Close but no cigar for another Cats upset as Karramomus roll on

Mooroopna won the toss and chose to bat and despite the early loss of Paul McDonald, it was a cool Cats display in the middle.

Joel May rebounded after back-to-back single figure run tallies with a game-high knock of 49, while import Cyrus Shafi has continued his terrific run of form with a patient 41 off 79.

The pair fell within 10 runs of one another, but Ben and Will Woods came together for a 64-run partnership to keep the runs ticking over, before Will’s end came after finding the fielder from Lachie Keady’s bowling.

However, mental lapses and ill-disciplined running between the wickets cost the Cats in the second half of their innings.

Simon D’Elia was run out for a golden duck, while Henry Barrow was trapped LBW off a sliding Shane Smith delivery.

Ben Woods continued to plug away though and although he was caught short of his crease for 29, it was off the innings’ final ball as the Cats made one last desperate attempt to up the score, but the scorecard of 7-178 was a solid, defendable total.

As the men in red and gold marked middle stump, Mooroopna’s hopes remained firm.

After beating Waaia in round one, the Cats’ confidence is of one with nine lives and that infectious ‘we can beat anyone’ attitude has certainly swept the camp.

Karramomus batted steadily, but wickets fell before any batter really got going, with four of the first five wickets falling with a partnership no greater than 23.

However, the Bloods’ run rate was on track, up until the 32nd over.

Seven incredibly tight overs ensued from Mooroopna – two overs captured wickets, five overs conceded three runs or less and all of a sudden Karramomus required 49 runs off 36 deliveries.

But if there was one man that could forge a Bloods win, it would be none other than the namesake himself.

Enter Luke Forge.

Forge arrived at the crease at the beginning of the 40th over, immediately after Mooroopna’s seven overs of success, and wasted no time in ticking up the scoring rate.

In his first over, alongside Zac Groombridge, the pair combined for nine runs, then 12.

When Groombridge was caught in the field off Shafi’s bowling in the 42nd over and Lachie Keady fell three balls later, Forge only upped the ante.

By the end of the 44th over – and consequentially the end of the match – Forge had faced six balls since Keady fell on his sword.

The return? Twenty runs, including 16 off the 44th over.

Overall, Forge had produced 38 runs off 17 balls, including five fours, a six and a strike rate of 223.52 in one of the more heroic quick-fire blasts with the bat seen this season.

The win sees Karramomus hold firm in first as they turn to a clash against Numurkah in round five, while Mooroopna will look to improve its 2-2 record above .500 against third-placed Nagambie.