Gallery | Tatura clinches Cricket Shepparton’s Under-14A premiership in nine-run thriller

Tatura recorded a memorable nine-run win in Cricket Shepparton’s under-14A grand final at the weekend, defending a total well below par to oust Numurkah/Notre Dame Central Park-St Brendan’s for the premiership.

Batting first at Deakin Reserve, Tatura posted 133 - a score co-coach David Miller admitted he didn’t think was enough at the innings’ end.

But after a heroic bowling performance that left the combine nine runs shy and 10 wickets down in the 40th over, Tatura was left to savour a scintillating finish to an outstanding season.

“They went nuts; it was pretty good,” Miller said.

“It was well fought out - we’ve been close all year, the two sides, so either side on their day could’ve won.

“(They are) the best two sides in the comp and they’re pretty evenly matched.”

Winning the toss on a pristine Deakin deck, Tatura opted to pad up first - a call that seemed valid until the fourth over.

Hunter Corbo was left stranded after a run out mix up, and as he trudged back to the sheds for one, the combine was chirping.

Harrison Whitford came to the crease and plastered a couple of balls to the fence on the way to a quick fire 12, but Tatura’s gilt-edged partnership came in the form of Walter Ewart and Cassin Cook.

The duo piled on 69 runs for the third wicket before Cook’s bails went flying on 38, and once Ewart was given the same treatment three runs shy of a half century, the rest of Tatura’s order followed quick smart.

Riley Newby was Numurkah/NDCPStB’s best with 2-5 while Angus Parkinson jagged 2-14 off his three overs.

Needing 134 for victory, a required rate of less than three an over, the combine had the upper hand.

Yet seven overs in, all of a sudden things didn’t seem so rosy.

At 2-16, Harrison Few and Callan O’Dwyer were forced to dig their spikes in and soak up the pressure Tatura was throwing at them, weathering an early storm by blocking out several overs.

Few was outfoxed for single digits, and while Sebastian Garner and O’Dwyer continued to tick over the run rate, there was only one clear aggressor in this duo.

O’Dwyer raised the bat for a sublime half ton, cracking eight boundaries and two maximums on the way to 61 before retiring, leaving his side well-poised on 5-108 with 13 overs remaining.

Or so they thought.

Without O’Dwyer’s dab hand to deal with, Tatura was able to dry up the run rate and snare wickets in clumps as Kaide Anderson weighed in on the contest.

He found himself on a hattrick - aided by savvy glovework by Whitford - before grabbing two more victims in his next over, triggering a 4-6 capitulation that violently swung back the fortunes back in Tatura’s favour.

Georgia Robertson was joined at the crease by O’Dwyer, and though she started her innings confidently with a pair, Corbo foiled her two overs later to bring the combine to its knees on 124.

Anderson’s 4-16 spell was the second innings catalyst for Tatura, while Miller identified Ewart’s 47 in the first as a standout.

But at the end of the day, it took a concerted effort from all 12 players to add to Tatura’s ongoing legacy of junior success - one that’s not likely to end any time soon.

“I think we’re on that shield a few times over the last 10 years,” Miller said.

“We’re good; we have about half the side goes up to under-16s and the rest - some of the really good kids - stay in under-14s.

“We should be strong for a couple of years at least.”