Polished batting performance guides Royals to second straight victory in ADCA under-17s competition

Superb unbeaten half-centuries from brothers Ryley and Teague Valli along with Riley Bessen guided Royals to their second straight victory in the Albany and Districts Cricket Association under-17 competition last Saturday. The Lions cruised to a 37-run victory on Turf South against Railways in round five and notched their fourth win in the process. After winning the premiership last season, the Lions went down in round three to Manypeaks, but have bounced back with two commanding performances. The Lions posted 7-236 batting first, and it proved to be a match-winning total set up by the Valli brothers and Bessen. When Devon Jefferis fell for 18, the Lions sat at 2-44, but they added a remarkable 151 runs to their total before losing their next wicket. Ryley Valli and Bessen shared in a great partnership before they were forced to retire, then Teague Valli came out and continued to punish the Tigers’ bowlers before retiring. Clay Michael made 17 before becoming the Lions’ third wicket to fall. From there, the Lions lost 3-1 with, Lachlan Tindale being on a hat-trick at one stage, but didn’t get it. Ryley Valli came back to the crease and finished the innings off with Matt Thompson (13 not out). In his innings of 53 from 47 balls, Ryley Valli hit four boundaries, while Teague Valli made 50 not out, hitting four sixes and two fours. Bessen was also unbeaten on 50 after hitting five fours. Tindale finished with 3-47 off five overs, while Charlie Cousins took 2-17 off seven. The run chase was always going to be difficult for the Tigers and they slipped to 4-61 when Michael snared his third wicket. However, through Mohit and Milan Jaggi they recovered, with the Tigers on 99 runs before they lost their next wicket. Both the Jaggis retired but due to their side losing wickets, they came back in and Mohit Jaggi was the final wicket to fall. The Tigers were bowled out for 199, with their final five wickets falling for 39. Milah Jaggi was unbeaten on 50 from 77 balls, hitting three fours, while Mohit Jaggi smashed eight fours and one six in his 54 off 48 balls. Troy McCahon added 33 but their side are still searching for their first win. Michael finished with 3-16 and he was well supported by Caleb Haua (2-12) and Thompson (2-25). Manypeaks remain undefeated after chasing down Collingwood Park’s total of 5-201 in a superb run chase. Buddy Robinson and Rory Luscombe both posted unbeaten 50s for Park, while O’Shea Durack chipped in with 36 and Jed Kowald had 29 not out. Cameron Walsh snared 2-12 for Peaks. In reply, Peaks’ top five batters all got starts to help them finish on 2-223 and record an emphatic eight-wicket win. Jakob Douglas retired not out on 50, while Tom Geddes was not out on 37 and Walsh added 24. Angus McSweeney (35 runs) and Fynn Kelleher-Bird (32) got their side off to a strong start in the run chase.