ARMADALE’S first grade took on top team CBC in the semi-final.
CBC elected to bat after winning the toss and got off to a great start to be 2-99.
Armadale kept it tight, continuing its disciplined line and length all day lead by Chad Forsyth (2-25), who removed CBC’s best batter to trigger a mini collapse and force CBC to 5-105.
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READ NOWJake Forsyth (3-36) then ripped through the lower order as CBC fell to 8-121 before crawling to 9-152 at the end of the innings.
Mark Rice was the other multiple wicket taker, finishing with 2-30, while Damian Carroll took 1-27.
In Armadale’s innings Rice backed up his effort with the ball by batting superbly, teaming up with Jordan Armstrong to help settle Armadale at 1-87.
Rice’s dismissal for 51 was immediately followed by another wicket to see the score at 3-88.
Armadale steadied again and looked good at 4-120 when Armstrong was dismissed for 43.
His dismissal triggered a collapse that saw Armadale bundled out for 139.
One-day Es had a hard fought win in their semi-final against Maddington.
Batting first Armadale lost an early wicket as Steve Jones stood firm for a handy 37.
Armadale looked to be cruising at 2-82 after Dave Armstrong made 18, but fell in a big hole to soon be 6-100 and 7-111.
Gene Aldridge stepped up with a solid 25 not out before Andrew Stoodley came in and crunched a vital 12 not out to see Armadale to a competitive 8-146 on a slow ground.
During Maddington’s innings Andrew Stoodley effected a direct-hit run out on the first ball of the innings to set the tone as Armadale bowled brilliantly to have Maddington 2-35 off the first 15 overs.
Jim McClure then stepped up to strangle the middle order, taking 3-22 as the run rate crept up and Maddington fell to 6-83.
Maddington tied to reel it in but fell short at 9-131.
Armadale plays Phoenix at Gwynne Park next Saturday for the flag.
One-day As took on top side Thornlie, who won the toss and batted, but was in trouble at 4-67 after Ash Starling and Kim Hunt bowled well.
Thornlie hit back and despite the best efforts of Raebern D’Sylva (3-44) finished on 8-160.
In reply, Armadale was in all sorts of trouble at 3-15 before Calvin D’Sylva (43) and Oswin D’Sylva (24) fought back and helped push Armadale to 4-95 with a chance of victory.
Some good bowling saw a few wickets fall, but Starling tried hard (31 not out) to get Armadale over the line.
Unfortunately, they fell just short at 8-140.
One-day Cs took on CBC who batted first and made 8-150.
All the bowlers bowled well to restrict them, but the pick were Durairaj Govindaraj (3-38) and Sathish Manogaran (2-31).
Armadale got off to a great start in reply to be 0-62 thanks to Senthilkumar Kamalakannan (25) and Jagadeesh Ganesan (24).
Unfortunately it fell away badly after this and Armadale was rolled for 123.
SERPENTINE Jarrahdale Blues’ sixth grade side scored a sensational semi-final win over minor premiers Cockburn in the South Metropolitan Cricket Association.
The Blues defeated the hosts by 21 runs in a very low scoring encounter over Saturday and Sunday, as a superb bowling effort kept Cockburn at bay after a poor first innings.
After winning the toss and batting first, the Blues faced an accurate Cockburn bowling attack and it was not long before the wickets began to tumble.
The top four batsmen fell with the score at 13 and the visitors found themselves in more trouble as they collapsed to 7-23.
David Babich (22) and Brodie Gordon (11) added a vital 26 runs, but the tail did not wag and the Blues were left to defend a paltry total of 63.
It looked like Cockburn would make light work of the run chase, but both openers fell cheaply to the pace of Bryce Shersby.
The fast bowler produced an electric spell as he went on to claim another four wickets, including three clean bowled, to leave the hosts floundering at 6-26.
Captain Michael Elphinstone then snared two late wickets to reduce Cockburn to 8-28 at stumps on day 1.
Elphinstone struck early twice on day 2 to seal the first innings victory as Cockburn was bowled out for 42, with Shersby and the captain finishing with figures of 6-24 and 4-16 respectively.
With the Blues on the cusp of victory, they only had to bat out day 2 to deny Cockburn a place in the grand final and they did just that.
They reached 4-80 before Cockburn conceded the game, with Corey Stanley (30) and opener Bill Evans (21 not out from 101) the heroes.
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