Defending champions defeated, statement victories from underdogs: Cricket Illawarra T20 round one wrap, team of the week

All ten teams took the field for the first time in season 2023/24 to flex their muscles in the short format matches, as a teaser to the one-day competition that will commence at the end of the month.

There were big hitters, masterful bowlers and some surprise results on day one.

Check out the full round wrap and read on for the team of the week.

Defending champions go down on day one

The headline result of round one was the loss dealt to last year’s T20 champions Northern Districts at the hands of a Wollongong District bowling masterclass.

Electing to bat first, Northern Districts were rocked by an early dismissal to opener Justin Brancato, who left after four balls faced for just one run.

However, his opening partner Mason Broadhead (52) and first drop Daniel Wark (36) were able to steady the ship and put some great runs on the board, between them hitting eight boundaries and a maximum for Wark.

When the duo were eventually dismissed within the space of three balls though, the Northern Districts batting lineup totally collapsed, with none of the following eight batters to all enter the game able to hit over eight runs.

New recruit Josh Campbell (3/31) let the way for the bowlers with the most wickets across the competition in the opening round, while David Wood (2/10) and Pushpinder Jassal (2/23) also contributing admirably to the bowling lineup.

With a decent enough total of 118 to chase still, it took a giant effort from first drop batter Cooper Maddinson (65) to inspire Wollongong to hunt down those runs.

Keegan White (2/28) and Lucas Allen (2/23) both dismissed a couple of batters in their spells, but Northern Districts will likely feel they were expensive with their bowling, with no one in their lineup bowling below a 5.25 economy.

Maddinson was above and beyond the pick of the batters, but a couple of timely middle order contributions from Callum Dodds (12) and Josh Campbell (10) helped the side to their eventual victory in the 18th over.

A terrific start for Wollongong and a reality check for the Butchers.

Wollongong 6/119 (Maddinson 65, Dodds 12; Allen 2/23, White 2/28) def Northern Districts (Broadhead 52, Wark 36; Campbell 3/31, Wood 2/10)

IPCC welcome first grade berth with a win

IPCC have kicked off their Cricket Illawarra first grade journey with a win over Corrimal thanks to some terrific boundary batting from their openers.

Winning the toss, Corrimal elected to set their total first, with openers Jake Osborne (33) and captain Mitchell Jones (55) putting in a solid opening stint at the crease to kick off their season.

The 88-run partnership featured seven boundaries and one maximum from Osborne.

First drop batter Alex Winiarski (25) performed decently with the bat as well, slogging away two maximums in his energetic stint at the crease, as did second drop batter Alex Osborne (13), but that would be just about all the remaining action from the innings, as the middle order batters of Corrimal failed to do any late damage.

Come IPCC’s time to chase, it would be the two openers in captain Aaron Llatse (61*) and Sukhveer Singh (63) who absolutely dominated the match and guided their side to victory.

Llatse picked up eight boundaries and a maximum, while Singh had the fielders in dismay as he hit 11 boundaries.

Jake Osborne picked up a wicket and a run out from the field, but it wasn’t enough to stop IPCC who chased down Corrimal by the 18th over to secure a maiden victory.

IPCC 2/139 (Singh 63, Llatse 61*; Osborne 1/39) def Corrimal 5/137 (Jones 55, Osborne 33; Khalid 1/10, Singh 1/22)

Strong batting paves way for Uni chase

Some consistent top order batting has allowed Uni to chase down Wests Illawarra and pick up the win.

Wests took the crease first with the bat after winning the toss, with a couple of decent showings from the likes of Nicolas Nicastri (26), Noah King (21*) and Tyson Barrett (17*) allowing them to push a respectable total on the board.

Captain Angus Cumming was proving pivotal for Uni, dismissing his opposing captain Udara Jayasundara while bowling, as well as taking two catches in the field.

With a decent total of 122 set by Wests, Uni’s openers James Biggs (34) and Luke Huard (31) would come to the crease and do a good job in pressuring the Wests field, with six boundaries and two maximums split evenly between them.

