Rain wreaks havoc on round robin

Only one match could be completed over the second-last weekend of the round robin competition in the Norwest Crane Hire Port Hedland Cricket Association because of persistent rain on Saturday.

Miners CC won the toss last Friday night and asked Port Hedland CC to bat first under heavy skies.

In-form batsmen, skipper Sam Mason and Travis Dent, opened the batting for Port but neither were able to work the tight bowling of Darren Beach and Taurean Williams through the field, and both succumbed early to Beach leaving the Porters at 2/12.

The rebuild was anchored by Glenn “Zooby” Robertson (60 not out), with useful allies in father-son combo Chris (7) and Jarred Ams (14) and “the finisher” Jarrad O’Dea (26) lifting PHCC to a competitive 125 for the loss of five wickets.

Miners’ reply began with opener Wayne Stokes and Williams, who quickly worked the bowling through (and over) the field in a 31-run stand.

Domenic Vandeworp came and went quickly in the No.3 spot, adding just six runs before Neil Smith joined Stokes in the match-winning 84-run partnership that saw the Miners finish on 2/127 with 14 balls to spare.

Stokes finished unbeaten on 57, while Smith remained 29 not out.

For the Porters bowlers, only Robertson managed to break through with the wickets of both Williams and Vandeworp.

Persistent rain from as early as 4am on Saturday prevented any play in the fixture scheduled between Wanderers CC and South Hedland CC.

The points were shared, ensuring both teams will square off in the Twenty20 final on March 25.

Both teams were the protagonists in the 40-over final earlier in the season, with Wanderers claiming that trophy.

In the final round this weekend, Port Hedland CC will host Wanderers CC on Friday, and Miners CC will host South Hedland CC on Saturday. Both games will be held at Kevin Scott Oval in South Hedland, starting at 6.30pm.