Ten wickets in three games is nothing to sneeze at, but Kyabram’s best performed Northern Rivers Junior Country Week cricketer will be disappointed with how his carnival ended on Thursday last week.
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Riley Carver has emerged from the four-day Under-17 section of the tournament as a Goulburn Murray’s best bowler, having produced a rare five-wicket haul in the second round of the qualifying games.
Four of the six teams finished with one win, behind the unbeaten Bendigo team, but percentage went in favour of Goulbrn Murray and it qualified for the final.
Goulburn Murray was all out for 104 in the final, chasing Bendigo’s giant 44.2 over tally of 205. Carver was the best bowler, his nine overs reaping figures of 3-31.
He eventually removed Bendigo’s century maker, Xavier Grant, who struck nine boundaries in a 111-ball innings of 106.
After a washout on day one, when the team was drawn to play Bendigo, they elected to bat against Murray Valley and scored a massive 7-203 from 45 overs.
Batting in the true all-rounder position of number six, Carver scored 23 from 36 deliveries (with one boundary), but did his best work with the ball.
He finished with figures of 5-29 from 6.3 overs, taking his first wicket with the second delivery of his third over and another with the final delivery of that same over.
Carver struck again in his fourth over and returned in the 30th over of the Murray Valley innings to strike again. His fifth wicket ended the opposition’s innings, midway through his seventh over.
Murray Valley was all out for 145 and in round three he took 2-13 from 7.5 overs in the loss to Wangaratta, when the Goulburn Campaspe outfit was all out for 121 – chasing Wangartta’s 145.
Carver would have been disappointed with his fourth ball duck as the Goulburn Campaspe team was skittled in its run chase – losing the last eight wickets for just 11 runs.
- Cooma teenager Sienna Brennan has finished with seven wickets for Goulburn Murray in the Under-17 girls country week division.
She took 3-11 from four overs in the team’s 50-run day-three loss to Bendigo, having taken 4-16 from 7.1 overs a day earlier in a narrow loss – by one wicket – to Gisborne.
Her Cooma teammate, Sophie McDonald, took 1-18 in round two and 1-9 from three overs in the loss to Bendigo.
- Will Harrison was Kyabram’s best performed player in the Under-16 division, but like Carver walked away empty handed after his team lost the final to Shepparton.
Harrison went wicketless in the final and made four, but a day earlier had been a star - in a 19-run win against Bendigo.
He scored 28 off 66 balls batting at number four as the GMC scored 8-176 from 44 overs, and then took 2-22 from nine overs. In round two Harrison took 2-26 from nine overs as the GMC lost to Murray Valley by 34 runs.
With the bat he was again very patient in scoring 22 from 53 deliveries.
- Stanhope pair Alyssa and Chelsea Braithwaite both returned from the girls Under-14 division with wickets and runs.
In the GMC’s 113-run round three win they both took wickets and Alyssa was not out at the crease at the end of the innings.
She was also 11 not out a day earlier, when the team lost to Gisborne. Like all other divisions the first round was washout out on Monday.
- Opening batter Charlie Pekin set a tone for the GMC run chase in the final of the Under-14 division, batting for 24 overs for his 29.
GMC was chasing Murray Valley’s 8-143 total, but was all out for 134 after losing its last seven wickets for just 37 runs.
To qualify for the finals the GMC had a 47-run win against Bendigo in round three.
Archie Sheppard contributed late with the bat and alongside Jonty Sefton and Max Stockdale was among eight bowlers to take wickets.
The team also beat Murray Valley, by 15 runs, when Pekin made 20 from 28 deliveries and Sheppard took 1-5 from four overs.
- Another frustrating result for the Under-13 boys, Bendigo bringing up the winning runs with just two overs remaining in the final on Thursday.
GMC made 6-167 after winning the toss after Heath Ogden scored 27 from 34 balls and Aidan Greiner was 13 not out at the innings’ end.
Greiner then took 2-22 from six overs, but Bendigo had three wickets in hand at the bell.
In its only other game GMC scored a massive 4-231 and held Murray Valley to 126 from 40 overs.
Ogden scored 24 not out from 30 deliveries and Greiner took 1-22 from his seven overs.
- The only Northern Rivers GMC title came in the Under-12 boys division, the win set up after Stanhope’s Cooper Fisher took two Bendigo wickets.
Bendigo was all out for 77 in its run chase, after the GMC had set it 109 runs for victory.
Fisher took 2-123 from seven overs in the win, having taken a wicket in both other rounds.
Billy Sheppard also contributed to the title, finishing not out in one GMC win and opening the batting in another game.
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