Week 7 Wrap vs Gordon, Parramatta, Bankstown and Sutherland

1st Grade Round 4: UTS North Sydney vs Gordon at Chatswood Oval

UTS North Sydney 7d/415 (104 overs) (M Jenkins 123*, J Rew 63, J Avendano 58, J Greenslade 50, B Atherton 45, O Knight 25) def Gordon 408 (84.5 overs) (M Jenkins 6/114)

Turning up to a sold-out Chatswood Oval the Bears were quiet, timid and twice shy, the overbearing crowd led by Gordon’s old boys causing a resounding stir across the ground. However, after a quick run around in the warm up, the taunts and jeers from the Stags faithful soon became nothing but white noise.

There was a job to be done, and first on the agenda was putting Gordon back in the field for 8 more in the dirt. Cheers, lads.

Batting on, Potplant One (Knighty) was soon replaced in the middle by Potplant Two (Mattoz) as he and Maiden century-maker Mac Jenkins added 20-odd to the overnight score, setting Gordon 416 off 86 to win. Some would say a mountain to climb, some would look at the conditions and say “child’s play”

Walking out onto the field, no one could take the ball out of James Campbell’s hands. He wanted one wicket in particular: Taj Brar. Unfortunately Jimmy proceeded to nick off the other opener, former team-mate Jack James, and Gordon were 1 for not many.

Still the prized wicket of Brar to get.

Enter Potplant 2 - Matt Alexander. A beautifully bowled ball that nipped away and took the outside edge. The Bears are on top.

With a couple of poles taken but runs coming steadily on the flat Chatswood deck and rapid outfield, the ball was tossed to the crook but ever resilient Potplant One - O Knight, and he didn’t hesitate in removing the dangerous Dale McKay.

As miracles were happening for the Bears on the field, so it was for Gordon with Tym Crawford and Axel Cahlin coming together to form a dangerous partnership of brute force and superb timing. As it so happens with cricket the bigger they are the harder the fall. Avendano turned to his X Factor Sam Alexander - “get us one here, mate!”

Alexander proceeded to force a false stroke from Cahlin (30*) with a well-bowled full toss that was careened back into his right mitt. The trim-looking left armer could only parry it to captain Avendano, who placed himself in the box for that exact reason. Unfortunately for the team and for Justin’s aspirations of playing higher honours, the captain wasn’t paying attention and with a feeble effort watched as the ball hit the turf. Next one, mate.

With the boys wondering where the next one is coming from, Alexander managed to produce a ball of flight and guile to force Crawford (60 off 80) into a false shot, taking a caught and bowled before the box man Avendano could have a chance to shell another one. Thanks, skip.

After tea Cahlin and former Bear, James Newton, settled in and had a field day on the flat deck and some aggressive fields. They looked calm and composed - it was game on. As Cahlin brought up his ton and Newton his 50, the cheers were getting louder and the Bears hopes of victory dimmed.

Little did we know, today was about to be the Jenkins show.

Coming off 123 red in the first dig, Jenkins bowled with skill befitting a Test player. Bowling with flight, shape and plenty of guts, Jenkins stood tall as he took the wickets of Newton and Doshi in quick succession - both caught behind to Rew who now has 5 dismissals. It was beautiful bowling under pressure and it lifted us back in the game. Here we go.

Matt Wright looks dangerous coming in and wasn’t afraid to throw the stick, until Jenkins removed Cahlin for 140 with another beautifully shaped delivery that beat the danger man all ends up to have him stumped. Victory was now a thought in everyone’s minds.

However with time and runs running out, Cook and Wright for Gordon batted admirably as they went about mowing down the total and winning the game for their side. Again, Jenkins to the rescue - he removed Wright and soon after number 10 Titterton was caught playing a reverse sweep with 2 overs and 10 runs to get by a sharp catch from Rew - now 7 dismissals (equalling the club record set by Nigel Taylor in the 90s and matched by George Lavelle in 2019) and 5 wickets for Mac. Unbelievable scenes.

Gordon’s number 11 now had the task of bringing it home for his side with just 8 runs left to get. The pressure was immense, but not for Jenkins as he bowled yet another beautiful delivery that forced the 11 into a false shot, a leading edge and a spectacular one handed caught and bowled - the game is over with 7 balls to spare. The fat lady is singing. The sounds of a Bears victory echoing their way through Chatswood station and all the way to Town Hall.

