New Town has begun strongly in the first game of the men’s CTPL season, defeating Clarence by five wickets at Kangaroo Bay on Saturday.
A blistering bowling innings from the Bucks opened the door for an unlikely victory over the star-studded Roos side.
The win was set up by the brilliant bowling of both Mitch Owen and Caelan Maladay.
The two were instrumental in bowling out Clarence for just 121, with Owen taking 4-28, and Maladay 3-24.
Although the target was small, the Bucks knew a fair challenge remained, given the Clarence bowling lineup included five current or former state-contracted players.
At 4-22 after nine overs, the Bucks were in desperate need of someone to stand up with the bat.
Tom Luchetti entered the crease, and managed to hold up an end on debut, while Jayden Vince starred at the other.
Vince made 73 not out off 83 balls, guiding New Town to a huge victory away from home.
Coach Peter Di Venuto was delighted with Vince’s performance.
“I think there might have been one other person that got into the twenties, and he made 73 not out off 80 odd balls,” Di Venuto said.
“He’s taken us to a position from 4-20 with Tom Luchetti on debut to a few runs away from victory.”
“He batted with great maturity.
“He’s only 22 years of age, but was our leading run scorer last year and hits a very clean ball.
“Yesterday was a great sign of maturity in his innings.”
Sam Rainbird managed to take four wickets for Clarence, but the Bucks chased down the total in just 28.4 overs.
Di Venuto was rapt the begin season 2024-25 with a win.
“Terrific way to start the season,” he said.
“It’s always good to get early wins on the board, and given the quality of the opposition, we were really happy.”
A 5-fa from Kingborough’s Zak Honeybrook saw the Knights take down University by 8 wickets.
Uni captain Param Uppal was the shining light, making 61 off 89 balls.
Kingborough’s top three of Jake Weatherald, Nivethan Radhakrishnan, and Beau Webster hit 22 boundaries between them, needing just under 28 overs to chase down the Lions score of 185.
North Hobart flexed its muscles in a dominant win over Lindisfarne.
Jordan Silk made a spectacular 134 not out off 103 balls, including seven fours and seven sixes.
The Demons made 5-355, a total which Lindisfarne were unable to come close to.
Two former Glenorchy Magpies, Nick Davis (4-35) and Sanjay Anandarajah (3-18), took the bulk of the wickets for North Hobart, as they cruised to a 140-run win.
Greater Northern Raiders defended their home soil as they navigated a 25-run victory over Glenorchy on Sunday.
Captain-coach Alistair Taylor managed an 83-ball half-century before he was dismissed by Hobart Hurricane Nikhil Chaudhury.
Chaudhury (4-30 and 47 off 39) was the star for the Magpies with both bat and ball, but was unable to drag his side across the line.
Jonathan Chapman (4-19) and Samuel Omahony (3-32) were the dominant bowling forces for the Raiders.
In the women’s first grade competition, Greater Northern Raiders hosted New Town for a pair of T20’s, which saw the results split 1-1.
In the first match, New Town posted 9-102 from 16 overs.
A tremendous bowling performance from Payton Stewart (5-5 off 3 overs) managed to minimise damages for the Raiders, but they fell agonisingly short of the target.
With 2 runs needed from the final ball, or 1 run to tie, Kalea Leary was run out by Ashlee Kennedy to secure the win for New Town.
Greater Northern, eager for a replying win, posted 2-154 in the second match.
Starring innings from Montana Bradley (33 off 37 balls), Alice McLauchlan (41 off 45 balls), and captain Ava Curtis (30 not out off 24 balls) were instrumental.
Despite efforts from Bethany Lane (45 off 47 balls), New Town were unable to start the season 2-0, losing by 15 runs.
Written by Elliot Stevenson.