An unlikely club sits at the top of the Bellarine Peninsula Cricket Association A2 Grade ladder after causing one of the biggest upsets in recent seasons on Saturday.
After thrashing one of the premiership favourites in round 2, Newcomb leads a remarkable ladder that has all eight sides sitting on one win and one loss.
The Bulls were very competitive in their season opener against Portarlington, but nobody saw the Wallington result coming – not even new captain-coach Dylan Ryan.
“We’ve had a couple of tough games to start – Portarlington and Wallington,” Ryan said.
“The way they (Wallington) took care of Collendina last week, I just didn’t really have either of those games penciled in. I thought we’d be competitive.
“We’ve added a lot over the off-season, a lot of batting depth, which shows posting two pretty good scores, but that was not quite what I had on my radar.”
Wallington batted first and apart from UK import Max Roxburgh (47), failed to get going, being dismissed for 127.
The Bulls’ attack was ruthless with Shane Healey going for just 14 from eight overs, Sean Anderton taking 2/20, Jack Scanlon and Randika Mudiyanselage grabbing three-fors and Ryan taking 2/25.
Ryan said the loss against Portarlington was mainly due to his bowlers not making inroads, something that his squad worked on during the week.
“It was probably the area we had to work on last week,” he said.
“I felt like the score was enough against Port, but we just let ourselves down in the first 20 overs and it sort of hurt us a bit.
“But we did show that we could do it. We fought back pretty well and worked on it a fair bit at training during the week and that showed yesterday.”
When Newcomb’s best batter, Shane Healey, was bowled on the first ball of Newcomb’s run chase, not too many would have predicted a Bulls’ win.
But Randika smacked 27 from 11 balls and then fellow Sri Lankans Singhara Kumar (65 not out) and Thisum Hapugodage (31 not out) put on 92 to guide Newcomb home by eight wickets with 10 overs to spare.
“Losing Shane first ball, I think a lot of people would have looked at the live score and thought that we were going to roll over and fold,” Ryan said.
“But Pradeep and Thisum were both brought in this year and showed a lot. I think they both suit two-day cricket more, but Pradeep’s got enough shots and he played the anchor role perfectly.
“Randy, who opened the batting, we gave him a bit of a license. He tends to go pretty hard and bats a little bit further down the order, but we thought with a low total we’d try and get some quick runs early on and it paid off.”
WILL Liddle starred for Surf Coast with a magnificent century to help his side beat Winchelsea.
Liddle made an unconquered 106 from 112 deliveries and hit 13 fours and two sixes with the Suns reaching 7/198 batting first.
Winch had contributions during its run chase, but needed more than a top score of 38.
In his second game as a Sun, Lachie Campbell came on and took 5/45 after making 25 to have Winch all out for 161. It was Campbell’s first A Grade five-for and it came after a solid debut in round 1 where he made 30 and took 3/26.
“I’ve really enjoyed the start of the season with Surf Coast,” Campbell said.
“They’ve welcomed me and I’m just happy to be playing a role in the team. Will batted superbly and gave the bowlers a target to defend and to grab five-for was a bonus.
“I’m confident in this team’s ability to go deep into the year if we stick to the plan.”
OCEAN Grove defeated a plucky St Leonards by four wickets.
The Saints made 8/168 with Troy Griffin (47) and Paul Hassan (42 not out) getting runs, but probably needed someone to get 70-plus.
Connor Weidemann took 3/25 and Campbell Snookes 2/21 to apply the brakes for the Grubbers.
Dan Roddis then played against his natural game to make a patient and valuable 59 from 97 balls for Grove.
Hassan proved dangerous with 4/28 from eight overs, but Jacob Taylor (52 not out from 50 deliveries) and Corey Buxton (12 not out) took the score from 6/129 past the Saints’ total with four overs in hand. Baljinder Singh Brar also contributed with a handy 15 from 18 balls.
COLLENDINA rebounded from a horror round 1 to beat Portarlington by four wickets.
Spinner Stan Grazotis set the tone early for the Cobras with 3/15 from eight overs with Port all out for 135.
Jesse Hunter (44) batted well for the Demons, but contributions from Jack Every (2/19), young quick Zac Muir (2/31) and Gus Peters (2/26) had Collendina on top at the break.
Collendina then had excellent contributions from Harrisyn Wingrave (55) and veteran Richie Peters (25) to win in the 35th over.
BPCA A2 GRADE, ROUND 2
Newcomb 2/129 (S. Kumara 65no, T. Hapugodage 31no) def Wallington 127 (M. Roxburgh 47, J. Scanlan 3/24, R. Mudiyanselage 3/27, D. Ryan 2/25, S. Anderton 2/28)
Collendina 6/136 (H. Wingrave 55, R. Peters 25) def Portarlington 135 (J. Hunter 44, S. Grazotis 3/15, J. Every 2/19, A. Peters 2/26, Z. Muir 2/31)
Surf Coast 7/191 (W. Liddle 106no, L. Campbell 25, R. Edwards 3/33) def Winchelsea 161 (B. Luppino 38, L. Campbell 5/45)
Ocean Grove 6/180 (D. Roddis 59, J. Taylor 52no, P. Hassan 4/28) def St Leonards 8/168 (T. Griffin 47, P. Hassan 42no, C. Weidemann 3/25, C. Snookes 2/21)