One of the most remarkable wins in recent memory and you can’t go past one man: Mac Jenkins with a maiden ton and six-wicket haul to bring us home. Mac became only the seventh Bear to achieve the ton and five-wicket haul combo at First Grade level, the first for any club for six seasons, and the third youngest on record to complete the feat.

You absolute beautttyyyyy!

2nd Grade Round 4: UTS North Sydney v Gordon at Bon Andrews

UTS North Sydney 7/406d (96 overs) (D Mares 100, J Aitken 89, H Lee Young 65, G Aitken 50, A Cavenor 28) def Gordon 150 (54.2 overs) (L Roughley 4/12, J Hedges 2/53, F May 2/49) & 0/26 (13 overs)

Captain Lachlan Stewart made the correct decision in declaring overnight as North Sydney looked to give themselves as much time as possible to take all 10 wickets. After we scored over 400 the week before, the wicket was looking even conducive for runs this week. This put us in the mind frame of still needing a really strong start, despite the fact we had a large amount of runs to play with.

Fletcher May and the better Rodgie started with the new ball and took an early wicket each to give us the momentum at to kickstart the morning. Gordon chanced their luck continuously early on, seemingly focused on hitting every shot through backward point. After grinding out the morning session, the Stags entered lunch at 2-73.

The middle session started with reassuring words from the captain and older heads in the side on how sticking to a simple plan of bowling good, consistent areas will have us the wickets we desired. These wickets came straight away with a wicket falling early after lunch to the hands of James Aitken. Although James only took the one wicket, he could have easily had another 3 as he bowled with control to beat the bat numerous times. Some dubious umpiring decisions saw James completely confused as to what more he needed to get an LBW decision go his way.

The bowlers fed consistent wickets for the boys out in the middle and a huddle was occurring every 4-5 overs giving us a good amount of time to keep our focus on running through the Gordon middle order on a wicket that was begging for a close game. Lachlan Roughley bowled well at end of the innings to clean up the tail and took 2 wickets in quick succession from catches down leg side as thanks to a sound pair of hands from the captain. He finished with best bowling figures for the game with 4-12 off 6.2 overs.

Gordon crumbled to all out for 150 before tea time. As a result of Gordon not passing the follow on we headed back out into the field to see what we could do against a reeling batting line up and had it not been for some poor fielding by Dylan Mares in the slips, we could have had their opener out for a golden pair for the game.

Their openers survived our initial spell of bowling and we decided to end the game and have a few refreshments in the sheds after a convincing win which put us comfortably in the top 6, along with strong belief and momentum that we can make something of this season.

3rd Grade Round 4: UTS North Sydney v Gordon at Beauchamp Oval

UTS North Sydney 9/330d (88 overs) (J Nevell 87, F Nixon Tomko 76, C New 37,B Kumar 31 ) drew Gordon 9/214 (70 overs) (P Lindsay 5/79, H May 2/37)

After posting 7-297 on Day 1, Thirds we’re in a positive mood on arrival at Beauchamp Oval for Day 2 of the clash vs sworn local enemies Gordon.

On inspection of the pitch, a decision to bat on was made, with a plan of batting for 8 overs leaving Gordon a run rate of greater than 4.5 an over to chase, being agreed upon.

Hamish Reynolds batted maturely to advance himself to 36* and to help take the total to 9-330 when the declaration was made after 88 overs. Gordon would need 4.71 an over to win.

Gordon started their innings somewhat circumspectly, batting with patience. The opening breakthrough came when the dangerous Naganayagam was then dismissed by Whyte (caught Nevell) and the Bears had their opening into the game. A second quickly followed via a brilliant piece of fielding from Baran Kumar at point who delivered a perfect throw to capitalise on some hesitation from the batting pair.

Skipper Lindsay then dismissed the #4 and #5 and with Gordon now at 4-91 off 33, the Bears were on top. However, Gordon dug in and put together a valuable 5th wicket stand that took time out to the game.

The Big Horse Harry May had been working on the ball with gusto and had it reversing and it was he who made the breakthrough dismissing the #3 for 55 caught and bowled. Lindsay then removed the skipper and at 6-174 with 16 overs remaining the tail was exposed. May (2-37) and Lindsay (5-79) combined for the next 3 wickets to reduce Gordon to 9-203 in the 63rd over.

