Irishman once again in full flight as Hannans topple Great Boulder

Irish international Graham Kennedy once again stamped himself as an integral piece in Hannans’ bid for the Eastern Goldfields Cricket Association’s A-grade flag after his unbeaten century on Saturday underpinned a five-wicket victory against Great Boulder at Wallace Park.

After Hannans were set a modest 163 to win, they initially stuttered to 3-46 before Kennedy — last season’s O’Shaughnessy medallist — put his stamp on the match with 101 not out that guided them to 5-164 in 30.4 overs.

Kennedy needed just 75 deliveries to chalk-up his fifth career ton, underpinned by six boundaries and two sixes, at a strike rate of 134.66.

After he compiled two centuries last season en route to a competition-best 585 runs at 48.75, Kennedy has already in this campaign made 260 runs at 65.00.

His form has paved the way for Hannans’ percentage lead, with three wins, over Lake View in the standings.

First drop Martin Potsekayi (16) and No.6 Alex Jago (17) led the rest of Hannans’ batters while among Great Boulder’s bowlers Mewa Jeetarwal claimed the scalps of openers Matt Ralph (5) and Aarib Khan (8) in his 2-30.

Earlier, the Two Blues were restricted to 162 in 42.4 overs — despite being given a solid start by openers Alex Jerrard (24 of 26 balls) and Bevan Bennell (20 off 29 balls).

They put on 46 runs and Waqar Ali Ahmed struck six fours and two sixes among his 56 off 100 deliveries.

But the side lost 3-18 at one point and the last five wickets tumbled for just 55 runs as their win-loss record slipped to 2-3.

However, they retained third place by percentage over Norths, also with two wins.

Kennedy and young UK recruit Harry Merritt-Blann led Hannans’ attack, with 3-14 and 3-23, respectively.

Hannans will be chasing outright leadership this Saturday against Norths in the second-last round before the Christmas break.

Consistency has been Great Boulder’s Achilles heel, with the squad dealt three defeats in four matches since winning the season-opener against Lake View.