Sport
5 February, 2023
Homers sets target in battle for third
HOMERS has set the target for Rup-Minyip to chase in Horsham Cricket Association A Grade round 13 action, as the two teams battle for third place on the premiership table. With just one game separating the teams on the ladder, day one saw Homers...
HOMERS has set the target for Rup-Minyip to chase in Horsham Cricket Association A Grade round 13 action, as the two teams battle for third place on the premiership table.
With just one game separating the teams on the ladder, day one saw Homers post a competitive target of 226 at the Sunnyside Reserve, setting up a testing run chase for the Combine this weekend.
Winning the toss and batting, Homers made the most of its top order with a 29-run opening stand that was followed by some healthy partnerships throughout its top order.
Opening bat Paddy Mills continued his run, scoring at the top of the order and, with Mark Mbofana, set the foundations before putting his team in a strong position when joined by Logan Millar for a second wicket stand.
The pair put out 93 runs, as both batsmen mixed defence with attack to keep the hard working Rup-Minyip bowling attack at bay.
Mills clipped a top score of 64, which came off 126 balls, as Millar continued to keep the scoring ticking over through his innings.
Luke Deutscher made 15 in a 29-run stand with Millar before both batsmen were dismissed within the space of four runs, with Millar’s innings coming to an end two runs shy of a half-century during a 97-ball stay at the wicket.
At 4-155, the innings were in balance as a tense arm wrestle took place at the end of the innings. Homers continued to work hard with Jason Kannar holding the middle order together.
Wickets fell around his innings which saw him remain unbeaten on 41 when the final wicket fell.
Kannar registered five boundaries through his 64-ball run stay, as Rup-Minyip claimed the final five wickets for 26 runs to set up an interesting day two.
Four Rup-Minyip bowlers claimed two wickets, with opening paceman Lachie Weidemann working hard through 17 overs to claim 2-36,
Baxta Hendy finished with 2-37 off 13 overs, Cameron Weston claimed 2-61 off 16 overs and Braydon Ison chimed in to claim 2-30 off eight overs.
With time for just one over, Weidemann faced out the six balls with no damage to set up Rup-Minyip’s challenge tomorrow.
At City Oval, second-placed Bullants made its first appearance for the year with a commanding display with the bat in their clash with Jung Tigers.
The Bullants occupied the crease for the entire day, which consisted of 75 overs to make an imposing 9-361.
Some telling partnerships set up the strong total as Jung worked hard to make breakthroughs, but found the overall strength of the batting line-up a hard nut to crack.
With the wickets of openers Shane Oakley, seven, Jarred Combe, 21, and Garret Liston, a first ball duck which put Tyler Puls on a hat-trick, Jung made a good start to reduce its opponent to 3-59.
But the batting line-up showed its class with half-centuries to skipper Matt Combe, Tony Caccaviello, Troy Dumesny and Kent Hair, ensuring the imposing target was set.
Combe and Caccaviello shared a 61-run stand for the fourth wicket before Caccaviello was joined by Dumesny, with the pair putting on 75 for the fifth wicket.
Another 78-run stand for the seventh between Dumesny and Hair kept the scoreboard ticking over at a frantic rate as Hair dominated the attack late in the innings.
Hair finished unbeaten on 67 which came off 56 balls including nine boundaries, after Combe made 54, Caccaviello made 66, and Dumesny finished with a top score of 77 off 84 balls including eight boundaries.
Puls finished the best of the Jung bowling line-up as he worked hard through 18 overs to finish with 3-63.
B Grade matches are set for a big finish in round 10, with three games in the balance, while ladder leader Lubeck-Murtoa is in control of its clash against Bullants.
The ladder leader flexed their muscles with the bat, putting together a commanding total of 5-287, which was highlighted by a top score of 96 to Blake Downer. Other contributions were made from Nick Ballagh, 47, and opener, Shannon Reddie, 39.
Second-placed Horsham Saints will chase down a total of 148 for victory when they resume against Blackheath-Dimboola.
The Bulls worked hard for their runs in a game which saw them bat the day out through 60 overs. Rob Somers hit an unbeaten top score of 34, while skipper Sam Polack made 31 and Brodie Cramer made 24.
For the Saints, opening paceman Josh Carroll finished with best figures of 4-35 off 15 overs.
A battle for third place is set for a big finish after Colts set Laharum 135 runs for victory.
Colts worked hard through 58.4 overs with Josh Colbert top scoring with 30, while Dinesh Kancharapu made 25 and Josh Miller guided his side to stumps with 19.
For Laharum, opening paceman Josh Mahoney finished with impressive figures of 3-45 off 17 overs.
At Minyip, Rup-Minyip will resume a run chase at 1-70 after Jung Tigers posted a competitive 180 runs.
The innings was highlighted by an unbeaten knock of 58 from Prabah Bandara who made a quickfire 58 from 39 balls that included nine boundaries and a six, ensuring a competitive total after being reduced to 8-103.
Rup-Minyip opening paceman Clint Midgley claimed four of the first five wickets to fall, and finished with strong figures of 5-39 off 14 overs.
Rup-Minyip will resume its run chase tomorrow with Midgley and Nick Hudson both unbeaten on 22.
C Grade made its return for the new year with a full round of matches being completed.
Ladder leader Homers continuied to lead the charge with a powerful victory over Lubeck-Murtoa.
Homers 4-222 (Will Drummond 54 ret., Joey Nagorcka 54 no, Darren Schultz 2-44) defeated Lubeck-Murtoa 125 (Cameron Newell 32, Seth Callaby 24; Spencer Weir 4-8).
West Wimmera Warriors 7-142 (James Crowhurst 40, Jordan Gurry 31; Jamie Shevlin 2-12) defeated Laharum 9-125 (Jude Borlase 38, Jordan Matuschke 17; Xavier Bone 3-14).
Blackheath-Dimboola 96 (Nathan Schorback 37, Steve Glover 23; Jett Mun 7-15) lost to Natimuk 2-109 (Tyler Coutts 32, Liam Klowss 30).
Quantong 3-214 (Jack Vague 50 ret., Rob Caris 50 ret., Nathan Robinson 33; Amrit Pun Magar 2-12) defeated Jung Tigers 54 (Curtis Castleman 15, Shannon Bartlett 12; Stuart Jose 3-0, Andrew Vague 2-4).
Horsham Saints 5-161 (Rod Kirkwood 51, Kingsley Dalgleish 31; Brydon McPhee 2-22) defeated Colts 6-124 (Brydon McPhee 29 no, Darren Stephens 28 no, Martin Sandford 25; Cody Keddie 2-23).