Unfortunately the final wicket could not be taken as Gordon hung on for the remaining 7 overs to survive for a draw. Overall a strong performance from 3s who were on the box seat for the majority of the game but unfortunately couldn’t finish the job.

Women's 3rd Grade Round 5: UTS North Sydney v Parramatta at Tunks International Sports Park 2

UTS North Sydney 4-114cc (20 overs) (K Robson 30*) def by Parramatta 1-128 (20 overs) (E McKay 1/20)

Another frustratingly close game for the third grade women’s on Saturday, falling just 14 runs short of a strengthened Parramatta side’s total of 128 off their 20 overs. All but 4 of Parra’s and runs were scored by players backing up from 2nd and 1st grade teams - with our bowlers doing a great job in the circumstances to keep the run rate to 6.4. Evy McKay and Anjali D’Cunha were the most economical with 1/20 and 0/23 respectively. The only wicket to fall was a tidy catch from the captain Hetti Blackburn at silly mid-off.

With the bat, Kayla Robson scored a fantastic 30 (retired not out) off 21 proving once again she isn’t a fan of singles- with six 4s. Anushka Dongre and Amy Gibbons supported with 20 and 23 respectively. Anna Peterson also finished on a quick 12 not out, showing great promise to be up there in the runs in future games. We just ran out of overs but a great effort against a bolstered Parramatta side.

4th Grade Round 4: UTS North Sydney v Gordon at Tunks International Sports Park

UTS North Sydney 76 (38 overs) & 7/112 (55 overs) (R Burrinaga 30, A Amir 28) def by Gordon 4/199d (63 overs)

After a demoralising day 1 the Bears returned to Tunks International Sports Park looking to make amends. Gordon however, didn’t have any plans of letting the home side back into the game, deciding to bat on for a further 23 overs.

Wilson and Graham toiled with the old ball without much luck, having numerous dubious decisions fall the way of the visitors, almost as if the cricketing gods were insisting that this was not the Bears round.

Gordon reached 199 before calling the troops in, leaving 55 overs in the days play, leaving the balance of 123 to survive. The bears started in similar fashion to the previous week, with openers Graham and Amir taking us past 30 again before Amir fell for 28.

Some contentious calls and good bowling had the home side reeling again, before Dylan Johnson and a one legged Rhys Burrinaga stepped in to save the day. Both batted with poise and patience, grinding out some well deserved time in the middle.

At the end of the day there were no more points earned by either side, a day of what could have been if the Gordon captained had decided to declare overnight with a 20 run lead…

The Bears now turn their focus to bouncing back next week against the always strong Eastern Suburbs Dolphins.

5th Grade Round 4: UTS North Sydney v Gordon at Killara Oval

Gordon 150 (77.2 overs) (N Desai 4/28, R Lavery 2/20, D Thakur 2/31) def by UTS North Sydney 9-171 (41.5 overs) (R Broom 64, K Karan 27)

Fifth grade arrived at Killara Oval to continued glorious weather, clear on the task ahead. A chase of 150 was eminently achievable, but no forgone conclusion.

Adi Nigul and Krishna Vanapamula started brightly and combatted the early movement. After looking assured, Adi got one that left him a little and was caught behind. This unleashed a whirlwind as Kaustav Karan strode to the wicket. What followed was 20 minutes of some of the hardest hitting through the off-side you will ever see. Unfortunately, Kaustav couldn’t get enough on a long hop and was caught on the long boundary for 27.

Kaustav’s wicket started a mini-collapse either side of the drinks break with Krishna and Nihal Desai also falling in quick succession. At 5/71, the total was looking less and less attainable.

Robin Broom joined Andrew Spring and they kept the runs flowing, finding the boundary with regularity. Alas, the wickets fell in a brace again as Andrew and Divesh Thakur both fell, leaving the Bears in deep trouble at 7/115.

All the wickets seemed to do was spark Robin, as he went on the attack. With skipper Lavery riding his luck at the other end, Robin smashed boundary after boundary, hitting spin and seam cleanly through the air and into the gaps. After the Stags had laboured all day for 7 fours total last week, Robin stuck 10 himself (with 2 sixes thrown in) to wrench the game from Gordon’s grasp.

The Bears passed the total 7 down just before the tea break and banked six crucial points against quality opposition. On to last year’s other finalists (and premiers), Easts, next week at Bon Andrews.

