Harvey-Benger’s second grade scores major win against Leschenault as maiden Peel T20 side falls to Rockingham

Harvey-Benger’s BDCA second grade team strung together another win to square their season to four wins and four losses with a comprehensive five-wicket win over Leschenault in Harvey on Saturday. Bowling first, Harvey-Benger were able to make early inroads with regular wickets falling. The seamers were sharing in the spoils with Joryn Scarlett (2-36), Brandon Hughes-Philpott (1-22) and Matt Cooke (2-15) all contributing. It was left to spinners to get to work in the middle overs and they too shared four wickets between them to eventually bowl Leschenault out for 141. Mahdi Saleem and Matt Chave took a wicket each while Francois Roelofsz was the pick of the bowlers with 2-11 off his 10 overs. Nathan Douch finished with 33 for the visitors in a lower order fight back. In reply, Harvey found the going relatively easy with Leschenault offering up some wayward bowling. Captain Anton Fimmano fell early for duck, when Joseph Cambrea combined with Haydn Jones to steady the ship. However he fell alongside Jones and Saleem quickly to leave the hosts feeling nervous at 4-80 with plenty of work still to do. Chave and wicket keeper Kyle Hickman joined each other at the crease and put those nerves to bed with a 60-run partnership, before Hickman was dismissed for 29 with five runs required for victory. Chave swept the winning runs to finish unbeaten on 29 alongside Roelofsz on two. Harvey-Benger’s second grade team travels to Donnybrook next week in the hope they can continue their winning form. The club unfortunately fell to the Rockingham Hornets in its maiden Peel Premier T20 League fixture on November 28. Harvey won the toss and elected to bowl. They welcomed a couple of newcomers to the club alongside a returning player in Tyson Italiano who now plays for Marist Cricket Club. Harvey were blessed to have the services of Rockingham-Mandurah young gun Cooper Perry and he was joined by capped Test cricketer and Gloucestershire Cricket Club captain James Bracey who took the gloves behind the stumps. Harvey started off on the back foot in the power play, conceding boundaries regularly but eventually wrested some control back through great team fielding and bowling. Rockingham eventually finished with 8-148 from their 20 overs, with Francois Roelofsz, Brandon Hughes-Philpott and Matt Chave all taking two wickets. In reply, Harvey started off sprightly keeping up with the required run rate but they continued to lose wickets at regular intervals which vaulted the chase. In the end, it proved to be too much, with Harvey-Benger finishing on 7-132 to fall 17 runs short. Bracey contributed with 29 off 24 balls alongside a run-a-ball 27 from veteran Haydn Jones. Roelofsz came in late to score 17 not out. Harvey-Benger next play in the Peel competition on January 23 against Halls Head Cricket Club.