COLLEGE Eagles comfortably defeated Branxholme in the Hamilton and District Cricket Association (HDCA) B/C grade last Saturday, thanks to a blistering knock of 84 from Eagles’ opener, Jonathan Jenkin.

The Eagles’ top order fell around Jenkin, as he carried the team with his solo effort, after he lost the rest of his top five for 17 runs combined.

Harry Austin provided some resistance against the Branxholme bowlers, as he got settled at the crease and worked well with Jenkin, regularly turning over the strike before he was dismissed for 25.

The pair were the only players in the College team to reach double figures with the bat, which helped drag its score to 149 off 32.1 overs.

Branxholme’s Ray Sutton ripped through the College Eagles batting line-up with his hooping inswingers to pick up figures of 5-6 off seven overs.

Austin continued his stellar form with ball in hand, dismissing both openers, Andrew McFarlane (nine) and Tristan McMahon (zero), and getting his team off to a flying start.

Adam Campbell managed to scrape together 14 with assistance from Sutton who managed 10, but these performances were never going to be enough, as Ross Milne went to work on the Bulls’ middle order taking three important wickets.

Branxholme was disappointingly bowled all out for just 59 after 30.4 overs, as the Eagles showed their firepower with the ball.

Byaduk d. Casterton District

ARCHIE Cameron was the man for Byaduk on Saturday with an unbeaten knock of 71 to see his side home to victory and chase down Casterton District’s total of 120.

The Maroons batted first and while they didn’t lose many wickets, the Ducks restricted scoring with some very tidy bowling throughout the innings.

Mark Penny was the leader with the bat and anchored the innings, carrying his bat to finish the innings with 62-not-out, off 115 balls.

Jedd Rhook managed to hit a fast 34 for his team and the scoreboard showed 3-120 off 40 overs at the innings break.

The Byaduk batsmen produced some nice cameos through, including Drew Pickford (14), Will Kinghorn (16) and Tony Dickson (15 not out), but it was Cameron who stole the show and batted for more than two hours to reach 71-not-out and help his team pass the total, and win the game just four wickets down.

Tom Rowland fought hard for Casterton District with two wickets, but it wasn’t enough to restrict the Ducks.

St Andrews Saints d. Grampians

ST Andrew’s Saints sits just outside the top four on the B/C grade ladder after a healthy win against Grampians at Pedrina Park 1 on Saturday.

Grampians batted first and while almost every batsman managed to get themselves set at the crease with the top six all reaching double figures, nobody was able to take it to the next level and grind out a big individual score, resulting in a total of 115 at the conclusion of the team’s innings.

Ashley Read top scored with 26 and was well supported by Matthew Read who hit 24, while the Saints’ Michael (Harry) Harris did the damage with the ball, taking three wickets.

Barry Pech was the star of the show in the Drews’ innings, scoring 79, which included seven fours and three sixes to set the Saints up for victory.

The ever-reliable Geoff Barker seeing the side over the line with 54-not-out, Puma bowlers, Joe Keady and Shaun Peters took two wickets each.

St Andrews d. Hamilton

It was an absolute thrashing at Clem Young Oval, as St Andrew’s destroyed Hamilton on Saturday, posting a big score of 220, before bowling the visitors out for a measly 42.

It was the best start that St Andrew’s could’ve asked for, as the opening partnership between Kane Taylor and James Guthrig continued to grow, reaching 127 before Taylor was dismissed for 53 by Dave Perera.

Guthrig pushed on with his innings to make a big score of 71, which combined with Andy O’Connor’s knock of 55-not-out, gave the St Andrew’s bowlers a great total to defend - the final score was 220.

Perera and Jackson Ellis took two wickets each for the visitors.

It was a grim scorebook for Hamilton, as the side slumped to a slow total of 42 off 32.4 overs.

St Andrew’s opening bowler, Luke Purcell, was on fire early removing opening batsmen, Nicholas O’Brien (three) and Tyler Ellis (two), before Connor Burns ripped through captain, Rory Steff (six), and Isaac Shaw (two).

Rylan Pech also finished off with two wickets and Tony Dumesny took three wickets in a completely one-sided affair.

Steff’s score of six was the top score for his team in a day that the Hamilton players won’t want to remember in a hurry.

Tahara d. Hamilton North

The Blue Caps turned the tides from the T20 encounter to thump Hamilton North at Hamilton Recreation Reserve, thanks to some incredible bowling from Tahara’s Luke Barnes, as he claimed 5-8 off his eight overs.

Tahara batted first and within no time, Kieran Barker was sent back to the sheds with one run, handing Eli Crutch his first wicket of the day.

Harry Armstrong (22) was next to depart after a solid start, as Crutch claimed another victim, but it was Bradley Gauci (61) and Sam Brewer (76-not-out) who pushed the team to a big total of 212 – Crutch and Jaiden Ciccone took two wickets each.

Barnes and Hamish Myers obliterated the Hammers’ batting order, taking wickets for fun and bowled them out for 44 with extras (10) being the top scorer of the innings.

Barnes finished with 5-8 while Myers 3-5 which placed Tahara in second position on the ladder.