ULTIMA-TUF v ST. MARY’S-TYNTYNDER
ST. Mary’s-Tyntynder have continued their charge towards an unlikely finals berth, winning their fourth straight game since the Christmas break to firmly put themselves back in contention as one of the teams to beat for this years premiership.
After dismissing Ultima-TUF for just 62 in just the 27th over, the Bulldogs then made light work of the run chase, passing the Roodogs total in the 14th over, for the loss of just three wickets, before pushing on to score 8-141 off 26 overs.
With 47 overs remaining in the day, St. Mary’s-Tyntynder then set about securing outright points for the second weekend in a row, with the Bulldogs taking just three second innings wickets as Ultima-TUF shut up shop to deny the visitors the extra four points that would have seen them leapfrog their way into the top four.
Only Mitchell Seton-Stewart (14) and Lachlan Edwards (13) reached double figures in the first innings in what proved to be a tough day at the office for Ultima-TUF. Robin Sebastian (5-13 off 13 overs) and Nathaniel Holmes-Brown (3-25 off 8.3 overs) did the bulk of the damage.
The pair were not only instrumental in the win as they tore through the Roodogs order, but they also shouldered the bulk of the load after Corey Daniels was no-balled out of the attack in his second over.
Daniels was however among a host of key batters for St. Mary’s-Tyntynder who did the job with the bat however, with brother Riley Daniels (29) leading the way as the entire top seven all made starts for the Bulldogs.
The win sets up a mouth-watering fortnight for St. Mary’s-Tyntynder, who will host RSL this Saturday before a grand final rematch with Nyah District in the final round of the season, while Ultima-TUF will face the Demons this Saturday in a must win contest if they are to break a 15 season finals drought.
WANDELLA v RSL
A SEVEN-wicket haul from veteran RSL all-rounder Brenton Caldwell has helped kept his team’s finals hopes alive, with the Blues recording a shock eight-wicket win over Wandella at Riverside Park on the weekend.
While the result keeps the Blues within reach of the top four, it also relegated the Bombers to fifth with just two rounds of the SHDCA A grade home and away season remaining.
As has been their Achilles heel for much of the season, Wandella proved to be underwhelming with the bat, with Daniel Higgs (34), Bohden McKnight (30) and Ryan Barnes (10) the only batters to reach double figures as the Bombers were bowled out for 110 in the 30th over.
But it was the performance of Caldwell that proved to be the difference, taking 7-32 off 12 overs to set up the win.
The Blues run chase didn’t get away to the best of starts, with Paul Munro (1) departing in the third over, with Ryan Hinton (13) following soon after to leave RSL at 2-26.
That was until Stuart Patterson (64 not out) and Todd Day-Henery (29 not out) steadied the ship, with the pair putting together an 88-run partnership for the third wicket to help guide the Blues home.
Peter Moore toiled manfully for Wandella, bowling unchanged from the southern end of Riverside Park and taking 2-46 from 10.5 overs to be the pick of the Bombers bowlers.
