Port Hedland Cricket Club premiers for fourth year running

Port Hedland Cricket Club have won the premiership for the fourth year in a row in a nailbiter against South Hedland at Colin Matheson Oval on Saturday.

Port Hedland won the toss, opting to bat with Chris Briody and Glen Robertson opening the batting for the reigning premiers.

Briody dominated the batting with 41 runs off 54 balls before being caught by Ben McNeil in the 16th over.

Aside from Briody’s impressive performance, Robertson and Jarred Ams were the only two of Port’s batting line-up to make more than 10 runs, with 14 and 10 respectively.

It was a duck for Port captain Jarrad O’Dea and a golden duck for Luke Jessop.

South Hedland had Port all out for 113 at the close of the first innings.

It was a lacklustre start for the reigning premiers with the pressure on bowlers to step up in South’s innings if they were to continue their reign.

Thanks to a powerhouse bowling effort and strong performance in the field, Port’s bowling attack was too strong for South, who fell quickly.

South’s opening batsman Shoaib Khan found himself walking back to the pavilion after being trapped LBW in a ball delivered by Port captain O’Dea in the first over.

From here, the early batting line-up struggled to hit double digits and Wayne Stokes and Ghalib Zaman both scored ducks in quick succession.

Tim Heydenrych restored hope for the side with 25 runs off 45 balls before being bowled, once again by the Port skipper, who finished the match with 3-7.

Other impressive bowling performances for Port Hedland included Robertson 2-7, Briody 2-7 and McEnrith Enoch with 2-6.

In the field catches were aplenty with Jessop taking two and Kevin Johnston and Toby O’Grady taking one each.

At stumps, it was a 29-run victory for Port Hedland who had South Hedland all out for 84.

Port Hedland Cricket Club thanked the women’s side and sponsors for all of their support throughout the 2021-22 season.