Red beats Blue in all-Benalla U14 grand final

At the weekend, those musings became a reality when the Gardens played host to an all-Benalla U14 grand final.

The teams came into this game having never met during the regular season, so there was no precedent to how the game would unfold.

Winning the toss, the Red team chose to bat first and sent out Tom Mount and Angus Leavold to open.

Tom was coming off a 50 the week before and was in hot form. Unfortunately, his time at the crease was short lived thanks to some sharp bowling by Alex Lambert.

Jack Hart came in at three ready to do some damage, but again Alex Lambert’s bowling did the trick and Jack was caught at mid-off by Josh Montgomery. Angus Leavold was next to fall with another catch by Josh Montgomery and the Blue team was up and about.

Harry Skelton came into the game and steadied the ship for the Reds, building small crucial partnerships with Showrik Das (11) and Boden Hazell (16).

Harry Skelton reached his 50 off 96 balls and retired with an over to spare leaving Jack McKenzie and Jack Dermott to have a swing and a red hot crack.

The Red side seeing out the full 40 overs and posting a total of 9-124.

Tom Snell was dangerous behind the stumps, only letting through one bye for the whole 40 overs and taking two catches.

Alex Lambert finished with 2-20 off five.

On a more dreary looking Sunday, the Blue team was ready to get to work on the runs.

Angus Hayes and Xavier De Fazio opened the campaign for the Blue team and Xavier De Fazio’s first couple of deliveries from Jack Hart were put away easily until one didn’t quite come off like he’d hoped.

Tom Mount took a great catch under pressure and sent Xavier back to the rooms on seven.

Jack Hart continued the momentum in the same over by dismissing Ryder Humphries for one run.

The Blue team dug its heels in and started to look settled with Hugh Ross spending some time at the crease before an Ollie Smith delivery knocked the bails off.

Angus Hayes persevered all day and was calm under the pressure of losing batting partners. He stayed at the crease until the last ball posting a very commendable 34 runs off 75 balls.

Partnerships were becoming harder to build and some amazing fielding by Tom Mount saw him involved in three run outs for the game.

Ollie Smith was his consistent best with 2-14 off five, Jack Hart also taking 2-15 off five overs and getting the final run out of the day.

It was an ending with mixed emotions as the Red team celebrated its victory, but also wanting to commiserate with their friends and teammates from other sports in the Blue team.

Cricket for Benalla was the real winner of the day as the crowd support swelled and cheers for both teams were loud and extremely proud.

Final Score:

U14 Red – 9-124 (40)

U14 Blue – 10-96 (31)

Man of the Match – Harry Skelton, U14 Red

GRAND FINAL - U16

It was a grand final rematch of the U16 age group between Benalla and City Colts at Wangaratta from last year.

City Colts won the toss and chose to bat first.

The home side had a few very strong players, but in the game of cricket anything can happen.

The openers for the Colts got off to a reasonable start and it wasn’t until the 12th over that the first breakthrough came with Josh Hart getting danger man Alistair Brett out on 25.

Riley McCarthy followed up with an LBW of Colt batter Mitch Feldtmann for 38, but their number three was already starting to cause some damage.

Another crucial wicket from Josh Hart with help from behind the stumps from Lucas Ham saw him finally on his way back to the sheds for 67.

The wickets started to fall more frequently after that with Josh Hart finishing on 2-16 off six overs, Ryder Levy 2-25 off 5.4, Riley McCarthy 2-37 off six and Lucas Ham 2-18 off two.

The Colts were solid with their performance and finished the day with a score of 198 to beat.

The Bushies were ready for the challenge on the second day, but lost captain Lucas Ham early after notching 10 runs.

The Cooney cousins were hopeful of another match-winning partnership, but Bryce’s innings was cut short after being run out without adding to the Bushies’ score card.

Josh Hart came in and was able to calm the side and build a small partnership with Mitchell Cooney (20) before getting an LBW call just when he was looking ready to blow the game open and ending his campaign on 39.

Kai Dervish pitched in with 23 runs of his own, but the damage was done and the Bushies couldn’t get the runs they needed to take home the win.

It was still an amazing season put together by the boys. We wish them all well next season as seven of the players age out of the U16 age group and we can’t wait to see what they can do in seniors.

Final Score:

U16 – 10/120 (39.1)

City Colts – 10/198 (39.4)

Seniors

A-reserve

Our A-reserve side travelled to Wangaratta to take on the Rovers in the last game of the regular season. Getting sent out to bowl by the home team, the Bushies were hoping to make an impact from the start.

