Cricket derby goes Forestry’s way with narrow defeat of Manjimup

The second Manjimup derby for the season saw Forestry scrape home in a see-sawing game of cricket.

Manjimup won the toss and sent Forestry in hoping for early wickets.

The gamble paid off with Forestry stumbling to 4-51 after 19 overs, with opening bowlers Jonno Millar and Jozef Parkinson bowling impeccable line and length.

Millar was unplayable at times with only two runs from his first five overs, while Parkinson and Daniel Jones picked up two wickets each from the other end.

Forestry needed to lift the tempo, which they did through Brock Tempra (52) and Connor Ipsen (57). With Tempra’s sublime stroke play and power hitting from Ipsen they were able to push Forestry to 9-199 in their 45 overs.

Jozef Parkinson (3-32), Daniel Jones (2-18) and Jonno Millar (2-33) were the pick of Manjimup’s bowlers, with a sensational one-handed catch at full stretch by Jack Muir the highlight of the innings.

Manjimup’s innings got off to a shaky start losing a wicket in the first over, but this brought the experience of Ben Lagana (78) to the crease with the ever-improving Jack Muir (23).

They put on an 83-run partnership to put Manjimup in a strong position at the halfway point.

With the dismissal of Lagana off the bowling of Braden Gibellini, the game was in the balance.

But contributions from Luke Murphy (26), Rohan Barber (18) and Adrian Mielke (17) looked to set up Manjimup for the total.

With Manjimup needing 11 runs off 15 balls the game took one more twist when the father-son bowling partnership of Mat Johnston (3-4) and Jared Johnston (3-40) destroyed the Manjimup tail, taking 5-4 between them from the last two overs to secure a thrilling seven-run victory for Forestry, cementing top spot halfway through the season.

In the final round before the Christmas break, Manjimup will hope to bounce back at home against Boyup Brook on Saturday, while Forestry travel to Pemberton on Sunday.