Sport
14 November, 2023
Bulls fall short against Saints
Blackheath Dimboola put in a more competitive effort to just fall short against the Horsham Saints at Dimboola Recreation Reserve in Round four of the Horsham Cricket Association. After winning the toss and electing to bat, the home side got off to...
Blackheath Dimboola put in a more competitive effort to just fall short against the Horsham Saints at Dimboola Recreation Reserve in Round four of the Horsham Cricket Association.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, the home side got off to a great start through Sam Leith (56) and Brodie Cramer (33). When they both fell, so did the wickets. They finished with 159, their highest score of the year. Brock Hamerston took 3/23 for the Saints.
In the chase, the Saints were cruising with Mark Crafter (61) and Rod Kirkwood (40) having a brilliant opening stand.
Similar to Blackheath Dimboola's innings in that when they fell, so did the wickets. The experience of Gary Davidson, however, guided the Saints home with four overs to spare. Elliott Braithwaite was the pick of the bowlers with 3/38.
Blackheath Dimboola captain Sam Leith said it was a more competitive effort and that they are getting closer to putting it together.
"We definitely have a better platform to work on for next week. We had no dropped catches which was a start, and the fielding has definitely picked up," he said.
"Our bowling and batting need work. With the batting, it was good to have runs on the board but we fell away and didn't have enough firepower to get an extra 20 or 30 runs which could have been the difference.
"After drinks we got five quick wickets before Gary rectified everything and cruised them home. We got close in the end and there is a lot to take away from the match."
Saints captain Gary Davidson said it was nice to win after the hard start to the year.
"There's a lot of teams that are probably grouped at our ability level. The two we have played we have won and the two that are much better than us, we have lost," he said.
"We just need to continue to keep maintaining that and winning the close games and improving where we can.
"It was good to see Blackheath Dimboola get a few players back. It's unfortunate for them that they have had so many miss the first month so if they get all their players back, they will definitely be competitive."
The Noradjuha-Toolondo Bullants won a 1 wicket thriller against Laharum at Horsham City Oval.
After winning the toss and electing to bowl, the Bullants bowled Laharum out for 116 off 29.3 overs. Ben Peucker again top scored for Laharum with 40. John Heard was the pick of the bowlers with 2/5 with Matthew Combe, Jordan McDonald and Heath Lang also taking 2 wickets.
The run chase got off to a poor start for the Bullants losing Justtin Combe and Shane Oakley for a duck and one run respectively to the bowling of Patrick Smith. Both Jude Borlase and Josh Mahoney both were on hat-tricks during the innings and were on the brink of victory with the Bullants at 9/92 late in the innings.
Kobi Lang (19) and Heath Lang (6) guided the Bullants home in a close match. Tobey Anson was the Bullants top scorer with 41 runs. Josh Mahoney was the best bowler for Laharum with figures of 4/16 off his 9 overs.
This is the second time Laharum has lost a game by 1 wicket and Josh Mahoney said that whilst it's a bit frustrating, they know they are on the right track.
"That's cricket. Anything can happen on the day. It was one of those games where we just kept chipping away," he said.
We took all our chances in the field which helped a fair bit. We have shown glimpses with the bat and couldn't put it together. We could have been 3-1 rather than 1-3 but there is a lot to build on.
"We have some good young kids coming through and Jackson didn't get the rewards for his good bowling. With the batting it's just a matter of getting everyone to cash in."
The Homers scored a shock win, defeating premiership favourites, West Wimmera Warriors by 26 runs at Sunnyside.
The Homers won the toss and elected to bat and again it was teenagers Patrick Mills, 66, and Logan Millar, 79, leading the way, helping set up a total of 220. Nathan Alexander took 3/25 for the Warriors.
The Homers bowlers then bowled straight at the stumps which paid dividends, never letting the dangerous batting attack get going, apart from Mitchell Dahlenberg, who top scored with 73.
Gibson Perry 4/18 was the pick of the bowlers. Chaminda Gamage only went for 21 runs off his 9 overs, and got a wicket, which pressured the Warriors premier batsmen.
Captain Adam Atwood praised the batsmen, as well as Perry for his day out with the ball.
"We batted really well. We set a little target at the end of the innings to get 220, and we managed to pull that off," he said.
"Patrick and Logan are in some hot form at the moment. Everything is coming off the middle of the bat. Even defensive shots. It's good to watch. Logan especially is hitting them big with a couple of huge sixes the last two weeks.
"Perry was really good. We told him to bowl straighter and more at the stumps and he did and it paid dividends. Three of his wickets were bowled and one was LBW. At Sunnyside you have to bowl straight and he did it perfectly."
Lubeck Murtoa lost by 87 runs to the Horsham Tigers at Minyip. The game was moved due to the pitch not being ready at Murtoa, and after losing the toss, they restricted the Tigers to 6/225. Angus Adams continued his hot start to the season with 69 and Tyler Puls also did well with 57. Shannon Reddie, 2/35, and Xavier Shevlin, 2/48, were the pick of the bowlers.
In the chase, Thomas Barrand, 41, and Blake Turner, 46, put up resistance but the Tigers were to good bowling them out for 138. Tyler Puls, 3/19 and Levi Mock, 3/30 were the best bowlers for the Tigers.
Tigers captain Tyler Puls said it was a nice team effort.
"Even though the runs don't show it, everyone chipped in and did their part. It was nice to get runs on the board and we took our chances when they came as well," he said.
Lubeck Murtoa captain Shannon Reddie said they are just not at the level they need to be.
"We bowled reasonably well but they tore us apart. It was a fast oval and they got a couple of set batters and we struggled to get them out," he said.
"We kept missing the mark. We are not quite at A-Grade level bowling yet. We need to get the length right more often.
"With our batting, we just need to settle a bit. We have a few making runs and we just need a few more to do that and if that happens, we will definitely see results our way."