Tom Parry
IT could not have been a better day for play in the Sale-Maffra Cricket Association.
Blue skies, warm weather and dry conditions greeted players as they took to the field on Saturday afternoon, contrasting with the previous weekend’s cool temperatures and gusty winds.
The first grade competition saw Round 13 commence, with two sides posting scores of over 200, and another two being restricted to just under 150.
All four games are now at their halfway point and shall resume this weekend.
Collegians v Sale
GARRETH Wolmarans produced a match-saving knock to give Sale the advantage at College Oval.
The Swans seized the opportunity to bat after winning the toss, and looked to have chosen well when Matt Jackson hit a boundary off the very first ball.
Fortunes turned five balls later when he was bowled by Noah Hurley.
Two overs later, Michael O’Brien was gone for a duck, putting the score at 2/4.
Coenie Nel and Dan Padula didn’t last much longer, both gone for 17 and four respectively by the 11th over.
Also gone for low scores were Nathan Massey, Ben Jones and Hayden Glover, leaving Sale at a precarious 7/52 in the 25th over.
Wolmarans, who saw the latter three men depart from the opposite end of the pitch, set about rectifying the situation when joined by Matt Raidal.
Over the next 22 overs, the duo added 54 runs to put the Swans in a more dignified position.
The stand also saw Raidal hit two consecutive sixes off the bowling of spinner Jake Durnell.
Raidal’s departure on 26 brought Will McKenzie to the crease, who combined with Wolmarans for another rich partnership – this one adding 57 runs to Sale’s total.
After McKenzie was run out for 23, Raaghav Sudan joined Wolmarans for the 10th and final stand, which saw 58 runs amassed and both concluding the innings unbeaten.
Wolmarans was rewarded for his efforts with a century – his second in as many weeks – which came in the final over of the day off the bowling of Nathan Whitford.
His final score of 105 was made off 215 balls, including 10 fours and a six.
Tom Morrison was Collegians’ best bowler, finishing with figures of 4/38 from 20 overs, while Noah Hurley took three wickets.
RK v Boisdale-Briagolong
NO total was larger than that scored by the Warriors at Rosedale Recreation Reserve.
Having won the toss, Rosedale-Kilmany chose to bat first and had a lethargic start, not scoring until the fourth over.
Openers Leigh Freshwater and Brandon McDonald eventually got moving, adding 49 runs by the 23rd.
McDonald’s dismissal on 19 saw him replaced by an in-form Rohan Diamond, fresh after making 134 against Collegians the round before.
The second-wicket partnership of Diamond and Freshwater would go on to last 35 overs, with both batsmen scoring at a reasonably consistent rate to add 151 runs to RK’s total.
Saints fielder Jonathon Outhart was the one to break the stand, catching Diamond off Kal Randle’s bowling for 73.
Freshwater survived just three more overs before he too was caught, finishing with 84 – a performance that included three fours and four sixes.
The next six batsmen added 45 runs.
Curiously, the Warriors’ innings ended after just nine wickets fell with the score reading 236.
Boisdale-Briagolong’s Shaun May bagged a five-wicket haul in his 23 overs, while Liam Hurst collected two – both in the last over of the innings.
The Saints began their first innings late in the day, making three runs off two overs; they’ll need to make another 234 to avoid defeat.
Photo: File
Longford v Bundalaguah
STEPHENSON Park witnessed another superb effort from all-rounder Jordan Price, but it wasn’t enough to put the Lizards ahead.
The toss was won by Bundalaguah, with captain Jason Langshaw sending Longford in to set a total.
Ten runs were scored in the first five overs before Walt Sutton was caught for three; fellow opener Sam Dean departed not long after on seven.
Andrew Tyson and Jack Heywood were then lost, leaving the score 4/27.
Price and his captain, Lachlan Floyd, delivered the first decent partnership of the day, delivering 32 runs across 12 overs for the fifth wicket.
Price then combined with the club’s president, Brett McMaster, to add 52 in the sixth-wicket, these runs coming off just 10 overs.
More batsmen came and went as Price surpassed a half-century, eventually being caught behind in the 46th over with the score 9/130.
A last-gasp stand from Navdeep Singh and Nick Walker saw 23 runs added; the former was the 10th and final batsman to fall in the 54th over.
In an innings that saw everybody bar their wicket-keeper, Charlie Morris assume duties with the ball, youngster Hamish Anderson proved Bundy’s standout bowler with 3/19, followed by Kshitiz Sharma with 2/30.
The Bulls started their chase with two Wrigglesworths as the opening batsmen – Lachlan and Hayden.
Sadly, Lachlan made just six runs before he was bowled by Price in the fifth over, his departure making way for Chris Smart.
Smart and Hayden would go on to survive the remainder of the day’s play, making 52 runs and ending with Bundy sitting on 1/63.
Stratford v Maffra
RUNS were less forthcoming in the other match of Round 13, where Jack Tatterson was the hero in a low-scoring affair.
Maffra won the toss and batted first, losing both of their openers early at the hands of Stratford’s Seb Pendergast and Lachlan Channing.
Ben Harrington and Nathan Hibbins were next to go, both victims of Tatterson’s bowling.
With Maffra’s score 4/43, Josh Davis and captain Lee Hopkins knuckled down to add 79 runs across the next 34 overs.
Tatterson would be the one to break the partnership, dismissing Davis leg-before on 76.
The very next over, Hopkins was also trapped in front of his stumps, in this instance by his opposite number, Jack Rietschel on 25.
Tatterson’s assault continued, claiming the scalps of Ben Sly, Danny Butcher and Jack Kelly to finish the innings with six wickets.
Four of those six victims were bowled, and two LBWs.
Rietschel’s two wickets were both LBW, his other dismissal being the dangerous Dylan Freitag.
Maffra’s last two wickets fell in the 69th over of the day, their innings ending with the score on 145.
In response, Stratford have so far made 16 runs without loss after 11 overs, needing another 130 to win on first innings.
