A BIG-hitting ton by a Barham Koondrook batsman was the highlight in round 18 of the Swan Hill District Cricket Association.
Warren Lolicato top-scored across the weekend’s games, scoring 103 runs off 89 balls against a powerless Swan Hill attack.
Lolicato’s onslaught included nine sixes and six fours, and included a devastating partnership with his vice-captain Lachlan Laursen, who added another nine fours to his side’s tally.
Laursen made 48 runs off just 26 balls, while number three batsman Leigh Sobotnicki was another strong contributor with 35, as the Raiders put together a massive total of 8/274.
Swan Hill’s opening batsman Jacob Hatcher showed he could do some damage with the ball, holding down an end for 16 overs and claiming a six-wicket haul at the expense of 57 runs.
But the game quickly got away from Swan Hill, as they lost their first three wickets for nine runs, Jacob Hatcher dismissed for 2 and skipper Lachlan Edwards a duck.
Without the spearhead of their attack Gary Lolicato, the Raiders’ attack all stood up and were effective in his absence.
Chameera Akurugoda was the pick of the Raiders’ attack, taking 3/11 from his 10 overs, and skipper Jayden Hall took three of his own wickets for 21 runs.
Lance Davidson took two wickets for just three runs, while Ryder Laursen’s single over was a wicket maiden.
Warren Lolicato added to his first innings heroics with a run out of Nathan McInerney for a duck, as the Raiders claimed a huge 236-run win.
It was a closer game when Murrabit travelled to Kerang’s Riverside Park to take on Wandella, the Blues winning the toss and electing to bat.
The Blues batted steadily and tried to tally up runs at a consistent rate, and skipper Nathan Henry top scored with 31.
Ethan and Bohden McKnight were hard to separate for Wandella as they both took three wickets each, for 14 and 18 runs respectively.
Daniel Higgs also took three wickets for 25 runs, as the Bombers bowlers restricted Murrabit to a total of 120.
Wandella chased down the total easily, as their opening pair put together a mammoth 176-run first wicket partnership.
Samuel Copland fell just short of a ton, dismissed by Toby Gray for 97 in an innings that included 12 fours and two sixes.
Luke Murray added eight fours of his own, on his way to an unbeaten 71 as the Bombers claimed a nine-wicket victory in 42.1 overs.
RSL snatched a close win over second-placed St Mary’s Tyntynder.
Batting first, RSL opener Ryan Hinton scored 22 alongside Kynan Laursen, who scored 14.
After their middle order failed to fire, Todd Day-Henery and Brenton Gurnett combined to push the Blues’ score to a more competitive total of 118.
Day-Henery scored 30, while Gurnett claimed an unbeaten 25. Spinner Austin Mckerrow had the Bulldogs’ best figures, claiming 3/16.
Koben Ryan was another dangerous bowler, taking 3/24 while Nathaniel Holmes-Brown and Rylan Barnes took 2/38 and 2/18 respectively.
After St Mary’s opener Jake Foster was dismissed without scoring, the Bulldogs began to kick into gear.
Jonty Chaproniere scored 36 off 30, and Charlie King made 23.
With the ball, Brenton Gurnett got the job done for RSL, taking 2/10 as the Blues got the win.
Things got off to a good start for Ultima TUF when they travelled to Nyah to take on the Demons.
Openers Aydan and Kyle Symons combined for 47, before Aydan was dismissed for 27 and the wickets began to fall.
After being 1/47, the Roodogs lost their next four wickets for just seven runs and quickly found themselves at 5/54.
A late innings of 22 from Cassidy Sibley added to his side’s total, pushing them up to 10/92 from their 45 overs.
Nyah skipper Ben Shadbolt claimed figures of 2/9 off his seven overs, while Max Thompson took 2/14 and Alex Wilson 2/21.
Opener Dean Harrop pitched in with 1/1 off his 1.1 overs.
There may have been some nerves late in the Nyah second innings, with the Demons losing six wickets during their successful chase.
Joel Walsh top-scored for the Demon’s with 27 runs, after Charlie Boulton laid down a strong base to build from with a quick 19 runs.