Kingsgrove T20 Cup Round 3: UTS North Sydney v Sutherland at North Sydney Oval

UTS North Sydney 6/148 (cc) (T Reynolds 55, M Jenkins 28) def Sutherland 138 (19.4 overs) (F May 3/26, S Alexander 2/19, M Alexander 2/34)

The First Grade side capped off a remarkable weekend with a victory from deep inside the jaws of defeat in front of a crowd at North Sydney Oval, to keep themselves alive in the Kingsgrove Sports T20 competition.

Justin Avendano won the toss and followed the lead of PGs by electing to have first use. In a change to the batting order from last week, Mac Jenkins was promoted to open with Brent Atherton to continue his rich vein of form. It looked an inspired decision, with Jenkins (28) hitting five fours inside the first three overs to race to 24* off 13 and the Bears 0/31. Unfortunately, both openers fell in the remainder of the Powerplay, which did what wickets so often do, slowing the run rate right down. Avendano and Rew came together and the first six ended with the Bears 2/38.

The fall of Avendano (13) in the 9th over brought in Tim Reynolds, who marked his return from injury the previous round with our top score of 47, and he opened his account this week with a four. This was followed up with a towering six over the hill off a full toss from Gordon’s left-arm spinner (really, don’t bowl there!), one of his four bombs in the afternoon which delighted the crowd and nearly ended up in the park. Rew (16) was content to play the supporting role until he was trapped lbw in the 13th over. The Bears were 4/94 and risked not capitalising on the strong start Jenkins had given us.

Reynolds and Jimmy Greenslade (20) shared the highest partnership of the innings (44 off 36) and took the score to 138 in the 19th before both were dismissed in the space of four balls, Reynolds for 55 off just 35 balls. Fletcher May and Harri Lee-Young, who was earlier presented with First Grade cap #684, added four in the last four balls to take the final score to 6/148. Defendable, yes, but on a belting deck with a glassy outfield and a very short boundary on the grandstand side, we were far from favourites.

Two early wickets, to Jenkins (who else?!) and Fletcher May kept us in it, but this brought in Jarryd Biviano to the crease, who more than threatened to be the difference between the sides. Biviano hit three of his first five balls to the boundary and one of the others over the rope as 39 off 4.4 overs became 58 off 6, a 20-run advantage to the Sharks in the Powerplay. Matt Alexander took a casual-as-you like c&b above his head to remove opener Sam Konstas, but at the end of 10 Sutherland were 3/95 and looked likely to stroll it in.

Sam Alexander and May managed to stem the flow and just 17 came off the next three before Alexander got his name in the wickets column with a clean bowled. Two overs later, he had another, matching his brother’s feat of a caught and bowled, and delivered a rare wicket maiden. 5/116 after 15 – Bears somehow back in it, but 33 to get off 5 overs didn’t feel like nearly enough with Biviano still there. Avendano threw the ball to Lee-Young, which felt like a risky move on the young Bear’s debut, but the game turned on the very first delivery.

After watching the wicket maiden the previous over, Biviano was desperate to do the job himself, so had no hesitation in turning for two when he hit it to deep cover. But perhaps he didn’t realise that he’d hit it to the man with the Midas touch, who turned what he touched to gold once again, sending in a bullet throw for Rew to remove the bails and run out the Sharks’ star man by a whisker. He’d brought up his 50 off 27 balls with the first run, but his was not the side celebrating.

What followed was a procession of wickets as the Bears clinically finished the job with the ball and in the field. Matt Alexander, who’d been expensive for his first three, removed the experienced Pinson thanks to Fletcher May getting under a skier at long off, and Jenkins conceded just four in the 18th over. 22 to win off 2 overs. May returned for his fourth and went for six runs off the first three balls, so the Sharks weren’t dead, and Ritchie probably thought he’d landed a bomb off the fifth, but around the rope sprinted Reynolds to take a superb catch in front of the grandstand, and May sent the new man back off the final ball of the over to finish with 3/26.

The equation was 12 to win off the final over and just one wicket in hand. Joel Almond, who’d seen three wickets fall from the non-striker’s end, couldn’t get the ever-accurate Jenkins away. He hacked the fourth ball across the line, ran one and failed to communicate with his partner about the second, with the end result of a run out never in doubt thanks to the combination of Reynolds’ arm and Jenkins’ quick work at the stumps.

