THE question of who could topple the until-recently undefeated Portland Tigers in the Portland and District Cricket Association was answered on Saturday, with Portland Colts chasing down their target of 103 in 18.1 overs at Henty Park to win by seven wickets in the final round of Twenty20 for the season.

Colts got their day off to a positive start as Oscar Barbary claimed the wicket of the dangerous Michael Blomeley with his first ball of the match in the second over.

Colts made their way through the Tigers’ top and middle order with some degree of ease, as Llewellyn Oakley was once again the man to stand tall for the visitors, his knock of 30 off 25 balls (including six boundaries) being vital to keeping them in the match.

Mat Payne did the bulk of the damage for Colts, claiming 4-16 from his four overs.

The Tigers eventually posted a total of 8-102 from their 20 overs, a total which owed a great deal to a wagging tail, as A grade debutant Seb Harvey made a very solid knock of 15 not out and was supported by Jock Keiller (12) and Joel Askew (18 not out off 16).

Mat Belden produced solid figures of 2-24 from his four overs, while Barbary and Damien Bell both finished with 1-21 from their four.

In contrast to the Tigers’ innings, Colts got off to an excellent start, with Adam Barbary (32 off 32) pairing with Glenn Hollis (40 off 35) to see the side most of the way to their target, with Hollis continuing what has been an exceptional season for him to this point.

The Tigers were able to give their opponents a few nervous moments towards the back end of the innings, as Joel Hollis struck to claim the wicket of Barbary, with Askew having Glenn Hollis caught behind shortly thereafter.

However, a pair of fours to skipper Luke Evans brought the match to a close with just under two overs to spare.

Askew finished with the Tigers’ best figures of 1-11 from three overs, with Hollis also having a solid outing, taking 1-13 from three.

Darras get over the line

Tyrendarra came into their match against South Portland on Saturday in desperate need of a win in their final match before the Christmas break, and a win is exactly what they got as they comfortably chased down their 87-run target with 4.1 overs and nine wickets in hand in their match at Cavalier Park.

Their match got off to a positive start with the ball, as Lachie Kirk had Demons opener Scott Martin dismissed in the fifth ball of the match.

In what was an excellent display of all-around bowling by the Darras, they were able to claim all 10 wickets for the innings, with Kirk finishing with the best figures of the lot, claiming 3-17.

Kade Wilson was also strong, claiming 2-14 off four overs, while Jake Wilson had 2-17 also off four overs, with the other wicket-takers being Sam Wilson and Zac Stuchbery.

South was able to get solid contributions from their middle order, with Mark Betteridge and Rory Barry each making 14, while captain Mitch Arnold and Harri Dennert had 10 apiece, however their total of 86 would take some defending.

Tyrendarra had other ideas, with Kirk once again having his fingerprints all over the contest, as he had an impressive knock of 26 not out, while the Wilson brothers, Sam and Jake, had 20 and 25 not out respectively.

The Darras ultimately got home quite comfortably, with neither wickets nor run-rate troubling their run chase significantly.

While Shaun Lench claimed the Demons’ sole wicket, the tidiest bowler of the afternoon was Arnold, who finished with figures of 0-7 from his overs, which included two maidens.

For Tyrendarra skipper Cam Mather, the match was really just about an opportunity to get out and play.

“Obviously it’s been a challenging start to the year, for us perhaps more so than many with games missed,” Mather said.

“Getting the result was fantastic as well… hopefully it’s something to build off of.”

He added that strong team performance with the ball was a very important takeaway from this one as well.

“Everyone involved produced a solid effort with the ball… I think if we can keep that extras count low, we’ll be all the better for it,” he said.

“It was good that Lachie, Sam and Jake made some runs… I think there’s still something to work on there as well in terms of keeping our run rate consistent… not getting bogged down is key.”

B grade results

An all-Warburton partnership was the key to South Portland’s B grade victory over Tyrendarra on Saturday at Cavalier Park, as they ultimately came away with a 22-run victory.

Troy and Tighe Warburton made 35 and 31 respectively for the Demons, with the pair putting on 51 for the fourth wicket.

Despite a solid opening partnership for Tyrendarra from Andrew Stuchbery (26) and Simon Lipscombe (23), the Darras weren’t able to chase down the total after their full 20 overs had expired.

Colts were able to get the best of Portland Tigers in their B grade clash at Henty Park, thanks to some excellent bowling which saw their opposition made a modest total of 70.

Chad Hollis was the pick of their bowling attack, taking 3-13 from his four overs, while Travis Earl and Alistair Billington took 2-7 and 2-11 respectively.

While there weren’t any stand-out efforts with the bat for Colts, they were able to keep the score ticking over, ultimately coming away winners with more than five overs to spare, despite a solid bowling effort from Chad Finck (2-6 off four).

It was a nail-biter in the other B grade match of the day, as Gorae-Portland were able to chase down their 67-run target set by Drumborg-Heywood at Heywood Recreation Reserve with just one ball to spare.

Michael Bell was Drumborg-Heywood’s best batsman on the day, making an unbeaten 29.

Go-Ports got solid contributions from multiple batsmen; however, it was Ryan Gadsden who got them over the line.

He found the boundary on the third ball of the over, before a single followed by a bye got the job done.

Matthew Kurtze had the best figures of the day, taking 2-9 from his three overs.