Country Week: Peel dominating A-grade | day three wrap

Bunbury posed the biggest threat to Peel in division gold, but the PCA was able to cruise to their third comfortable victory in three games thanks in large part to another gutsy bowling effort.

The Bunbury side tallied the highest run total scored against Peel’s dominant bowling line up, but it was still just a mere 132 runs.

Prior to the game, Peel had kept Geraldton to 122 runs and the West Pilbara Cricket Association to a lowly 91.

Winning the toss and electing to score first, Peel’s batsmen showed they are no slouch themselves as they piled up another impressive innings.

The reigning champs looked in trouble early with the loss of openers Jayden Derosa (two runs) and Andrew Peckover (three) leaving them in a 2/11 hole.

Bunbury had a sniff of getting to bat early, but Peel’s middle order resurrected their hopes of winning and changed the momentum of the match.

Led by 63 runs from captain Josh Peterson, the PCA was able to heap on some late runs with Dylan Smith (57), Grant Coles (42) and Ben Wright (28) all chiming in.

Wright’s consistency with the bat has breathed life into every Peel innings. The Waroona cricketer ranks fifth among A-grade batsmen with an average score of 49.67 runs.

Some late slogs from the tail order saw Peel finish their 60 overs on 9/251.

That total was never in danger of being chased down, as the bowling order picked up where they left off in the previous two games and dominated the Bunbury batsmen.

Bunbury started better than Peel’s batsmen did, but their scoring didn’t last. 

Openers James Hillery and Jayden Goodwin showed good touch with 31 and 16 respectively, but their downfall sparked a run of wickets for Peel.

Regular wickets fell with Zachary Moody a strong presence delivering the ball. He finished with a team-high three wickets from his 7.1 overs while Daniel Abel impressed with two wickets and three maiden overs.

Peel’s Ian Bowes claimed one wicket and sits in third in total wickets for the carnival with nine.

The win makes Peel the sole unbeaten side in A-grade.

In the B-grade, Peel sits in third with two wins and one loss after beating the Avon Cricket Association on Tuesday.

The C-grade side remains atop their table with an undefeated record from three games as they looked to defend their 2016 title.

Both D-grade sides are also flexing their muscles as they sit in first and second in their division.

Peel Cricket Association’s fifth team is atop the D-grade table, with the fourth team knocking on the door just one win behind in the division.

While it remains against the odds, Peel has a realistic chance to claim wins in all five grades at the carnival, showing the strength of local cricket talent coming from the region.

Teams will return to action on Thursday after a break on Wednesday allowed players to recover from a heavy start.