Maroons destroy Drews to retain second spot
CASTERTON District continued on from where it left on, smashing the Drews in its HDCA Under-14 clash at PP3 on Saturday morning.
The Maroons resumed on day two at 2-143, having already passed the Drews’ 120 total, with Arjun Yadav on 36-not-out to start the day.
Yadav continued on with the job, reaching 51 before retiring, while Jedd Rhook (51-retired) and Mitchell Hateley (50-retired) also played important roles for the visitors.
Billy Rhook added 32, as the Maroons eventually closed the day’s play on 6-343 from 53.3 overs, aided by a whopping 87 extras.
The wickets were shared among the Drews bowlers with no multiple wicket-takers.
College Gold d. Tarrington
GOLD resumed its innings at 1-83 against Tarrington at Myrniong Recreation Reserve on day two with the team struggling to continue the momentum from day one.
Dougal White (14) and Darcy Milne (19) got the home team going, but the latter was first to fall when Jonathon Beattie got the first wicket of the day, while White fell three runs later.
Scoring continued to be tough, with nobody else able to reach double figures, but the home team did enough to reach the target, declaring at 7-161, to win by 10 runs.
Will Bester and Cameron Christie grabbed two wickets each for the Tigers.
Tahara v Grampians
THE Blue Caps resumed their innings at 1-22 with rain forcing a premature end to the clash at Tahara Recreation Reserve.
The home side eventually closed its innings on 2-51 in reply to the Pumas’ 98, with the result officially declared a draw.
College Blue d. Hamilton
AFTER posting 9-207 on day one of its clash against Hamilton at Haymes Paints Oval, College Blue set about defending the big score on Saturday in the final game of the round.
The Blues got off to a steady start on their home ground, as Isaac Shaw and Bodie Cameron opened the innings and looked positive from the outset.
A 42-run opening partnership was eventually broken when Tom Hill rattled Cameron’s stumps to dismiss the opener for 24.
Shaw pushed on though and reached 53-retired at a run-a-ball pace, but the lack of support after the openers was evident.
Regular wickets then started to fall with Kaeden Murphy (three) the next best score, as Hamilton was restricted to 101 from 21.3 overs.
Ned Hintum and Sam Tonissen each finished with three wickets for the visitors.
Semi-finals
THE finals get underway this weekend with two intriguing semi-finals scheduled across Saturday and Sunday mornings.
College Gold will host Tahara at Myrniong Recreation Reserve this weekend, while Grampians will make the long trek to Island Park to take on Casterton District.
The two winners will then face-off in the grand final next weekend.
Blues grab victory to finish top
HAMILTON has accounted for Casterton District in its Hamilton and District Cricket Association (HDCA) Under-16 clash at Dahl Turf on Tuesday to ensure the Blues finish the season in top spot.
The Maroons won the toss and batted first in the one-day clash and Sully Gibbs (15) and Oliver Foster (20) got the visitors off to a steady start.
Josh Jones (20) was the only other Casterton District batsman to reach double figures, as Hamilton grabbed regular wickets to restrict the visitors to 5-84 from their 24 overs.
Tyler Ellis was the standout bowler with 2-9 from four overs.
The home team then got off to a fast start with both Noah Cameron and Archie Buck retiring on 25, while Lachie Walker’s 14 runs helped push the Blues’ total up to 4-108 at stumps.
The wickets were shared across the Maroons’ bowling attack.
Hamilton finishes the season in top spot, while the Maroons went winless, finishing sixth.
College Gold d. Grampians
GRAMPIANS travelled to College Turf to take on College Gold, but the Pumas struggled to match Gold.
The home team batted first after winning the toss with each of the top four getting starts, highlighted by Jack Austin (24), Eli Hunter (20) and Harry Austin (30-retired).
Charlie Whitehead added 14 runs in the middle order, as the team reached 8-118 from its 24 overs.
Lachlan Phillips was the best of the Grampians bowlers, finishing with 3-16 from four overs.
Eddie McShane and Phillips opened the run chase for the visitors, with the latter the first to return to the pavilion for six runs.
McShane retired on 25, while Angus Heazlewood did his best to push the team closer to the target with 26-retired and Ned Andrew added 15, but the Pumas fell well short in the end, finishing on 8-95.
Hunter grabbed four wickets for Gold.
College Blue d. St Andrew’s
THE Drews had home ground advantage for their clash against College Blue at Clem Young Oval, but the visitors made better use of conditions to grab the win.
St Andrew’s batted first after winning the toss, but it was a struggle for the team from early on.
Fraser Hill looked positive, but at the other end, the Drews lost 3-0, as Henry Bensch ripped through the top order.
Hammish Shipcott offered some respite for the Drews with nine runs in the middle order, while Hill eventually retired on 25.
Ben Packman’s 22-not-out and Harley Simpson’s 15-not-out helped push the home side’s total up to 7-76.
Bensch didn’t concede a run from his four overs, while grabbing three wickets, alongside Tom Heazlewood who also grabbed three wickets for Blue.
Cooper Edmonds and Bensch opened the run chase and both reached 27 before retiring, while George Huf also hit 25 before retiring, as Blue easily reached the target before pushing on to reach 1-103 at stumps.
Packman was the lone wicket-taker for the Drews.
Semi-finals
HAMILTON will host St Andrew’s at Dahl Turf, while College Blue and College Gold will face off at College Turf.
Both games will be played over two days, starting on Tuesday and continuing on Thursday.
