CASTERTON DISTRICT has failed to hunt down the 39 runs the Maroons required at the start of day two in the round seven Hamilton and District Cricket Association A grade game against Portland Tigers at Henty Park on Saturday.

Resuming at 5-36, the Maroons had captain, Kaden Humphries, and all-rounder, Carey Megaw, at the crease, but Humphries was soon back in the pavilion without adding to his overnight score of 10 after holing out on only the fourth ball of the day he faced.

Megaw was joined by Kane Forbes, a recognised specialist batsman, who didn’t play day one and the pair began to reel in the target required, but after knocking off 13 from the deficit, Megaw was castled by Llewellyn Oakley for 21.

The score was now 7-49 and 75 looked a long way off, but Forbes powered on with only the tail to support him, as Jacob Edwards strode to the middle.

Forbes took the long handle to the bowlers and the runs flowed, as he struck three boundaries and the tally was 68 when Shanaka Silva finally had the opportunity to bowl to Edwards, and the star all-rounder had his man when he bowled him for only three.

Forbes (22-not-out) was at the non-striker’s end and couldn’t get back on strike, as Fletcher Bright was clean bowled from the very next ball to end the innings, as the visitors batted one player short which in the circumstances was a calculated risk that backfired.

All out for 68 was the end result for the Maroons, seven runs shy of the target and Tigers proceeded to bat out the day to finish at 5-140, as Sebastian Harvey finished on 66 before being run out.

It was Silva who did the damage for Tigers in the Casterton District innings, finishing with 6-17 from 19.5 overs to be the Player of the Match.

St Andrews d Pigeon Ponds

ST Andrew’s has successfully chased down the target set by Pigeon Ponds on day one of the game at Clem Young Oval, as the home side dug deep to hunt down the 245 required for victory.

Michael Fitzpatrick was back for the home side, as he and Brendon Huf resumed their prolific partnership at the top of the order.

They took 46 runs from the new ball bowlers, before Huf (20) was bowled around his legs by Lachy Craig, as he walked across his stumps looking to flick the ball to the legside.

In a surprise move, Russell Elton was sent in at number three but he didn’t go in and lift the run rate, as he was bowled by Jack Beaton for only six.

Fitzpatrick then top-edged a rank longhop from Anthony Close when he was on 51 with Noah Hildebrand grabbing the easy catch offered.

At 3-81, the game favoured the Pigeons, but Darryl Fry was joined by Grady Bell in the middle and the youngster produced his best A grade innings in his short career, as the pair added 58 for the fourth wicket with Bell contributing 33 before playing all round a George Austin delivery.

It turned into an inspired spell from Austin (4-22), as he grabbed the wickets of Aiden Sutherland (one), Josh Nield (seven), and Latham Wishart (five) to leave the innings seemingly in tatters at 7-159.

Fry was still there, and he only needed someone to hang around with him and he found it in Zach Grenfell, as they slowly built an eighth wicket partnership that turned the game.

They added 76 before Fry’s stoic innings came to halt on 74 when Noah Hildebrand caused him to play a false shot and hit a catch to Peter Staude with the score on 235.

The experience of Simon Hatherell came to the fore, as the veteran guided the team to the target with 12-not-out, while Grenfell played an equally important knock of 22-not-out to see the side to 8-247 when the captains decided to end the game seven overs early.

Let’s hope these seven overs and the bonus points that each would have picked up don’t cost them a place in the top four come the end of the home and away season, as it did for a team only last summer.

College d Hamilton

COLLEGE took care of business against Hamilton at College Turf, as the home side dismissed the visitors for only 110 and then promptly sent the Blues back in looking for outright points, as the visitors finished the day on 6-102 when stumps were drawn.

Xavier Stevens (21) and Nick O’Brien (10) gave the side a solid start of 25 from the first six overs before O’Brien was bowled by Harry Austin.

Isaac Shaw (duck) came and went, as Angus Brown held onto the catch behind the stumps that Austin caused, and when Jordy Anthony claimed the wickets of Stevens and Ethan Cook (duck) in only his second over, Hamilton slumped to be 4-39 as Robbie Cook joined Mitch Lang in the middle.

The pair looked to be batting well as they kept the good balls out and delt with the bad accordingly, but Cook tried to flick an Anthony delivery off his pads over mid-wicket, only to see the ball fall into the safe hands of Harry Austin.

Lang was joined by Anthony Read and the pair got the chase back underway with a 40-run stand for the sixth wicket before Lang fell for 38.

From there, the Blues lost its last five wickets for only 11 runs to be dismissed for 110, as Anthony starred with the ball, taking 5-27.

Sent back in Hamilton saw Shaw hit some form with 35 and Robbie Cook hit five boundaries in his 22 as Read and Jake Lang batted out the last six overs to see the side finish the day at 6-102 and stave off outright defeat.

Macarthur d Grampians

MACARTHUR all-rounder Ollie Wortley earned man of the match status after a stunning display with both bat and ball, as the Demons thrashed Grampians at Dunkeld Turf by 146 runs.

The home side won the toss and elected to send the visitors in to bat with an early wicket of Michael Brilley (one) bringing the reward.

Simon Sharrock (21), Hamish Wortley (43), Kyle Smitten (15), Charlie Summers (19) and Sam Lambevski (12) all chipped in, but it was Ollie Wortley with 56 who top-scored for the Demons, as the visitors finished with 8-234 when the final ball was bowled.

In reply the Pumas were never in the hunt, as Eddie McShane top-scored with 22, while Don Collins (16), Carl Joyce (11), and Zach Burgess (10) all made starts, but failed to go on and get the score needed to guide the home side to the target.

Ollie Wortley beguiled the Pumas with his leg spin bowling, as he routed the batsmen with 5-6 to bowl the Demons to a secure spot on the third rung of the ladder.

Portland Colts d Tahara

FROM a position of strength halfway through day one where Tahara had Portland Colts in trouble at 6-75, Colts has swept aside the visitors at Henty Park to claim the points by a huge margin.

Colts had recovered last Saturday to post a target of 262 for the Blue Caps to hunt down, but it wasn’t to be, as Tahara was bundled out for 81 with Nathan Slaughter top-scorer with 32 to go along with his five-wicket haul with the ball.

Batting a second time, Tahara fared a little better, but managed to stave off outright defeat with 5-84 when stumps were drawn.

The win leaves Colts atop the ladder by only 0.20 from a fast-chasing Tyrendarra.

Tyrendarra d South Portland

TYRENDARRA was the only team able to record an outright victory for the round, as the Darras swept South Portland aside at Cavalier Park to record maximum points from the game.

Day one saw South Portland routed for only 20, while the visitors declared on 4-118 and then had the Demons 1-3 in its second innings to end play.

When the game resumed on day two, the home side batted better but only just managed to make the Darras bat a second time, as they were bowled out for 103 with one man short.

The Darras then required only six runs to claim maximum points.

The Demons did claim two wickets though, as the Tyrendarra batsmen tried to end the game with one hit and at the end were 2-9.