1st Grade
1st grade have started strongly in their clash against Rockingham-Mandurah at Burrendah, finishing the day at 1 for 47 after bowling the Mariners out for 172.
The visitors won the toss and unsurprisingly elected to bat on a stinking hot day, getting 42 runs on the board before Waheguru Dhillon claimed the first breakthrough.
Matt Hanna then took two wickets in an over, including the dangerous Craig Simmons, leaving the score at 3 for 52.
The visitors steadied to put on 37 runs for the fourth wicket, but Dhillon and Hanna again broke through in quick succession to reduce them to 5 for 89.
Some momentum was rediscovered with a 47 run partnership for the 6th wicket before it was broken by Luke Holt, with Blair Walsh taking a spectacular catch at deep square leg.
The Mariners lower order showed some resistance, but fast bowlers Vidit Vashisht and Zach Ferris did enough to claim the last 3 wickets.
For the Dragons, Dhillon (3/32 from 22 overs) and Hanna (3/46 from 17 overs) were impressive again, with support from Vashisht (2/24 from 12 overs), Ferris (1/33 from 14.2 overs), and Holt (1/16 from 6 overs).
The Dragons batting innings featured a change, with Dhillon replacing Walsh at the top of the order, with the new opener surviving for 15 deliveries before departing without troubling the scorers.
After the early wicket, Iszak Milentis (18*) and Shayne Wornes (22*) got through the rest of the day unscathed.
2nd Grade
2nd grade are in a good position to capture an elusive win, completing the day on none for 52 after bowling Rockingham-Mandurah out for 155 at Lark Hill.
The hosts won the toss and elected to bat, being reduced to 2 for 27 after early wickets for Ellis Cassidy and Stewart Hepburn.
A 60 run partnership for the 3rd wicket threatened to get the innings back on track, before it was broken by Lachie Searle.
The Dragons then overwhelmed the Mariners lineup, picking up 7 wickets for 68 runs, with Zac Blazevich picking up his first senior wicket for the club the highlight.
David Cameron steamrolled through the middle order, picking up 4 for 16 from his 11.3 overs, with Cassidy (2/36 from 14 overs), Hepburn (2/38 from 15 overs), Searle (1/25 from 12 overs) and Blazevich (1/38 from 12.1 overs) all helping out.
After the strong bowling effort, young openers Sean Boers (26*) and Ethan Smith (23*) played with great maturity to get the Dragons through to stumps unbeaten.
3rd Grade
3rd grade are also in a productive position, ending the day at 2 for 35 in pursuit of Rockingham-Mandurah’s total of 110.
The Mariners won the toss and elected to bat, but early wickets to Chris Lagana and James Scott may have had them rueing that decision at 3 for 8.
A recovery saw the visitors put on 40 for the 4th wicket, but three quick wickets to spinners Bevan Hargrave and Jordan Hodgetts saw them deeper in the mire at 6 for 57.
The Dragons again let the Mariners off the hook, who put on 49 for the 7th wicket, but a Hargrave breakthrough gave Cameron Becker the opportunity to clean up the tail.
The bowlers shared the load, with Becker (3/10 from 8.5 overs), Hargrave (3/26 from 13 overs), and Lagana (2/22 from 11 overs), Hodgetts (1/10 from 11 overs), and Scott (1/22 from 10 overs) all impressing.
In reply, the Dragons lost Stuart Smith early and Jack Chapman close to stumps, but Ben Witschge and Davinder Singh got through to the close of play.
4th Grade
4th grade ensured a clean sweep of strong senior Dragon performances, bowling Rockingham-Mandurah out for 164 and finishing the day on 1 for 18.
Aaron McCall amazingly won the toss and elected to field, with a start of 3 for 26 with wickets for himself, Brad Hurst, and Ian D’Souza vindicating that call.
Consistent wickets kept the Dragons on top, with D’Souza (3/24 from 12 overs), Jarod Bridge (3/42 from 17 overs), McCall (2/41 from 14.2 overs), Arnav Pimple (1/21 from 12 overs), and Hurst (1/26 from 10 overs) all picking up wickets.
The Dragons had to get through 11 overs before stumps, with the early loss of Rajat Deshmukh offset by a strong nightwatchman’s performance from Bridge, who finished on 4 off 26 deliveries.
Under 17s
Under 17’s have a mountain to climb in their clash against Rockingham-Mandurah at Burrendah, with the visitors finishing with 6 for 232 from their 50 overs.
Lawson Baker used 9 bowlers in search of someone to stem the flow, with Zaid Buckland (2/13 from 4 overs), Brayden Lee (1/29 from 10 overs) and Kai D’Souza (1/34 from 8 overs) claiming wickets.
Under 15’s
Under 15’s put a defendable score of 167 on the board on day one of their clash with Rockingham-Mandurah at Lark Hill.
The Dragon’s innings didn’t feature a standout batter, with 7 scores between 13 and 24, as Lewis Giles top scored.
Under 14’s
Under 14’s went down to Perth by 4 wickets at Burrendah.
The Dragons batted first and made a defendable score of 7 for 182 from their 50 overs, with Josh Nathan continuing his strong season, top scoring with 61.
The Demons managed to get over the line with 14 balls to spare, with Tom Dobson (2/45 from 10 overs), Ayush Sarin (1/30 from 10 overs), and Siddhanth Jain (1/24 from 4 overs) the better bowlers.
Under 13’s
Under 13’s had a good win over Perth, getting up with 7 wickets in hand.
The Dragons bowled first as Perth made a strong score of 6 for 164 from their 40 overs, with wickets for Joel Vlasic (1/14 from 4 overs), Puru Aren (1/29 from 8 overs), and Josh Peachey (1/35 from 8 overs).
A strong partnership between Callum Dermody (58) and Luca Boden (51) helped the Dragons secure a win with 10 balls to spare.