Stirling has consolidated second spot on the Hills Cricket Association (HCA) ladder after a convincing six-wicket victory at Flagstaff Hill on Saturday. The home side batted first and struggled their way to a total of 114 before being bowled out in the 40th over. Skipper Kyle Petty (25) was the only Falcons batsman in the top six to reach double figures as his side found themselves in a precarious position at 6/46. Veteran Mick Taylor combined with Tharun Rameshbabu (18) for the best partnership of the innings as they added 29 for the seventh wicket. Taylor was the last batsman dismissed for a valuable 43. Pete Fryer (3/16), skipper Jack Pick (3/19) and Daniel Parfitt (2/21) were the chief destroyers for the Eagles. Stirling’s run chase began badly with Jacob Kemp (1) and Pick (0) both removed by Petty (2/19) as Stirling were reeling at 2/6. Classy opener Daniel Gonzalez was joined by Kosta Sinodinos (19) and this pair pair got the Eagles back on track through a 43-run third wicket stand. Teenager Fergus Southon joined Gonzalez in another important partnership worth 56 runs before Southon was run out for 19. Gonzalez batted through the innings to finish on 63 not out from 95 balls (5 x 4’s) as the winning runs were knocked off in the 30th over.

Aldgate have moved up to third spot on the HCA ladder with a comprehensive nine-wicket victory over Bridgewater at Aldgate Oval. The visitors won the toss and decided to bat first and got off to a great start as Luke Hoyle (35) and Justin Summerill (15) added 48 for the first wicket in just 12 overs. That was where the good news ended for the Raiders as Aldgate skipper Jake Turnbull (3/12), Harry Morbey (3/15) and Frank Clements (2/12) ripped through the Raiders' batting lineup as they were bowled out for just 88 in the 35th over. Aldgate started the run chase in steady fashion with Hoyle and Anthony Jennings keeping it tight while Summerill removed opener Josh Callaghan (5) with the score on 19. Mitch Thomas was batting well as he was joined by Turnbull and these two added 71 for the second wicket as the runs were knocked off in the 26th over. Thomas finished on 58 not out (5 x 4’s, 3 x 6’s) with Turnbull 22 not out.

Meadows remain undefeated at Christmas following a 71-run victory at Kangarilla in the southern derby. Meadows won the toss and decided to bat first with the ever reliable pair of Luke Tonkin and Haydn Reid at the crease. Tonkin was the dominant partner as he made a quickfire 60 with the opening partnership yielding 81 runs. Tonkin now has 324 runs for the season to be the leading run scorer in the HCA. Reid (50) continued on to post his third half century of the campaign. Handy contributions from skipper Brad Dawe (26) and Max Buckley (22) saw the Bulldogs to a very competitive total of 5/203 after their 40 overs. Fast bowler Steve Featherstone (2/34) and Jack Evans (2/46) were the multiple wicket takers for the home team. Kangarilla were never really in the run chase with Featherstone (27), Matthew Bertelsmeier (25) and Cole Davy (24) all getting promising starts but not going on to the big score needed to chase down a target over 200. Troy Martinsen had some fun at the end making 36 not out, his highest score but ultimately the home side could only muster 7/132 in their 40 overs. Rohan Reid (3/28) was the pick of the Meadows bowlers with Tom Bevan-Giles, Anthony Hughes and Callan Blackwell all claiming a wicket each.

Mount Lofty had the bye.

Round 9 (11/1/20 & 18/1/20) fixtures are two-day matches (home team named first)

Kangarilla v Aldgate

Bridgewater v Stirling

Mt Lofty v Flagstaff Hill

Meadows has the bye