Nyah District v Wandella
NYAH District have begun their premiership defence in the best possible way, recording a crushing 95-run win over an undermanned Wandella at Nyah.
Despite being asked to bat first on a rain-affected wicket, the Demons amassed 8/162 from their 40 overs at the crease, before bowling the Bombers out for just 67 runs in 25 overs.
Although the Demons were without star all-rounder Joel Walsh, Wandella went into the game without several key players, including captain Ryan Barnes, all-rounder Bohden McKnight, wicket keeper Flynn McKnight and batsman Greg Dickson.
Nyah District were best served by Charlie Boulton, who top scored with 59 at the top of the order despite the testing early conditions, and strong middle-order contributions from Dean Harrop (30) and Max Thompson (26), with Harrop helping to push the run rate along late in the innings.
A strong display from opening bowlers Ben Shadbolt (3/7 from five overs) and Max Thompson (1/8 from five) had Wandella in trouble early, losing their first four wickets for just 10 runs.
Nick Oliver (15 runs), Luke Murray (14) and Brodey Farley (11) tried to drag Wandella back into the contest, but were all dismissed after making starts, before Thompson came back on to take the final two wickets of the match to finish with 3/8 from six overs.
Cooper Andrews and Ethan Curran took two wickets each to round out a strong opening match from the Demons.
St Mary’s-Tyntynder v Woorinen
WOORINEN have made amends for last year’s semi-final fadeout to beat St Mary’s Tyntynder by four wickets on Saturday.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, the Bulldogs found themselves in trouble early, their top three batsmen all back in the shed with just 22 runs on the scoreboard.
Riley Daniels (47 runs) and Jacson Stewart (10) produced an innings-defining 50-run partnership, before Stewart departed off the bowling of Cooper Fox.
From there, the wickets continued to tumble, with no other batsman registering double figures as the Bulldogs were dismissed for 108 in the 36th over.
Robert Rush (3/23 off eight overs) was the pick of the bowlers, with Darren Rushton and Jackson Hughes both claiming two wickets each to be the other multiple wicket takers for the Tigers.
With a chasable target at hand, Woorinen started in the same fashion as their opposition, losing their first three wickets for 11 runs, including the dangerous Darren Rushton, who was dismissed for seven off the bowling of Nathaniel Holmes-Brown.
Guri Singh (28 runs) and Eion Janse Van Rensberg (11) then set about resurrecting the Tigers’ innings, the pair putting on 36 runs for the fourth wicket, before Cooper Fox (26) joined Singh at the crease to add another 26 runs before Singh departed.
When Fox was dismissed by Mark Free 10 runs later, the Tigers were still 25 runs short, with the Bulldogs needing just four more wickets for victory.
An unbeaten seventh-wicket stand from Robert Rush (11 not out) and Ali Shah (10 not out) was enough to get the Tigers home in the 36th over, with Holmes-Brown and Robin Sebastian both claiming two wickets each for St Mary’s Tyntynder.
