TWO outstanding individual performances have helped Barham Koondrook hand RSL their first loss of the season.
Jade Stewart’s six-wicket haul turned the game in favour of the home side, while youngster Lachlan Laursen was equally impressive smashing an unbeaten 72 from just 40 balls.
Stewart’s spell included the key wickets of Ryan Hinton, Jett Hinton and Paul Munro, the latter proving a turning point in the 28th over of the innings, as the Blues went from 2/131 to all out for 164.
Barham Koondrook captain Jayden Hall was impressed with Stewart’s afternoon.
“It was a phenomenal performance with the ball from Jade, he bowled one of the better spells I’ve seen and … flipped the game on its head,” Hall said.
In the reply, an understrength RSL bowling line-up, missing the Caldwell brothers, were unable to stem the flow of runs from Laursen.
The No.5 did the bulk of the scoring in a 47-run fourth-wicket partnership with Lance Davidson (37) and a 51-run unbeaten fifth-wicket partnership with Mason Laursen (5 not out).
“We got off to a good start with the bat, both our openers batted well and but I was really happy with the way we went about it,” Hall said.
“We batted aggressively without taking a lot of risks, and then Lachie (Laursen) just got going from ball one and never let up.
“He batted beautifully and didn’t give a chance either.
“He’s an aggressive batsman and while he might be a young kid, he’s the guy in the middle order that if we are going well, he enables us to keep going hard and keep scoring quickly.”
Stuart Patterson was RSL’s main wicket taker, claiming 3/61.
Barham Koondrook’s second win in the SHDCA put them just one win outside the top four ahead of facing former Northern District Cricket Association rivals Murrabit this Saturday.
“It’s exciting, this week is a game a few of us have had circled on the calendar for a while, that’s for sure,” Hall said.
“I’m really happy with the way we’re progressing, we’re obviously still working on some things, but I’m happy with how we’ve come across into the league and how we’re competing against some really good teams.”
