Sydney University will be targeting the competition lead and closing in on the Club Championship when play resumes in Round 11 of the Sydney Grade cricket competition on Saturday.
The defending premiers are just a point behind Campbelltown-Camden as the business end of the competition approaches and collectively 189 points behind Parramatta on the Club Championship table.
The Students went into the two-day match against Parramatta at Old Kings Oval with a six-prong bowling line-up.
But that didn’t stop the hosts posting 313 off 88 overs, with Brenton Cherry (72), Scott Copperfield (71) and Ben Abbott (48) the main contributors.
Tim Ley (3-73) and Joe Kershaw (2-68) each bowled 19 overs; Ben Joy picked up 2-49 off 20 overs and leg-spinner Devlin Malone went wicketless off his 20 overs, before all-rounder Liam Robertson picked up 3-12 off six overs.
The Students lost opener Ben Trevor-Jones for five before going to stumps at 1-12, with plenty of pressure on the shoulders of skipper Nick Larkin, No.3 Damien Mortimer, No.4 Ed Cowan and ’keeper-batsman Tim Cummins when play resumes on Saturday.
Sydney University Second Grade went to stumps on Saturday at 9-361, thanks to Nicky Craze’s 110 and solid contributions from James Crowley (75) and Steven Hobson (70).
It was Craze’s third century of the season in Second Grade following his 129 against Penrith in Round 5 and an unbeaten 162 against Fairfield-Liverpool in Round 8.
Third Grade ended the first day with 261 on the board, with Charles Litchfield (70), Matthew Powys (66) and Ash Cowan (46) the main contributors, while Fourth Grade will be chasing down Parramatta’s 213 and Fifth Grade will be defending 9(dec)-265 when play resumes on Saturday.
Scoreboard
Sydney Premier Men’s Grade competition – Round 11 (Two-day matches)
First Grade: Parramatta 313 off 88 overs (Brenton Cherry 72, Scott Copperfield 71, Ben Abbott 48; Liam Robertson 3-12, Tim Ley 3-73) versus Sydney University 1-12 off six overs, stumps, day one, at Old Kings Oval on Saturday. Toss: Parramatta. Batted first: Parramatta.
Second Grade: Sydney University 9-361 off 96.1 overs (Nicky Craze 110, James Crowley 75, Steven Hobson 70) stumps, day one, at Sydney University Oval on Saturday. Toss: Sydney University. Batted first: Sydney University.
Third Grade: Sydney University 261 off 74.3 overs (Charles Litchfield 70, Matthew Powys 66, Ash Cowan 46; Matthew Drinnan 3-26, Abhishek Talwar 3-36) versus Parramatta 0-8, stumps day one, at Merrylands Oval on Saturday. Toss: Sydney University. Batted first: Sydney University.
Fourth Grade: Parramatta 213 off 79 overs (Tyan Johns 79, Paul Calvert 38, Evan Pitt 32; Tom Fullerton 2-40) versus Sydney University, stumps, day one, at Cahill Park on Saturday. Toss: Parramatta. Batted first: Parramatta.
Fifth Grade: Sydney University 9(dec)-265 off 68.5 overs (Nicholas Mortimer 127, Andrew Wilkinson 27; Tevin Liyanage 2-26) versus Parramatta 1-47 (Jackson Bentvelzen 25 not out) stumps, day one, at Castlewood Oval on Saturday. Toss: Sydney University. Batted first: Sydney University.
Poidevin-Gray Shield (Under 21) – Limited Overs – Round 9
Hawkesbury 9-250 off 50 overs (Harrison Ridgewell 70, Eknoor Singh 58 not out, Ryan Mizzi 40; Sam Wood 2-50) defeated Sydney University 235 (Ryan McElduff 89, Tom Fullerton 31, Nicky Craze 30; Luke Courtney 3-53) by 15 runs at Owen Earle Oval on Sunday. Toss: Hawkesbury. Batted first: Hawkesbury. Points: Hawkesbury 6, Sydney University 0.
Metropolitan Cup – Round 12 (Two-day match)
Sydney University 235 off 50.3 overs (Max Veltro 74, Zohirul Islam 64; Jai Nanavati 4-35, Adeel Ejaz 3-67) versus Blacktown 7-103 off 21 overs (Brandon Savage 60; Muhammad Ghumman 4-12, Ashwin Kirubanandan 2-33) stumps, day one, at St Paul’s College Oval on Saturday. Toss: Sydney University. Batted first: Sydney University.
