Captain Crouch fires Towns to second straight win as Pointers take out low scorer in Geraldton Cricket League

Defending premiers Towns made it two from two in the Geraldton Cricket League on Saturday. They were way too strong for Chapman Valley-Northampton at the Recreation Ground, notching a 118-run win. Despite the margin, Towns were in trouble early in the innings after captain Sam Crouch chose to bat on winning the toss. Callum Marquis (17) ensured a steady start after Jai Russell fell early once again, caught by Nigel Routledge off Brad Boyer (2-38). But Marquis fell to Bobby Gibson trying to work the ball square and caught the leading edge to be well caught by Axis Hutchinson, and then Ringo McKenna was run out by Boyer with a fantastic direct hit running in from mid-off to reduce Towns to 3-42. Brady Collins came in for the second week in a row with his side under pressure and along with Kodi Giltrow (23) set about putting a partnership together. Collins hit five boundaries in his 37 latching on to anything short though he appeared to struggle a bit after pulling up lame from a single midway through his innings while Giltrow took a liking to spinner Paddy Walsh just before drinks. New pick-up for the Rams Mitch Marsh came on after drinks and was tight in his, line hitting a good length before he finally got the breakthrough, producing a peach of a delivery to beat Giltrow’s outside edge to bowl him top of off. Collins was removed shortly after nailing a cut shot straight to point to leave them 5-104 with the Rams hopeful of being able to keep them around the 150 mark. But captain Sam Crouch played a terrific captain’s knock, hitting 59 off 64 balls and along with Comben picked up the tempo as the pair brought up the 50 partnership. Walsh was struggling to find his length with the two often stepping out to meet him on the low full toss, hitting strongly down the ground. Jack Mickle had Comben LBW for 43 off 39 balls but it didn’t stop the runs as Crouch launched one over the ropes to bring his 50 up in style. That was topped by some audacious hitting in the last 10 overs as Daniel Lennard (31 off 18 balls) lifted Towns to 9-243 with Cody Slootmans (2-52) the only other multiple wicket-taker. It was a stunning display that gave Towns all the momentum heading into their bowling. Hayden Dawson was removed early by Thomas Forsyth but the Rams made a respectable start to their chase, reaching 2-77 in the chase thanks mainly to Hutchinson (40 off 43 balls). But they suffered a horror collapse after he was removed by Gerard McKenna (4-15) as he took three wickets in four balls, bowling Gibson for a golden duck before trapping Boyer LBW two balls later. The chase was well and truly over when Mickle fell for a seven-ball duck also to McKenna before Giltrow (2-11) had Slootsman caught for eight, completing a collapse of 5-2. Marsh (27) added some respectability to the tally but CVN’s 125 was well short. At Wonthella, Bluff Point enjoyed their first win of the season with a 43-run success over Sportsmans in a low-scoring match. The Pointers made 138 after Jay O’Brien won the toss and batted, with Sam Millett (50) the star. Millett often shines when needed as was the case here with the next highest score being Caullum Joss’ 14, as no other batters to get going on a green-looking Wonthella pitch. Jarrod Jupp (4-34) was the best of the bowlers with support from Clint Yeates (2-28) while Brad Roworth (2-3) ended the resistance. The score looked under par, especially leaving 12 overs in the tank, but Sportsmans couldn’t find a partnership to break the back of the modest chase. Mitchell McAuliffe removed both openers, including captain Riley Barham, in quick succession to leave them 2-20 at the tea break. Jarrod Jupp was then caught at slip off Matt Russell followed by Clint Yeates who was well held by McAuliffe off Joss (1-17). Matt Russell then had Korol trapped in front to leave Sportsmans reeling at 5-45. George Gooch watched the carnage unfold as the task now fell to him to try and stick around and get them close with plenty of overs still remaining. He launched a brief counter-attack with Bradley Roworth but once he fell, caught on the boundary at cow corner by Matthew Reid, it was all but over. Gooch fell shortly after, having crawled his way to 15 off 68 balls, caught off the bowling of Antonio Paradella as Sportsmans folded for 95. Mitchell McAuliffe (3-29), Carl Shilling (2-11) and Matt Russell (2-13) shared the spoils on a match dominated by the bowlers.