KOONDROOK faced off against the much-favoured Kerang team in the penultimate round of the season in round seven of the Northern District Cricket Association.
Kerang have plenty of talent with the bat, and although they sometimes struggle to bat out their allotted overs, this week they amassed 181 from a full 40 overs.
Losing Alex Lloyd early, it was Liam Jardine 15, and Ron Bright 21 from 16 who consolidated the innings. Following that with a fine 42 from Declan Hogg and Indiana Boswell with 44, the Kerang lads were on their way. Later in the innings Tyler Schmidt batted well with 32 to get the competitive total of 181.
Three wickets each from the Steve Ralston and the in-form Bailey Laursen were the best of the bowlers then Lachlan Laursen and Aiden Thompson took one each.
The Koondrook innings seemed to be a bit behind the run rate for the majority of the time, although Garner Smith and Steve Farrant got back to some form with 40 and 28 respectively, and they received support from Aiden Thompson with 25 and Lachlan Laursen with 14.
With only seven wickets down, Koondrook could only reach a total of 149.
Rylan Delamare took two wickets for Kerang, along with Ray Bright, and one each to Indiana Boswell, Harry Capstick and Matthew Hodgson.
Up for the challenge
Most thought that Barham would struggled against Murrabit, but after winning the toss, Barham sent Murrabit in and showed early they were up to the challenge.
The Murrabit batters were forced to take things quietly following some tight bowling from all of the Barham bowlers. All the bowlers went for only four an over or less, apart from three overs from Jack Valance late in the innings that went for seven an over.
Tom Hetherington top scored for Murrabit with 29 but the next highest score was 19 off 40 balls from Tim Millard. Murrabit ensured they batted out their full allotment, but a total of 109 would be difficult to defend.
Losing Will Lake early for a blob didn’t help the Barham cause, but the second wicket pair of Chameera Akurugoda and Tharinduy Uyanage put on 86 before Uyanage was dismissed for 46. Akurugoda made 42, and this pair took their time, kept an eye on the scoreboard and batted sensibly. With 22 to get from five or six overs, Cody Storm and Jack Vallance got them over the line in the 38th over and Barham were only four down.
Blake Watts bowled well to get 1/12 from his eight overs, and Darcy Hetherington with 2/23 from eight was the pick of the bowlers.
With every team providing a surprise victory over the last few weeks, the season is incredibly even and when the finals come, it should be exciting cricket.
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