Kevin Johnston century steers Port Hedland to comfortable win against South

Keeper-batsman Kevin Johnston produced an unflappable century to help Port Hedland to a 27-run win against South Hedland on Friday night. Johnston blasted three sixes and 12 fours on his way to a better-than-a-run-a-ball 108 in his side’s total of 5/212 off 35 overs. Coming in at first drop after the early wicket of Chris Briody (6), Johnston instantly looked in control. He combined with Toby O’Grady (42) for an 80-run third-wicket stand which rarely looked in danger of breaking. Johnston brought up his 50 with a beautifully lofted drive over the mid on boundary to great applause from his teammates. O’Grady was castled by Tom Christides (1/35) the next over and he was quickly followed back to the bench when skipper Jarrad O’Dea got a thick edge behind without troubling the score. But Johnston kept up the assault, batting deep into Port’s innings before being bowled over late by Arnav Ajwani (1/30). A late cameo by Luke Jessop, who hit a quickfire 15 off eight deliveries, nudged the target over 200 in the final overs. South Hedland’s run chase got off to a poor start when Narren Gandhi was clean-bowled by Jarrad O’Dea (1/18) for a duck on the second ball of the innings. That brought in-form skipper Tom Christides (74) to the crease and he looked settled immediately as he chipped away at the run rate. But Christides couldn’t find a partner to go with him — there were several promising starts but Port were able to pick off wickets at regular intervals to prevent any serious run chase from materialising. All-in-all there were six wicket-takers for Port, led by Briody’s 2/28. When Christides was run out by centurion Johnston with the score at 4/117 and the required run rate increasing, the resistances was all but over. The Souths middle order was bundled out without providing too much a threat to finish the game 9/185.

Kevin Johnston century steers Port Hedland to comfortable win against South

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