By Tim Howard
Cox’s explosive 109 powers Lawrence to victory as Tucabia survives a late scare against Maclean.
Lawrence middle-order batter Luke Cox has scored the first century of the Clarence Valley Cricket Association’s first-grade season, smashing 109 from 73 balls at J J Lawrence Fields, South Grafton.
Cox led an exhilarating display of power batting as Lawrence racked up 6/218 from 30 overs against the combined Easts/Brothers/South Services side.
Lawrence, last season’s premiers, restricted their opponents to 8/160 to record a comfortable win.
It wasn’t a good day for the Grafton-based team, with no bowler able to keep the scoring rate close to a run a ball.
Cox hit 14 boundaries and two sixes, receiving good support from Luke Moloney, who scored 32 from 31 balls, and Charlie Rouse, who contributed 23.
Spinners Dave Bruton, with 2/30, and Brenden Cotten, with 2/39, were the best of the bowlers, each sending down six overs.
Lawrence’s bowlers had the home team on the rack from the outset, dismissing opener John Martin for a first-ball duck to leave the hosts at 1/2.
Explosive opening batter Shannon Connor enjoyed a brief cameo, smacking 26 from 15 balls, while Lewis Chevalley top-scored with 41. But no-one could match Cox’s fireworks as the chase quickly fell behind the required run rate.
Max Forwell was next best with 29, but the innings fell away as the Lawrence bowlers got on top.
At the Ulmarra Showgrounds, Tucabia Copmanhurst Ulmarra Hotel chased down Maclean United’s 131 with three balls to spare to record a thrilling win.
Tucabia invited Maclean to bat and kept the pressure on the visitors from the outset with accurate bowling.
Opener Brady Walker top-scored for Maclean with a patient 33, while Shakila Perera, batting at No. 3, made 20.
Myles Adamson, Declan Ensby and Matt Pigg each picked up two wickets.
Opener Travis Anderson’s 51 from 47 balls got the run chase off to a flyer. When he was the second batter dismissed, with the score at 2/81, Tucabia appeared comfortably placed.
But a flurry of late wickets to Christo Marallich, who finished with 5/27 from eight overs, kept the batters on their toes.
On Saturday, Harwood, which had the opening-round bye, begins its season by hosting Tucabia at Harwood Oval.
At Ellem Oval, Grafton, GDSC Easts/Brothers/South Services takes on Maclean, while Lawrence has the bye.
