A weekend of tightly fought contests has seen Redlands Tigers walk away with two victories and three losses.
First Grade were boosted by the return of Sam Heazlett for their game against Valley on Peter Burge Oval on Saturday, but went down by 16 runs.
Redlands were sent into field first after losing the toss and quickly found themselves in the ascendency after grabbing an early wicket to stun the visitors.
Queensland representative Jack Wildermuth settled the ship with a half century and enabled Valley to post a competitive 277 for the loss of nine wickets from 50 overs.
Marnus Labuschagne continued his early season form, capturing three wickets in a ten over spell of tight bowling that allowed the Tigers to wrestle back the initiative during the middle overs and keep Valley’s total below 300.
Wicket-keeper batsman James Peirson got Redlands’ innings off to a flyer with a quick-fire 51 before a ball from Queensland teammate Jack Wildermuth snuck through his defences.
Labuschagne soon arrived and picked up where he had left off a week prior, cruising to 31 before being run-out via a direct hit from the boundary.
The return of Sam Heazlett proved fruitful for the Tigers as the classy left-hander played another masterful innings to reach 68 runs at near run-a-ball pace.
Nick Hurford and Ryan Leloux combined to put the Tigers in a commanding position, but a flood of lower-order wickets meant they were soon dismissed for 261 from 46 overs.
Second grade came even closer to securing a win in their first game of the season against Valley away from home.
The Tigers were bowled out for 175 in pursuit of Valley’s 179 after losing 3/6 when just eleven runs were required for victory.
Charles Maili was the standout with the ball for the Tigers, snaring 4 wickets from his ten over spell and finishing with an exceptional economy rate of 2.50.
With the bat, it was Stuey Edgar who delivered for the Tigers with a finely made 91.
The Lord’s Taverners Competition began on Sunday with a clash between Redlands and Ipswich at Peter Burge Oval.
The Tigers were dismissed for 112 runs after they were asked to bat first by the visiting captain.
A rear-guard action from Jayden Grant (21) gave the Tigers’ innings some respectability after it looked like they might be bundled out. But unfortunately it wasn’t enough, with Ipswich chasing down the runs in the 21st over.
Andy Martinez-Harris was the leading wicket-taker for Redlands with two scalps.
The Shane Watson Cup team were also in action on the weekend in a round-robin game against Ipswich.
The Tigers clinched victory after setting the Hornets 231 runs from their 50 overs.
Isiah Shepherd top scored for Redlands with 65 while Captain Luke Jones also gave the innings some much needed impetus, scoring 47 from 62 deliveries.
Redlands later bowled Ipswich out for 202 after it looked like a middle order partnership might steal victory for the home side.
New ball pairing Gunit Singh and Shaun Love did most of the damage for the Tigers, while Tom Biggs also chipped in with a lively spell to snare two wickets.
Ray Weier got their campaign off to a winning start against Toombull away from home.
Redlands dismissed the opposition for 165 inside 34 overs thanks to superb bowling from Tyler Whisson, who took four wickets for 33 runs, and Kobey Maguire who claimed 3 wickets.
Keegan McLean set the tone with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 70 which enabled the Tigers to chase down the opposition’s runs in a hurry.
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1st Grade: Valley 9/277 (M Labuschagne 3/60, J Bazley 2/80) def Redlands 261 (S Heazlett 68, J Peirson 51).
2nd Grade: Valley 179 (C Mailli 4/25, L Watt 3/38) def Redlands 175 (S Edgar 91).
Lord’s Taverners: Redlands 112 (J Grant 21) def by Ipswich/ Logan 3/117 (Martinez Harris 2/24).
Ray Weier Cup: Redlands 2/ 175 (Keegan McLean 70*, M Jagga 36) def Toombull 165 (T Whisson 4/33, K Maguire 3/39).
Shane Watson Cup (Round Robin): Redlands 231 (I Shepherd 65, L Jones 47) def Ipswich 202 (G Singh 2/46, S Love 2/42, T Biggs 2/18).