Both would eventually fall to wicket, but third and fourth batters Alec Dobson (30*) and Lachlan Coughlan-Ryan (21*) would pick up right where they left off, chipping away at the total until its eventual chase-down in the 19th over to give Uni a strong opening day victory.

University 2/123 (Biggs 34, Huard 31; Jayasundara 1/13, Egerton 1/12) def Wests Illawarra (Nicastri 26, King 21*; Mathangadeera 2/16, Dobson 1/4)

Keira cruise to victory over flightless Magpies

A dominant bowling performance from Keira allowed them to cruise to an early victory over Balgownie.

Electing to bat first, Balgownie were left shell-shocked by Keira’s efficiency in the field, unable to build any convincing partnerships throughout their innings.

Opener Harry Benn, first drop Adam Berwick, as well as late order batter Isaac Leonard were all dismissed for ducks, with third drop Luke McGregor (21) the highest scoring of the batting side in a tough innings that saw them only put 79 runs on the board.

Captain Rhys Voysey (2/11) and Blake Cattle (2/18) picked up doubles, but overall all six Keira bowlers managed to pick up wickets in a terrific spread of talent across the bowling lineup.

Come Keira’s time to bat, it looked as though they were going to make hard work of the chase when openers James Chappell (6) and Eddie Marning (1) were dismissed early.

However, Mitchell Hearn (11*) and the impressive Zach Churchill (50*) were able to steady the ship and guide Keira to victory by the 10th over in a routine day at the office.

Keira 2/80 (Churchill 50*, Hearn 11*, Williams 1/19, Leonard 1/28) def Balgownie 8/79 (McGregor 21, Fleming 18; Voysey 2/11, Cattle 2/18)

Dominant Port Kembla signal intent for new season

Port Kembla have made a statement round one victory over Dapto with the best batting display of the round.

In doing so, Port Kembla have already matched their total wins from last season, in what they’ll hope is a sign of a brighter season.

Batting first, opener Steven Sutherland (52) was able to raise the bat with a terrific batting display that featured five boundaries and a six.

Second and third drop batters PK Pudhota (31) and Hamza Maqbool (37*) created a very solid partnership to drive the run count up for their side.

Dapto weren’t able to impose themselves on the bowling front, with Zac Craw (1/16) proving the pick of the bowling lineup that struggled for a good economy.

The innings would end with Port Kembla setting a massive 167 for Dapto to chase, a total of which they would end up falling 21 runs shy of.

Second drop batter Ashan Coorey Wanigaratne (61) put in a stellar performance with the bat, including five fours and two sixes from the crease.

Unfortunately though, no other batters around him were able to hit such highs, as eventually the strong bowling lineup consisting of top performers Aamar Yasir (2/14) and Abdul Haseeb Afridi (2/24) were able to pick them off.

Port Kembla 5/167 (Sunderland 52, Maqbool 37*; Craw 1/16, Jensen 1/23) def Dapto 8/146 (Wanigaratne 61, Jensen 17; Yasir 2/14, Afridi 2/24)

Team of the week

1) Cooper Maddinson (Wollongong) - 65 runs

2) Sukhveer Singh (IPCC) - 61 runs not out

3) Aaron Llatse (IPCC) - 63 runs

4) Ashan Coorey Wanigaratne (Dapto) - 61 runs

5) Steven Sunderland (Port Kembla) - 52 runs

6) Mason Broadhead (Northern Districts) - 52 runs

7) Ethan Dobono (wk) (Wollongong) - 3 catches, 11 runs

8) Josh Campbell (Wollongong) - 3/31, 7.75 economy

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9) David Wood (Wollongong) - 2/10, 2.50 economy

10) Rhys Voysey (Keira) - 2/11, 2.75 economy

11) Angus Cumming (Uni) - 1/20, 5.00 economy, 2 catches

Originally published as Defending champions defeated, statement victories from underdogs: Cricket Illawarra T20 round one wrap, team of the week