LADDER leaders Nyah District will have an anxious wait ahead of this weekend’s final round of a shortened McDonald’s T20 competition, with the Demons missing their opportunity to sew up a semi-final berth on Saturday afternoon.
After accounting for St Mary’s Tyntynder in the opening match on the Showgrounds, the reigning premiers fell short against the emerging Ultima TUF, who successfully chased down Nyah District’s target of 132 in the final over.
With just two qualification matches in this year’s McDonald’s T20 competition, the Demons find themselves fourth on the table and requiring St Mary’s Tyntynder, Barham Koondrook and RSL to either lose, or win by a margin that doesn’t overtake their percentage of 1.63.
All three teams lost their opening games on Saturday, with Woorinen taking the points in an enthralling battle at Gurnett Oval by seven wickets.
Set 130 for victory, the Tigers got away to a shaky start with short form specialist Cooper Fox dismissed without scoring after being bowled by Mitch Hinton.
A 47-run partnership between Guri Singh (63) and captain Darren Rushton (31) help steady the ship, despite the Tigers requiring 79 runs at the halfway point of their innings.
Singh was joined by Mitchell Uhlhorn (28 not out) following the dismissal of Rushton, with the pair adding 75 runs before Singh’s departure just two runs short of victory in the second last over.
Singh’s performance with the bat followed his match winning display with the ball earlier in the day, after taking 3/20 from four overs with the new ball.
Robert Rush was also among Woorinen’s better bowlers, taking 3/30 from four overs, while Jackson Hughes was economical throughout the middle overs, with the leg spinner bowling three overs for just 10 runs, despite not taking a wicket.
Ryan Hinton returned to form for RSL, scoring 52 from just 45 balls at the top of the order to be the mainstay of the Blues innings, with Todd Day-Henery (25 off 30 balls) the next best with the bat for the home side.
Wandella and Barham Koondrook did battle at Gurnett Oval in the opening match of the day, with the Bombers securing a 37-run win over their former Northern District’s rivals.
Batting first, Wandella amassed 8/152 thanks to a hard-hitting 43 at the top of the order from Daniel Higgs and a late innings cameo from Luke Murray, who’s unbeaten 30 came from just 24 balls and pushed the Bombers total from gettable to difficult.
Garry Lolicato, Warren Lolicato and Jayden Hall all finished with two wickets each for the Raiders to be the pick of their bowlers.
In reply, Barham Koondrook’s run chase battled to recover from a disastrous start, with both Joel and Lance Davidson dismissed with consecutive balls in the opening over by young quick Laing Waddingham before the Raiders had a run on the board.
The Raiders start only worsened from then on, with key batter Garry Lolicato dismissed without scoring when he skied a Peter Moore delivery into the hands of Samuel Copland with the score on 10, and when Warren Lolicato was dismissed for 13 not long after, so too were Barham Koondrook’s chance of victory.
A hard-hitting 24 off 16 deliveries from Lachlan Laursen added some respectability to the Raiders total, as did late cameos from Hayden Solar (18), Chameera Akurugoda (12) and Kynan Laursen (12), but it was all to no avail as Barham Koondrook were dismissed for 115 in the 19th over, with Waddingham finishing with three wickets for Wandella.
Nyah District’s afternoon got away to a strong start at the Swan Hill Rec. Reserve after dismissing reigning McDonald’s T20 premiers St Mary’s Tyntynder for just 62 in the opening match of the tournament for both clubs.
Demons captain Ben Shadbolt led his attack with 3/10 from his four overs, with Joel Walsh, Jacob Lister and Nash Richman also taking two wickets each in a dominant display with the ball.
Playing his first game for several seasons, Dom Gallo returned to be the best of the batters for St Mary’s Tyntynder, scoring 18 from 26 deliveries, with Riley Daniels (11) and Saneesh Prabhakaran (10) the only other Bulldogs to reach double figures.
The Demons made light work of the run chase, passing the Bulldogs total in the 10th over just two wickets down, with Charlie Boulton (23 not out) and Joel Walsh (22 not out) seeing their side home.
Nyah District’s good form with the bat failed to transfer into their second match of the day against Ultima TUF however, with the Roodogs having the Demons reeling at 6/64 after just nine overs, with opener Dean Harrop (36 runs off 20 balls) the only batter to threaten.
That was until the emergence of in-form batter Mitchell Grinham, who’s unbeaten 33 from 41 balls and partnership of 68 runs for the seventh wicket gave the Nyah District bowlers a target of 132 to defend.
Ultima TUF got away to the perfect start in response to the Demons total, with Lachlan Edwards (53 from 38 balls) and Jacob Hatcher (14 from 24 balls) putting together a 39-run opening partnership, before Hatcher’s dismissal off the bowling of Jacob Lister in the ninth over.
Josh Waldron (21 from 23 balls) then joined Edwards, with the pair adding another 45 runs to the score before Edwards skied a ball off Ethan Curran just as the Roodogs appeared to be getting on top.
When Waldron departed with 24 runs needed from the final 22 deliveries, the game was up for grabs.
That was until Kade Benfield (15 not out) and Mitch Seton-Stewart (18 not out) guided Ultima TUF home for an emotion charged victory, that has now helped set up an exciting final home-and-away round in this year’s McDonald’s T20 competition.
For Woorinen, Wandella and Ultima TUF, a win would see them automatically qualify as one of four semi-final teams, while RSL, Barham Koondrook and St Mary’s Tyntynder will all need to win to overtake Nyah District and climb into fourth spot.
