Tom Parry
WERE it not for the men in white, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was football season.
Grey skies and a cold, blustery wind resulted in conditions that felt more akin to winter on Saturday, causing havoc for cricketers and cricket photographers.
Thankfully, all games in the Sale-Maffra Cricket Association, from firsts right down to juniors, went ahead with little to no interruption.
The weekend’s action saw Round 12 of the first grade competition conclude, with all four matches won on first-innings – three of them by comfortable margins, and the fourth rather narrowly.
Bundalaguah v Stratford
TIGHTER than tight is how best to describe events at Colin Wrigglesworth Oval, where the Redbacks lodged a victory in the dying moments of a closely-fought game.
With Bundalaguah having posted 8/199 off 80 overs the week before, Stratford needed to pass 200 before the day was out.
Stratford’s chase did not start well, as they suffered a quick loss of wickets at the hand of Gayashan Munasinghe – the Bundy paceman took four wickets and a catch in the first 16 overs of play.
By the time Munasinghe’s onslaught concluded, Stratford was 5/52.
Jack Tatterson and Bohdi Walker rectified the situation with a 29-run stand that lasted 10 overs, ending when the former was caught for 32.
Walker continued on with Ethan Albrecht as his batting partner, the pair lasting the next 21 overs with 46 runs added to the scoreboard.
Proceedings looked to be in Stratford’s favour until the 49th over when, on the very first ball, Kshitiz Sharma dismissed Albrecht leg-before.
Three balls later, Ben Channing was also trapped in front of his stumps, this time for a duck.
The scorecard then read 8/127.
With 73 runs still to chase, Walker and Sam Anstee rose to the challenge, making 71 between them to put the Redbacks ever closer to victory.
Then, with three overs left in the day, Walker was bowled by Lachlan Wrigglesworth, putting Stratford in a precarious situation once again.
Tail-ender Zane Waixel held his nerve to hit the winning runs, doing so with a boundary in the second-to-last over.
It was Walker, though, who was truly the hero for Stratford, his 89 runs coming off 175 balls across nearly four hours of play.
The victory secures Stratford’s place in the finals – even if the Redbacks lose their next two matches, and the teams below win, they’ll still retain enough points to stay in the top four.
As for the Bulls, they must win their next two matches outright – and hope that Rosedale-Kilmany lose both of theirs – to make semi-finals.
Collegians v RK
IT just keeps getting better and better for the Warriors – in addition to beating the top-ranked team in the competition on Saturday, one of their finest garnered his highest-ever individual score.
Rosedale-Kilmany began the day on 8/150 at College Oval, with Rohan Diamond sitting on 89 and Dylan Rowley on 16.
Within 12 overs, Diamond surpassed 100 to record his, and RK’s, first century of the 2022/23 season.
He continued piling on the runs until the 71st over, when he was finally bowled by Mark Nicholls.
His score of 134 was a personal best, and the most runs scored by any first grade player this season – breaking the record set by Bundalaguah’s Steve Spoljaric just one week earlier.
What’s more, his ninth-wicket stand with Rowley lasted 39 overs and saw 110 runs added to the Warriors’ total.
The innings was brought to an end five overs later with the wicket of Tom Love and RK’s total at 212, giving them a lead of 133 runs.
Collegians commenced their second innings soon after, wisely opting for conservatism over aggression – with less than 40 overs left in the allotted day’s play, it would have been near impossible for the home side to mount a fightback.
Tidy bowling from the Warriors saw Collegians score from just 10 of their 33 overs, with the remainder being maidens.
Jed Malone was their only scalp of the innings, with Zac Hurley and Charlie Morrison protecting their stumps to finish unbeaten – albeit with their side still 110 runs in arrears.
Collegians will be thankful that the defeat won’t affect their finals chances – as with Stratford, they now have enough points to reach finals without needing to win the next two rounds.
Rosedale-Kilmany, meanwhile, have bolstered their place in the top four, with 13 points now separating them and fifth-placed Bundalaguah on the First XI ladder.
Photo: Tom Parry
Maffra v Boisdale-Briagolong
AFTER four long and frustrating months, the Eagles’ home-ground curse has finally lifted, courtesy of a win against eighth-placed Boisdale-Briagolong.
The Saints resumed their first innings on 0/4, having batted for one over the previous Saturday, and with 225 still to chase.
Openers Michael Roberts and Toby Leeds made a promising start, adding 34 runs in the first 10 overs of the day.
A change in bowlers brought about the first breakthrough for Maffra, with spinner Ben Durrant catching Roberts off his own delivery.
Leeds fell not long after on 31.
Steve Noble and Dylan Bolton then collaborated for a slow-scoring partnership for the third wicket, yielding 45 runs from 25 overs.
Jack Kelly was the one to break that stand, bowling Noble on 22.
Following that, Bolton combined with Jonathon Outhart to add 29 runs until Kelly struck again, this time dismissing Bolton for 37.
Another stand was then forged between Outhart and Nick Pang, concluding with the latter’s dismissal on 12.
Outhart’s wicket in the 60th over was more or less the end for the B-Doubles, with the remaining four batsmen all dismissed in the next eight overs; in that time, just 19 runs were added to their total.
The Eagles were awarded victory on first innings by a margin of 82 runs, with Durrant having taken six of the 10 wickets.
Sadly, the win was too little, too late for Maffra – with two rounds of the season to go and 21 points separating them from the top four, their chance of making the finals has now slipped away.
Longford v Sale
ANOTHER centurion has joined Sale’s ranks, the feat coming via their victory against Longford.
Resuming their innings at 2/59, the Swans were dealt an early blow with the loss of Michael O’Brien, who was dismissed leg-before in the very first over of the day.
Coenie Nel’s wicket didn’t last much longer – he was caught-and-bowled by Jordan Price five overs later on 45.
It was left to Nathan Massey and Garreth Wolmarans to close the 80-run gap, which they did 17 overs later.
That same over proved to be the most expensive for Longford, with Wolmarans hitting a single, a four and two sixes off the bowling of Jack Heywood, who didn’t bowl again for the remainder of the innings.
Wolmarans ploughed on to score his first century for Sale, coming in the 47th over of the innings off just 89 balls.
The very next over, Massey brought up his half-century, after which captain Ben Jones declared the innings – possibly with his eye on an outright win.
That circumstance never eventuated.
The Lizards doggedly fought back from their 71-run deficit to be 5/137 by the close of play.
Despite ending the day 66 runs ahead of Sale, Longford were still deemed losers as they had the smaller first-innings total.
Captain Lachlan Floyd top-scored in the Lizards’ second innings with 57 not out, followed by Jordan Pirce with 28.
Sale’s Raaghav Sudan bested his figures from Round 11 by taking 2/9 off four overs.
