HDCA
TWO Casterton District teams will return to the crease this Saturday, securing berths in both the A Grade and B/C Grade Hamilton District Cricket Association finals.
The Maroons entered their last A Grade home game of the season, knowing a loss was going to see their year end prematurely and it was a last wicket partnership of 53, that allowed the Maroons to record victory against Hamilton and hand the wooden spoon to the Blues on Saturday.
Kaden Humphries won the toss for the home side and promptly decided to have a bat, with Ben Holmes and Humphries getting the innings underway.
Humphries (three) was soon walking back to the pavilion, as Cameron Templeton had the early wicket in his keeping, thanks to a good catch by Hamish Cook.
Caleb Millard had Holmes’ wicket in his pouch after he bowled the opener for only 12 to end an innings that never got going and the Maroons were 2-20.
This gave Kane Forbes (26) and Rick Killey (23) the chance to post a 50-run third wicket stand before Riley Casey sliced through the middle order with the wickets of Forbes, Casey Megaw (zero) and Michael Jarrad (one) to leave the innings in tatters at 5-76.
Killey was still there though and the task of lifting the score to a defendable level fell to him, but after he and Justin Carlin (17) took the tally to 101, the next four wickets fell for no runs to leave the home side floundering at 9-101 in the 34th over.
Enter Fletcher Bright at number 11, as he and Jacob Edwards (19-not-out) came together looking to stage a final-wicket rescue mission.
As the Hamilton bowlers tried everything possible to unsettle the last wicket pair, the batsmen continued to be bowed as the score mounted with each passing over.
The pair batted for 30 minutes together and took the final tally to 154 before Riley Casey finally ended the innings by having Bright (22) caught behind by Jake Lang.
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Having the runs on the board gave the Maroons some hope but it was a target that was very gettable for the Blues even after the first five wickets fell for only 51.
Hamish Cook (37) and Nic Cullinane (21) added 30 for the sixth wicket, but when Cook was bowled by Bright, Hamilton lost its last five wickets for only 16 runs to be bundled out for only 97 and hand Casterton District a bonus point victory, finals place and home-ground final at Island Park Turf, this Saturday.
Pigeon Ponds d St Andrew’s
PIGEON Ponds has secured second spot on the A Grade ladder and will host College at Monivae Turf next weekend after earning a bonus point victory over St Andrew’s at Clem Young Oval on Saturday.
Peter Staude won the toss for the visitors as he and Simon Close strode to the wicket to get the game underway against the new ball attack of Latham Wishart and Dale Harris.
Harris would send down only one over though after injuring his back in the first over of the game which saw him take no further part in the match.
It was a huge loss for the Drews, as Harris has been their strike weapon all summer long, but Luke Purcell took over for him and bowled well without luck.
Staude and Close batted with ease and posted 94 for the first wicket before Close (66) nicked off to Sam Burns.
Close was on fire with seven boundaries and a further two maximums and appeared likely to post a hundred when he fell against the run of play.
Michel Close (two), Noah Hildebrand (zero) and Staude (33) all followed soon after.
Anthony Close (53), Hamish McCrae (31) and Jack Beaton (14) all batted well to help the visitors reach 7-231 at the end of their allotted overs, with James Guthrig (3-27) taking the honours from Wishart (2-24).
The home side needed a strong start to the run chase if they were going to chase down the target, but Guthrig (zero) fell to Jack Beaton in the third over and then trapped Darryl Fry, LBW, with the very next delivery and the Drews never recovered.
The top order collapsed with only Brendan Huf (23) and Cameron Pither (16) reaching double figures, as the score slumped to be 7-69, when Drew’s skipper Simon Hatherell was joined by Luke Purcell in the 29th over.
The pair ensured that the home side would bat out the allotted overs, as they took the score to 141 with one ball remaining in the match, only for Purcell (34) to be bowled from the last ball of the game and St Andrew’s finished on 8-141.
Maroons secure C Grade final
RESULTS in all matches went the way of the favoured teams in the Hamilton and District Cricket Association B-C grade, as the finalists were decided in both B and C grades on Saturday.
Ladder positions didn’t change from before the round and Tahara, St Andrews, College Eagles and Hamilton North will battle it out for the B grade title, while St Andrew’s Saints, Casterton District, Byaduk and Grampians will fight for the C Grade crown.
The rarest of results, the tie, was recorded at Monivae Turf on Saturday, as Grampians and Casterton District couldn’t be separated after 80 overs were bowled.
The Pumas batted first after losing the toss and posted 6-166 from its allotted 40 overs with Campbell Glazebrook (48), Brodie Phillips (36) and Greg Millard (26) among the runs, while Pierce Kelly (2-43) took the honours with the ball.
In reply, Jedd Rhook led the way forward for Casterton District with a great knock of 77-not-out, with Mark Penny (27) giving the youngster great support, with the game eventually ending in a tie to knock Branxholme out of the finals.
