Souths on the board

South''s Mark Lanza positions himself to take the catch to dismiss Valleys'' David Marino.

By Casey O'Connor

South’s bounced back from a shaky start to the season last weekend scoring their first win in 2018/19. They proved too strong for Valleys when they met on Sheehan Oval.

Batting first on what looked to be a good batting wicket South’s took full advantage of an under strength Valley’s bowling attack.

South’s Captain and opener Ben Staley had a welcome return to form. He topped the scoring with an unbeaten 122. His innings overshadowed a great performance from fellow opener Sach Singh who played out of his skin to score 91 in an opening partnership that yielded 175 runs. Singh fell just short of his ton when he was trapped LBW by Anthony Coup in the 28th over.

The openers played plenty of aggressive shots and Staley racked up 15 boundaries and three sixes in his score. His opening partner was not shy in finding the boundary either. Singh’s 91 came off just 65 balls and included 13 fours and one six. Liam Lanza was another to find some welcome form with the bat. He added an unbeaten 33 before the innings closed with South’s at 2/277.

Faced with a big run chase Valleys needed to start their inning well. Unfortunately opener Kirby Morunga fell for 13 caught behind off the bowling of Cameron. Fellow opener Curtis Allen top scored and showed plenty of determination on his way to 64 as his batting partners fell by the wayside. Cameron Crestani (19) was the only other batsman to show any resistance. When Allen was dismissed in the 25th over the score was 7/128 and a win to South’s looked inevitable. The final three batsmen added 24 before Valleys were dismissed for 153 in the 34th over.

Alex Cameron took the bowling honours taking three wickets while Scott Williams and Dan Davies each bagged two wickets. Once again some inconsistent bowling added 39 extras to the Valleys scorecard.

The win puts South’s on the score board but they will Sneed to be at the top of their game when they face RSL in a replay of last season’s grand final this weekend.