With only one team (Sydney) having won all three games so far, the win gets us right back into contention in the Sixers Conference, but we need to take the momentum into our next match next Thursday afternoon at Mosman – the first of two “twilight” fixtures introduced for this season.

Poidevin-Gray Shield Round 3: UTS North Sydney v Sutherland at North Sydney Oval

UTS North Sydney 8/156cc (A Cavenor 48, M Jenkins 34 def Sutherland 9-144 20 Overs (J Hedges 3/24, T Laybutt 2/22, K Brunker 2/22)

Bears were presented with a used North Sydney wicket, where Mac won the toss and immediately chose to bat.

With one short side opener Rew immediately targeted the opening quickly with 4 consecutive boundaries before a one handed catch at cover was his undoing. Gummsy was undone by a good one bringing Cavenor to the crease with Jenkins. Cav started with great intent including a six over cover. Mac decided to run himself out for 34. Some late order hitting by Jago-Lewis and Cavenor bought the score to 156. Par but the bears wanted more.

The bowling innings started tight with Hedges getting a wicket in his first over. A gamble didn’t pay off in the third over however Laybutt struck the wicket of Konstas which put the Bears on top. Consecutive wickets to Jenkins and Hedges (both bowled) made it 4 wickets in the power play for the Bears.

Bowling 4 straight overs to the short end, Kai Brunker took an exceptional 2/22 (4). Everett came back and stumped the leftie while Roughley bowled well in the middle. Sutherland then needed 30 off the last 4 overs with Hedges and Laybutt bowling 2 each from either end.

Both bowlers stuck to their plans and going for minimal runs while picking up wickets. Hedges iced the game off with great figures of 3/24 (4) with Laybutt taking 2. 3/3 from the PGs who now play Mosman this Sunday in a one-dayer.

Brewer Shield Round 5: UTS North Sydney v Bankstown at Grahame Thomas Oval

UTS North Sydney 8/236cc (S Julien 69, K Robson 34, A Hicks 32) def Bankstown 126 (42 Overs) (S Kuncham 4/17, E Buckley 2/13)

The first 50-over game of this season took place at Grahame Thomas Oval, where UTS North Sydney Brewer Shield girls will face off against Bankstown. The Bears won the toss and decided to bat. Openers Shiloh Julien (69) and Sam Kuncham (20) started well with some good quality batting and excellent running between the wickets. Sam got caught behind departing in the 15th over for the score of 60 runs. At No. 3, Liz Buckley (4) looked in good touch briefly, but it was not her day with the bat. The inform Adelaide Hicks (32) came in at No.4 partnered with Shiloh and started building the innings. Meanwhile, Shiloh scored her first 50+ score in Brewers. Both Shiloh and Adelaide took the score to 148 in 33 overs to set a solid foundation for a big score. Shiloh and Adelaide were dismissed in quick succession before Kayla Robson stepped in at No. 5 to take the score a 28 ball 34 to take the score close to 200. Emily Aitken (17) partnering with Isabel Selems (5) and debutant Cassie Watson (17) to take the bears to their highest ever score in Brewers.

With a big score behind them, UTS North Sydney took the field with much confidence. Georgia MacDonald and Madeline Winslow opened the bowling, limiting Bankstown in the power play, with Maddie picking up a wicket in her first over. Adelaide Hicks and Sam Kuncham followed, keeping the overs steady and preventing runs from flowing. Shiloh Julien and Emily Aitken came on soon after, putting a further halt to the scoring. Emily sent Bankstown's top hitter, C Harland, bowled in her first over to start the wicket-taking. Shiloh and Emily moved through the overs quickly, not allowing the Bankstown side to take the lead. Elizabeth Buckley came in later to take two crucial wickets, putting UTS North Sydney in a winning position. Isabel Selems, Charlotte Moss, and Cassie Watson displayed great bowling efforts, pushing the Bears closer to winning, with Charlotte picking up a wicket. Sam Kuncham bowled brilliantly towards the end of the innings, taking 4 wickets to seal the victory. UTS North Sydney put up a strong performance to become the first UTS North Sydney women team to win two games in a row.

Media courtesy of Tony Johnson, Malcolm Trees, Jeff Williamson, Greg Buckley Adam Cavenor and UTS North Sydney members.