zach Ferris (3/24 from 10 overs) took care of the top order, Vidit Vashisht (4/30 from 10 overs) rolled through the middle order, and Arkinstall (2/44 from 7 overs) capped off his day with some lower order wickets as the hosts slumped to 9 for 107.
A 72 run last wicket stand caused some frustration but the innings ended at 179 after 42.4 overs, with Cameron Becker (1/58 from 9.4 overs) picking up the last wicket.
3RD GRADE
3rd grade got over Midland-Guildford by 4 wickets.
The Black Ducks posted 7 for 173 from their 45 overs after batting first, with Zac Blazevich (3/18 from 7 overs), Declan Crowder (2/32 from 6 overs), James Scott (1/17 from 9 overs) and Jordan Hodgetts (1/38 from 9 overs) the wicket-takers.
Kyall Roach (50 from 77 balls) and Ben Witschge (36 from 34 balls) got the innings away to a good start before Chris Lagana (27* from 31 balls) and James Andrews (18* from 37 balls) stepped up late to win the game with 18 balls to spare.
4TH GRADE
4th grade ensured a clean sweep of senior wins with a 7 wicket win over Midland-Guildford.
The Dragons restricted the Black Ducks to 9 for 167 from their 45 overs after bowling first, with Arnav Pimple (4/37 from 9 overs) the best of the bowlers with support from Ian D’Souza (1/18 from 5 overs), Jagan Singh (1/18 from 7 overs), and Aaron McCall (1/20 from 9 overs).
A young batting lineup got the job done with 14 balls to spare, with Zaid Buckland (70 from 107 balls) leading the way from the top of the order as Blake Stephen (29* from 36 balls) and Brayden Lee (26 from 78 balls) also made important contributions.
UNDER 17’S
Under 17’s beat Midland-Guildford by 7 wickets in a T20 fixture at Burrendah Park.
After the Dragons sent the Black Ducks in to bat, they were routed for 60 inside 16.4 overs, with Kai D’Souza (4/17 from 4 overs) and Lagan Sandhu (3/6 from 1.4 overs) dominant and Luke Herbert (1/7 from 2 overs), Kyall Roach (1/11 from 4 overs) and Dulina Gamage (1/14 from 3 overs) all chipping in.
The chase was not easy, but Blake Stephen (23* from 30 balls) stepped up to help the Dragons over the line with 27 balls to spare.
UNDER 15’S
Under 15’s ended their season with a 7 run loss to Midland-Guildford at Lilac Hill.
The Black Ducks batted first and posted 7 for 99 from their 20 overs, with Mitch Hole (2/8 from 4 overs) continuing his excellent season as Ayush Sarin (1/9 from 3 overs), Tom Dobson (1/18 from 3 overs), Luca Boden (1/22 from 4 overs), and Isaak Wittkuhn (1/34 from 4 overs) all played their role.
Jayden Kleyweg (45 from 56 balls) led the batting effort from the top of the order but it unfortunately fell short, ending at 5 for 92 from 20 overs.