James Ladd was crucial in seeing the openers head back to the rooms picking up both of those wickets. Ladd ended his day with 2-27 off 8 overs.

The Rovers’ number 3 and 4 batters made things troublesome for the Bushies, putting on a partnership of 150 runs before the breakthrough came in the way of a run out from Susanka Gamage.

Needing 199 for the win, Vishal Sharma got things off to a great start with 41 runs to his name. Unfortunately for the Bushies, there weren’t any other batters after Vishal to make an impact to the scorecard.

The semi-final this week will be a replay of this match as ladder leaders, Rovers Bruck, host the Bushies again. Hopefully a different result plays out.

Final Score:

A-reserve – 10-74 (26.5)

Rovers Bruck – 3-198 (40)

B-grade - Final 1

It was round one of finals for B-grade and finishing second on the ladder got them the privilege of a home final at the showgrounds.

The Bushies won the toss and elected to bowl first.

The pressure was continuous all day on the visitor, Milawa, and once that first wicket fell, the rest started to follow with minimal damage to the scorecard.

Xavier De Fazio was outstanding with 4-25 off eight and Steve Pickering also had a day out with 4-34 off eight.

Brendan Duncombe was relentless with his bowling and was rewarded with 2-18 off eight.

Milawa was able to post 121 runs for the Bushies to chase down.

Jack Fullager and Simon Holmes headed out to open, but Holmes didn’t stay for long, posting six runs before being dismissed.

Craig Williams and Fullager started to build on the score and when Fullager was out Steve Pickering picked up where Fullager left off.

Pickering and Williams were able to run down the score with nine overs in hand and book themselves a spot in the semi-final this week at the Gardens Oval.

Final Score:

B-grade – 2/124 (27.1)

Milawa – 10/121 (36)

C-grade Red

Still a mathematical chance of making the finals, the C-grade Red side needed to win within 30 overs to score themselves a spot in a semi.

Losing the toss, the visitors from Greta chose to bat first to hopefully set an impossible target for the home side.

While the top three batters didn’t make too much of an impact, the Greta number 4 was making runs quickly and easily. A brilliant catch at full stretch to Bryce Cooney off Vaughan Carter’s bowling finally saw him leave the crease, but not before posting 85 runs off 61 balls.

The remainder of the wickets fell cheap but the actions of one batter really hurt the total to chase.

Jordan Smith picked up 2-54 off eight and Vaughan Carter was his true reliable self with 3-35 off seven.

Needing 199 to win, the C-grade side needed something special. Jordan Smith stepped up to the challenge and played the best game of the season.

Staying in until almost the end, Jordan posted a remarkable 117 runs off 114 balls and partnered with Murray Parton (41*) to get the Bushies within nine runs of their target.

Needing nine runs off the final over for the win, Murray Parton needed only three balls, blocking the first, putting the second away for a four and then smashing the third delivery over the boundary for a resounding six.

Based on net run rate, the C-grade Red side just miss out on finals, but it was definitely an exciting way to finish a great season.

Final Score:

C-grade Red – 4/200 (35.3)

Greta White – 8/198 (36)

C-grade Blue

Hosting Gapsted at Arundel St this week, the C-grade Blue team started the day by losing the toss and getting sent out to bowl.

Steve Hart wasted no time in getting rid of their opener as Paul Montgomery took a great catch and sending the batter back to the bench without a run to his name.

The number two and three proved a little more difficult to dismiss, but Mark Osborne finally got the job done with his son, Tom, catching one and clean bowling the second.

Mark Osborne wasn’t done yet though picking up another two wickets after that ending with 4-29 off seven. Steve Hart (1-21) and Boden Hazell (1-22) were the other contributors after Mark hogged all the wickets.

The Bushies were now chasing 137 to win and the Skelton duo went out to open, but didn’t make the impact they were hoping.

Mark Osborne, not wanting to be labelled ‘just a bowler’ made a confident 24 and Tom chipped in with 14.

Paul Montgomery was feeling nostalgic and decided to show the crowd what his younger self was capable of by hitting a game-winning 50 not out off 60 balls.

Needing 10 runs off the last over, Sam Hazell and Paul Montgomery combined right to the second last ball and Sam Hazell put it away for four to win the game.

Having already secured third position for the season, the Blue team travels to Yarrawonga this week to play in a semi-final.

Final Score:

C-grade Blue – 7/137 (35.5)

Gapsted – 6/136 (36)