IT all came down to the final round of the Northern District cricket that was played on the weekend to decide who played in the finals.
Murrabit were six points clear on top with 27 points and Barham and Kerang were both on 21 points prior to Saturday’s matches.
A further six points to Murrabit in their victory over Kerang, and Koondrook surprised their Barham buddies with a fighting victory, the Kerang team were relegated to bottom position on the ladder.
Murrabit won the toss and had a hit against Kerang. Neil Teasdale did the job opening the innings but four of Murrabit’s most prolific scorers for the year could only manage 21 between them. Tim Millard (6), Nathan Henry (8), Blake Watts (7) and Brent McKnight (0) all went cheaply leaving Murrabit at 4/44. It was up to Teasdale and Darcy Hetherington the rescue the innings and they went about this in an efficient manner.When Teasdale was dismissed for 33, Hetherington was joined by brother Tom and they put on a quick partnership of 37 with Tom being the dominant partner, before being dismissed for 22. Then Darcy was joined by Simon Kelly and they pushed the score along making 49 and 35 respectively.
Kerang opened the bowling with Indiana Boswell and his 2/36 from six got the Murrabit wickets falling, and Declan Hogg with 2/21 from eight had the Blues in early trouble. The remaining Murrabit wickets were shared with one each to Ron Bright, Tyler Schmidt, Liam Jardine and Matt Hodgson but they leaked too many runs and a total of 8/188 was going to be a tough ask for the Kerang batters.
After an early wicket, Ron Bright and Alex Lloyd put together a 78 run partnership in better than a run a ball in the chase for the large total making 58 and 30 respectively. Harry Capstick with 30 was the only other batter to contribute more than seven.
Being all out for 143 in the 29th over might be an indication that Kerang were panicking about the total and thought they needed to keep the run rate high. At a rate of 4.7 per over, this was not the case. Bright and Lloyd were both out with the total on 88. They had made these runs from only 11.1 overs – way ahead of the run rate. The remaining batters could have taken their time.
In saying this it could be that the Murrabit bowlers should receive the credit for dismissing the Kerang side as they were ahead of the run rate and the bowling was just too good.
With 6/13 from six overs, Darcy Hetherington was the pick of the bowlers in his best day of cricket for many a year. He had good support from Archer McKnight with 2/27, Simon Kelly 1/27 and Nathan Henry 1/27. Kernag’s finals hopes were dashed.
Barham v Koondrook
Barham won the toss and sent their opponents in and Koondrook went about the task in their usual, patient manner.
With Garner Smith (32) and Kynan Laursen (17) having an opening stand of 55, the groundwork was set for a competitive total. Steve Farrant with 33 batted the remainder of the innings and received good support at the end of the innings from Bailey Laursen with 28 and Lachlan Laursen with 16. The total of 6/165 was always going to be a tough ask for Barham.
Jack Vallance was the best of the Barham bowlers taking three wickets, with one each to Chameera Akurugoda and Kade Watts.
Early in Barham’s innings, Bailey Laursen took the wicket of Akurugoda cheaply, and Koondrook were in the box seat. Barham fought back hard with Cody Storm (32) and Sam Cruse (35) getting things going and then Kade Watts and Tom Amor gave Barham a slight chance.
They kept the pressure on all day with the ball, with Bailey Laursen once again being the most effective bowler, taking 3/47. One wicket each to Mason Laursen, Steve Ralston and Marc Laursen, plus the run out of Amor saw the Barham innings end only 12 runs short with seven wickets down.
FINALS PREVIEW
The Preliminary Final and Grand Final will be played on Saturday and Sunday of this weekend, February 26 and 27.
On Saturday the Preliminary Final between Barham and Koondrook will be played at Koondrook for the opportunity to take on Murrabit in Sunday’s Grand Final at the Blues’ home ground
The ladder following Saturday’s final round.
P W L Pts Net RR
Murrabit 8 5 1 33 1.26
Barham 8 3 1 21 0.02
Koondrook 8 3 1 21 -0.56
Kerang 8 3 1 21 -0.74
Net run rate is calculated by your team’s run rate divided by opposition run rate. It is only this that have kept Kerang out of finals contention following a year where they started slowly but ended with them being more than competitive.
Saturday’s Preliminary Final at Koondrook will see the Barham-Koondrook club play out the ultimate derby for season superiority.
Koondrook have defeated Barham the previous two times they have clashed with a steady batting performance from Koondrook being the winning factor on both occasions.
Barham have relied on Chameera Akurugoda to do the majority of the heavy lifting for the team’s fortunes with both bat and ball. If Koondrook can get him cheaply, they can win.
Similarly if Barham can’t break through Garner Smith and Steve Farrant, then once again Koondrook will be in the box seat.
Kynan Laursen opening the batting for Koondrook had an excellent start to the season and performed well last week. A contribution again will get Koondrook a good start.
Bailey Laursen has been doing it with both bat and ball for Koondrook, so he is a wicket that Barham must also take as he gets his runs quickly.
Cody Storm is one who can turn a game for Barham, and he will need to support Akurugoda if they are to have a chance. Sam Cruse, Kade Watts and Tom Amor were amongst the runs last week for Barham, and it could be their batting depth that gives them slight favouritism over Koondrook.
The winner will take on Murrabit in the Grand Final.
Fresh from defeating Kerang, the only team many thought might be able to seriously challenge the Blues, Murrabit enter the Grand Final as clear favourites.
They have the strongest batting line-up in the competition with Nathan Henry their trump card. Henry is not alone and has received support from most other batsmen at some stage during the season.
With the inclusion of the Hetherington brothers, Simon Kelly back in the team and Neil Teasdale finding some form, Murrabit should be able to post a Grand Final score beyond the reach of their opponent.
The Murrabit bowling attack is arguably the strongest in the competition and are capable of restricting any opposition.
A thing that may prevent Murrabit from victory is if the wicket at the Blues home ground is a bit slow. With no rain likely and curator extraordinaire Des Hein in charge, there will be nothing to prevent a Murrabit victory.
