Tom Parry
BATSMEN finally had the upper hand in the weekend’s cricket action.
Round 6 of the Sale-Maffra Cricket Association got underway on Saturday in the best conditions for quite some time.
With the Friday before having witnessed clear skies and no rain whatsoever, outfields were dry and pitches had plenty of bounce, making it perfect for batting.
While there was some humidity and the occasional sprinkling of rain, all four matches completed the allotted day’s play with little to no delays.
The round will conclude this weekend coming.
Maffra v Sale
BATTING woes are finally subsiding for Maffra, if their performance on Saturday is anything to go by.
Having faltered for weeks on end, the Eagles’ batsmen found some semblance of rhythm at Cameron Sporting Complex, making a respectable total of 188 after captain Lee Hopkins opted to bat first.
Ben Sly returned as opener, reaching five before being caught in the fourth over.
Seven overs later, Ben Harrington departed for eight runs; the over after that, Heath Shingles was gone on 15, and another Maffra collapse was looking likely.
That sudden downfall never eventuated, the Eagles instead slowly but surely building their total.
Hopkins and Dylan Freitag, again promoted up the order, made 20 runs in their fourth-wicket partnership, ending when the former was caught-and-bowled by Ben Jones on 17.
Fourteen overs later, Freitag went out, but not before making 27 with Nick Wozniak at the other end.
Wozniak fell on 17 in the 39th over, as did Miller Eastham in the 52nd.
Eastham had contributed to the best stand of match so far, scoring 32 runs with Nathan Hibbins.
Hibbins combined with Ben Durrant to add 27 to Maffra’s total, then crafted another 32-run partnership – this time with Jake Pendrick for the ninth wicket.
Andrew McKenzie was the last Eagle to fall, his wicket coming in the 80th and final over of the day.
Although Hibbins was the star for Maffra, unbeaten by innings’ end on 60, his teammates can hold their heads high knowing they all contributed with the bat – just one of the players’ modest totals could prove the difference between victory and defeat come next week.
As for Sale, their standout player of the week was Jones, who took three wickets off 15 overs, two of them catches off his own bowling.
Rosedale-Kilmany v Longford
FOLLOWING their triumph last round, Longford was brought back down to Earth by a resilient Rosedale-Kilmany.
The Lizards chose to bat first at Rosedale Recreation Reserve against a side that, like them, has only beaten one other club this season – Boisdale-Briagolong.
Their innings did not start well, with opener Walt Sutton run out in the third over for a duck; Andrew Tyson followed in the eighth over with seven runs to his name.
Things soon got worse for Longford as three wickets fell in the space of nine balls – two of them inflicted by Dylan Rowley, forebodingly, in the 13th over.
Jake Wynd and captain Lachlan Floyd brought some relief for Longford, making 23 runs between them off the next eight overs until Wynd was bowled for 14 – Rowley again the wicket-taker; another 12 runs were added before Floyd was caught, again for 14.
Rowley struck again for the Warriors in the 29th over, bowling Clint Osborne without him adding to the scoreboard.
Rupinder Sidhu was the ninth wicket to fall, with Sam Lucas-Laws – making his return to the First XI after stints in the association’s lower grades – the last to depart on 13, having been run out by Ashton Wright.
With figures of 5/21 including four maidens, Rowley was indisputably the Warriors’ best bowler, having kept their opponents to 75 and done so within 40 overs.
Rosedale-Kilmany now had the latter-half of the day to set a total of their own.
They made a better start than Longford, amassing 10 runs before Jordan Price made the breakthrough in the fifth over – Brandon McDonald being his victim.
He departed for single-digits, as did Michael Walters in the ninth over and captain Isaac Love in the 10th.
When Brad Scott left on 12 in the 13th over, Rosedale-Kilmany’s situation looked precarious.
Those fears were soon allayed by Rohan Diamond and Cam Freshwater, who partnered for a 51-run stand for the fifth wicket to take them past Longford’s total and put the Warriors in the lead.
Diamond was eventually out in the 23rd over, but by then the damage had already been done – 43 runs, including five fours and two sixes.
Price was again Longford’s top wicket-taker, with figures of 4/24 at the close of play.
Bundalaguah v Collegians
COLLEGIANS bounced back from their fifth-round loss, posting 239 at Colin Wrigglesworth Oval.
Zac Hurley won the toss and opened the batting with Tom Morrison, setting the tone early for College in a partnership that wasn’t broken until the former’s wicket in the 30th over – by that time, 110 runs had been made.
Following the brief input of Adrian Burgiel (7), Charlie Morrison joined his brother at the crease for a 21-run stand, before Tom was bowled by Steve Spoljaric for 79.
The next big collaboration was between Henry Anderson and Noah Hurley, who partnered for 42 runs for the sixth wicket, concluding in the 64th over when the latter was dismissed on 18.
The younger Anderson continued on with Stuart Anderson at the opposite end; their stand drawing to a close when the former got a bit too cocky in the 70th over.
With the Bulls’ Kshitiz Sharma bowling, Henry hit the first ball for six, then the second and third for two, and the fourth for a dot.
Then on the fifth, he lofted the ball to Spoljaric in the field, given his marching orders on 41.
Another wicket tumbled immediately after, with Sharma trapping Jed Malone leg-before first ball.
Stuart Anderson pushed forward and proved to be the last College batsman to make an impact; he was the 10th and final wicket of the innings to fall after making 24.
Sharma’s success with the ball in Round 6 – five wickets off 26 overs – followed his impressive effort just last week, when he made a century for Bundalaguah.
In reply to Collegians’ first innings, the Bulls are so far 2/2 off two overs.
Boisdale-Briag v Stratford
BRIAGOLONG Recreation Reserve hosted another dominant batting display, this time from Stratford.
As with their counterparts in Maffra, Longford and Collegians, the Redbacks batted first after winning the toss, Ben Dinning and Chris Aurisch laying the groundwork.
Both men were out by the 13th over, bringing together the two Jacks – Rietschel and Tatterson – onto the pitch.
Tatterson made his presence felt immediately, hitting a six on his very first ball – an auspicious sign of things to come.
He and Rietschel made 65 runs for the third wicket, broken when the former was out leg-before to the bowling of Boisdale-Briagolong’s Nick Pang in the 39th over.
Ben Channing quickly came and went for three, bringing Bohdi Walker to the crease, who made 32 runs with Rietschel as his fifth-wicket partner.
Rietschel was then paired with the other Tatterson, Harry, together scoring 62 runs across 15 overs, in the process taking the Redbacks past the 200 mark.
Before long though, the Stratford captain was brought undone, bowled by his opposite number, Dylan Bolton, for 107 in the 74th over.
Dismissals came thick and fast after that, with Ethan Albrecht gone three overs later with he score 7/245, and Sam Antsee at 8/257.
Wickets nine and 10, Sebastian Pendergast and Harry Tatterson, were both lost without adding to Stratford’s total – not that it mattered, given how huge the score was .
The day was another one to forget for the last-placed Saints, who only had four bowlers to rotate between – Pang, Liam Hurst, Ryan Marshall and captain Bolton, who bowled 30 of his side’s 80 overs.
Hurst was the best of the foursome with figures of 4/51.
