Sport
23 January, 2024
Saints and Mudlarks tie in thriller
Matthew Combe's century against Blackheath Dimboola and a tie between Horsham Saints and Lubeck Murtoa were just some of the highlights from week nine of the Horsham Cricket Association season.
At Coughlin Park the Horsham Saints and Lubeck Murtoa fought out a thrilling tie.
After winning the toss and batting, Thomas Barrand 22, Joshua Hedt 27 and an unbeaten 33 from Blake Downer guided them to a toal of 8/146 from their 45 overs.
Matt Carroll was the pick of the bowlers with 3/38 with Brock Hamerston 2/18 and Jono Carroll 2/33 chipping in.
The Saints got off to a great start and with Gary Davidson looking great at the crease, they looked to be in a winning position at 3/92. Their middle order struggled and when Davidson fell they needed 22 runs with four wickets in hand.
The match went down to the final over bowled by Thomas Barrand. Brock Hamerston was on strike and after three dot balls, they needed 6 runs off the last three balls to win. He scored 2 runs with the fourth and fifth ball of the over.
The last ball, the equation was simple. A dot ball would give the Mudlarks a victory, but the Saints managed to rush for a single to tie the match.
Lubeck Murtoa captain Shannon Reddie said they did well to get back into the match.
"The bowlers were really good. Barrand was wanting to come off and was getting tired but I forced him to bowl which paid off," he said.
"Blake Downer bowled well in the death overs and kept it tight and Nic Ballagh did well.
"Unfortunately we couldn't win but the signs were good. We just need our batters to convert their starts."
Saints captain Gary Davidson said the wicket was tough.
"It was a very difficult wicket. It wasn't easy to score for either team. It was a challenge and both teams bowled well," he said.
At Dimboola Recreation Reserve, Matthew Combe put on a show scoring 104 of 113 balls. The Bulls won the toss and decided to bowl. Elliott Braithwaite struck early dismissing Jamie Byrne with a great catch off his own bowling for 14 but Matthew Combe and Justtin Combe both put on a big partnership.
They had their chances dropping both and they were punished with Justtin making 54 and Matthew's century leading them to a total of 8/217.
Daniel Polack 4/51 and Elliot Braithwaite 2/40 were the wicket-takers for the Bulls.
In response the Bulls faltered with Braithwaite's score of 62 the shining light as they were bowled out for 134 in the 35th over.
Justtin Combe 3/20 and Heath Lang 3/25 were the pick of the bowlers and Matthew Combe picked up a wicket in a man of the match performance.
Bullants captain Matthew Combe was pleased with the performance.
"We spoke about it before the game that we have a big four games ahead of us and that we need to win to put us in a good spot," he said.
"It was a tricky wicket to bat on initially but then when it flattened out it was beautiful.
"We aimed for 150+ but we got over 200 which was ideal and our bowlers did a great job to defend it."
Bulls captain Sam Leith said it was one of those days.
"The dropped catches early didn't help and it set the tone for the day," he said.
"We did bowl well late in the innings, so a credit to the boys for fighting it out.
Braithwaite made some runs which was good to see. Sam Polack and Harry Young stayed in the middle for a bit too which helped."
At Horsham City Oval, the Homers solidified their premiership credentials with a brilliant 40 run win over the Tigers.
Tigers captain Tyler Puls won the toss and decided to bowl and had the Homers in trouble early at 3/19 thanks to an excellent spell from Jake Durdin.
Logan Millar 79, Adam Atwood 27 and a brilliant unbeaten 59 from Chaminda Gamage guided them to 7/194.
David Puls 2/22, Jake Durdin 2/39 and Tyler Puls 2/20 were the wicket-takers for the Tigers.
In the chase, Baxter Perry trapped Brenton Hallam LBW for a duck with the third ball of the innings to give the Homers a brilliant start.
Dom Rose and Jake Durdin rallied but were dismissed in quick succession to be 3/39. Tyler Puls 48, Angus Adams 18 and Levi Mock 25 all batted well but the Homers bowling was too good and they were unable to chase the target down, bowled out for 154 in the 39th over.
Adam Atwood 4/35, Gibson Perry 3/32 and Baxter Perry 2/30 all bowled brilliantly for the Homers.
Gamage is having a great season and was thrilled with his innings.
"I'm really happy. I love playing at Horsham City Oval," he said.
"It's exciting to be on top and I am enjoying my cricket.
"I really enjoy playing with the team. Adam is a good captain and we are all enjoying ourselves."
Tigers captain Tyler Puls said they couldn't capitalise on their moments.
"We got starts but we couldn't go on with it," he said.
"We got three early wickets and had them in trouble but they built a good partnership and we struggled to break it and keep the pressure on."
In the other match at Cameron Oval West Wimmera were too strong for Laharum winning by seven wickets.
Josh Mahoney 13 and Dayan Wilfred 15 were the shining lights in the batting in their total of 58. Bradley Alexander 4/25 was the pick of the bowlers for the Warriors.
Laharum battled hard in the field and their bowlers did well, but the Warriors, one of the premiership fancies, were too strong chasing the total down in the 18th over.
Jobe Dickinson continued his brilliant season with 24 whilst Ben Peucker 1/4, Jim McInnes 1/3 and Joel Pymer 1/12 were the wicket-takers for Laharum.