IN a thrilling clash to kick start the Hamilton and District Cricket Association for 2024, Gorae-Portland defeated local rivals Portland Tigers by three wickets with just two balls to spare at Alexandra Park on Saturday.

The Tigers won the toss and elected to bat first, with the game evenly poised early as the score stood at 2-26.

At this point stand-in Tigers captain Llewellyn Oakley partnered with his brother Nik to put on another 45 runs for the third wicket.

The back and forth continued throughout the middle portion of the match, with the Tigers able to string together some handy partnerships, with Nik Oakley’s 45 proving to be instrumental, while Go-Ports were able to keep finding wickets.

An epic 65 not out off just 35 balls from Dean Brewster tipped the scales in the Tigers’ favour as they were able to sneak past the 200-run mark, ultimately finishing up on 7-206.

Sam Roberts ended up being the pick of Go-Ports’ bowling attack in his first outing of the season, finishing with figures of 2-21 from nine overs including four maidens, while four other bowlers (Zac Stuchbery, Finn Saurine, Thomas Roberts and Stephen O’Brien) got in the wicket column.

The Tigers were also on top early with the ball, as Llewellyn Oakley was able to pick up an early scalp while the early bowlers were able to heavily restrict Go-Ports’ run rate.

However, the tide soon swung after the drinks break, as Saurine’s patience at the top of the order paid off with a valuable 60, while O’Brien added 36 off 32 to swing the momentum back in Go-Ports’ favour.

Nik Oakley and Joel Hollis combined to claim the wicket of both Saurine and O’Brien to push the game back once again in the Tigers’ favour, bringing two new batsmen to the crease.

But there was yet one more twist in the tale yet to come, as Stuchbery combined with Damien Compton down the order to keep pressing on and eventually get them over the line in the very last over of the match.

Compton finished with 39 not out off 27 deliveries, while Stuchbery had 25 not out off 23.

Hollis was the pick of the Tigers’ bowling attack, finishing up with 3-30 from his nine overs, while Nik Oakley was the most economical conceding just 28 runs from nine and picking up a scalp.

College victorious over Colts

College secured victory over Portland Colts at Hamilton College, victorious by seven wickets after chasing down a target of 200.

Colts’ innings went according to plan early, with opening pair Adam Barbary (75 off 66) and Alister Stannard (50) getting them to 110 runs without loss.

At 3-148 Colts were still in a reasonable position, however, a lower order collapse sparked by College’s Adrian Burn saw them bundled out for just 199 after 43.5 overs.

Colts captain Luke Evans was the other main contributor of the day in Colts’ innings, making 32 off 34.

But while the local side was in the game early with the bat, soon enough College was able to take the game away from them via a massive 109-run partnership from Hamish Bailey (86 not out) and Harry Austin (59) which saw them get over the line with more than six overs to spare.

St Andrews too good for South

St Andrews earned itself a strong victory over South Portland by 87 runs thanks to a strong all-around performance at Pedrina Park.

Brendan Huf set the tone at the top of the order with a strong 78, and found support through the rest of the line-up via fellow opener Michael Fitzpatrick (40 off 43) and Darryl Fry (48 not out) as they made their way to 5-205 after their 45-over allotment/

 Chris Barry bobbed up to claim two scalps in short order to keep South in it, while their skipper Lachie Warburton, Rory Barry and Shaun Lench all chimed in with a wicket of their own.

However, while Scott Martin (35) and Barry (15) got South off to a reasonable start at 0-54, shortly thereafter their batting order collapsed to lose nine wickets for just 34 runs, with an Eamon Drew 22 the lone saving grace.

Russell Elton did the bulk of the damage, picking up 3-10 from his nine overs, while Latham Wishart also picked up three scalps.

Other results

Tyrendarra’s clash with Casterton District, as well as Grampians versus Macarthur, had to be abandoned due to the weather.

In unusual circumstances, the Darras drew with Casterton as the game was called off due to excessive wind, and with Tyrendarra one over short of having faced the necessary 20 to qualify for the DLS, they were forced to accept a draw.

They had managed to bowl Casterton out for 115, with six different individual wicket takers, and were currently 3-62 off 19 with Hamish Withers not out on 18 and Jordi Withers not out on nine.

Meanwhile, Hamilton went down via DLS in their clash with Pigeon Ponds, as the match was rained out with Ponds standing at 5-108 after 20 overs chasing 151.