ROUND 14 of the Hamilton and District Cricket Association A grade competition saw teams come from behind to claim the points and this has meant that only six teams can reach finals with only one round remaining in the 2023-24 season.

Casterton District d Hamilton

CASTERTON District came from behind to register a dominant victory against Hamilton at Island Park Turf, as Hamilton failed to take advantage of its great form on day one.

After dismissing the home side for only 152 and then had knocked off 25 runs for the loss of two wickets at the end of the first day, the visitors were favourites to claim its second win of the summer against the Maroons after claiming the points in the one-day format.

With the four main Casterton District bowlers all having had a full week at Melbourne Country Week, there were some sore and tired bodies among the home side.

Despite that, the Blues batsmen failed to take the opportunity to bat the entire day, as only Nic Cullinane (43) and Brett Ezard (15) were able to register double figures, as the team capitulated for only 85.

Jacob Edwards was the star with the ball in grabbing 4-15 and Logan Gibbs with 3-19 were brilliant in backing up after such a tough campaign in Melbourne.

The victory lifted the Maroons in second spot and if the team can defeat Pigeon Ponds in the last round, they should host a semi-final, while Hamilton has two weeks of cricket left for the summer against Portland Tigers at Dahl Turf.

College d Macarthur

AFTER posting 8-298 on day one, College entered day two with the confidence the team could knock off the Macarthur batsmen and remain in the hunt for a finals spot.

The home side had other ideas though, as the batsmen dug deep to recover from the loss of both opening batsmen cheaply, as Ollie Wortley (61) and Michael Brilley (95) combined for a 141-run third wicket partnership that swayed the match back onto a knife edge.

When Adrian Burn broke through to claim Wortley’s wicket, a second followed soon after, as Kyle Smitten came and went but the prize scalp of Brilley came with only 184 on the board and five wickets remaining.

Macarthur skipper, Charlie Summers, has enjoyed a late season form surge with the bat, and he posted 48, while Sam Lambevski (29) and Jeremy Sheehan (16) kept the home side well in the contest, but when they departed, the visitors grabbed the final wickets with 271 on the board.

Jordy Anthony (3-57) led the way with the ball, while Lachie Watt (3-63), Lachie Brown (2-46) and Burn (2-9) gave great support.

Macarthur cannot reach the finals now, but College needs to defeat Gorae-Portland by an outright result in the last round to force its way into fourth place and remain a chance to record three premierships in succession.

Portland Tigers d Pigeon Ponds

PIGEON Ponds would have been expecting to finish its last game at Pigeon Ponds Recreation Reserve this season on a winning note, as it started Saturday with a total of 235 to defend against Portland Tigers.

The result was on track for much of the day, especially as the home side already had three wickets in hand at the start of the day.

Llewellyn Oakley and Paul Procter resumed in the middle for the visitors and took the score to 59 before Procter was bowled for 14.

Oakley (58) then combined with Ian Faure (50) to add 92 for the fifth wicket, as the total climbed higher, but both were back in the pavilion within a run of each other, as the Pigeons struck a double blow to have the Tigers in trouble at 6-152.

By halfway through the 43rd over, the home side appeared headed for victory, as the scoreboard showed 9-191, as only Will Oakley (23) wagged the Tigers tail.

Joel Askew (39-not-out) and Toby Oakley (nine-not-out) dug in to grab victory with a last wicket stand of 53 to have the visitors leapfrog their hosts on the ladder.

Ponds travel to Island Park to battle Casterton District, while Portland Tigers are away to Hamilton to round out the summer.

Gorae-Portland d St Andrew’s

AN inspired 80 from Sam Roberts has lifted Gorae-Portland to a two-wicket victory over St Andrew’s at Alexandra Park.

Go-Ports resumed their innings at 0-21 with just 96 further runs required for victory, however disaster followed shortly after play got underway with both openers Finn Saurine and Zac Duncan removed for 13 and 21 respectively.

Their captain, Nick Wills, was the only other batsman inside Go-Ports’ top seven to reach double figures, as they slumped to 8-92 with still a further 25 runs required for victory.

However, Roberts was able to combine with Zac Stuchbery to not only see Go-Ports to victory, but well beyond their target of 116 to eventually be all out for 203.

Roberts’ 80 came off just 53 balls, as he hit 13 boundaries including four sixes in a match-winning performance which was supported by Stuchbery’s patient 24-not-out.

The result ensures that Go-Ports remain within reach of a finals berth as they stand just 2.4 points outside of fourth place.

Tyrendarra d South Portland

IT certainly wasn’t Tyrendarra’s prettiest win of the season, but nonetheless they managed to get the job done against South Portland at Cavalier Park, securing the first innings victory with three wickets in hand.

The Darras resumed their innings on 2-27 with a further 100 runs required for victory, but found trouble early on, as both of their openers for the day in Jordi Withers and Jake Wilson departed courtesy of Rory Barry, with the scoreline soon reading 4-40.

However, the ship was soon righted thanks to a partnership between Cam Mather and Ben Menzel, with the pair helping Tyrendarra to triple digits.

The Demons were able to throw one last scare through Tyrendarra, as they had both Menzel (41) and Mather (21) dismissed in quick succession, but ultimately the Darras were able to get across the line with wickets to spare.

The Darras declared shortly after reaching their total to send South Portland back to the crease for the final 32 overs of the day.

Barry (28) performed well at the top of the order for South, while they also got strong efforts from Scott Martin (44 off 29) and Tighe Warburton (34) as the innings finished up on 8-136.

Menzel was also in the wickets, picking up 3-36 from six overs, while Darren Killmister took 2-35.

Portland Colts d Grampians

PORTLAND Colts have kept their finals hopes well and truly alive with a convincing victory over Grampians by 85 runs in the first innings, off the back of an exceptional performance with the ball.

Mat Belden stepped to the fore throughout the innings, with his leg-spin producing four wickets, including a pair of stumpings via wicketkeeper, James Chapple, while Riley Cook also stepped up to take 3-19 from 11 overs.

Grampians was able to find a couple of starts throughout their order, but none of which were able to go on to be the linchpin of a successful run chase, as they were bowled out for 149, with Adam Barbary (2-19) also picking up multiple wickets.

Colts did strike some trouble fielding in what was admittedly quite a different batting order to their usual, finishing at 5-32 off the final 12 overs of the day.