Armstrong, Bulldogs bite first in Haisman Shield one-day opening round

However, its being able to convert the talent on paper into wins on the record, and as the one-day matches began on Saturday, the Bulldogs kickstarted their season on the right foot.

Although in the early going, Katandra was the side to gain the early ascendancy.

Winning the toss and selecting to bat, the Eagles dug out a solid opening partnership to put the wheels in motion, with the first wicket falling after nearly 10 overs of cricket, with Blake Armstrong sending Corey Hickford back to the sheds for 13 with Katandra 1-34.

However, the Eagles remained defiant despite the wicket falling, with skipper Ben Pedretti digging in for a slow-scoring innings as opener Brady Black dominated the runs.

Pedretti would fall for five, but the pair had combined for a 40-run partnership when the second wicket was claimed by Mathew Macansh.

Brady would raise the bat at 50 but tuck his stick under his arm soon after, as Macansh secured a second wicket in quick succession.

Hadleigh Sirett and Mitchell Black knocked the ball about for solid stints in the middle, tallying 44 off 56 and 39 off 39 not out respectively, guiding Katandra to 7-207.

It was a total that Tatura coach Daniel Coombs was happy to have restricted.

“The outfield was like lightning,” Coombs said.

“It looked like at one point they were going to get 240, but we were able to pull them back right at the end, and their score was pretty on par with how quick the outfield was.”

The Bulldogs looked on the ropes after the innings break though as Xavier Hutchinson and Lachlan Magee failed to last long, falling for 11 and seven respectively within four balls of one another.

Coombs and Kiran Green put together a stabilising partnership, but the run rate had slowed the Bulldogs to below the required.

At Coombs’ wicket, Tatura was 3-46 and seemed to be in dire straits.

But the Bulldogs don’t pay Blake Armstrong money for nothing.

It didn’t take long for the club’s leading run scorer in 2024-25 to find his rhythm, punching two boundaries off his first over at the crease, before another two after Green was forced to see out a maiden.

Armstrong’s first 20 out of 21 runs came from fours, and quickly Green’s role at the middle came to rotating the strike for the in-form Tatura talent.

At the 21st over, Green was trapped for LBW for 20 off 47 deliveries, but Tatura were now cruising through overs with runs ticking over following the pair’s 48-run partnership.

Just one wicket would fall across the next 116 runs scored, and it would continue to be Armstrong doing the bulk of the scoring.

Tatura rapidly approached the target, and it was none other than Armstrong to whip the ball to the boundary to seal the deal, scoring 92 not out as the Bulldogs claimed a five-wicket win with six-and-a-half overs to spare.

“We didn’t panic at any situation, last season we had to scrape over the line a couple of times, but I thought we paced our batting innings really well,” Coombs said.

“Blake’s innings was brilliant, he hit boundaries when he needed to but also rotated the strike well, especially with Nick Watt, they just seemed to find it easy at the end.”

Armstrong and Watt recorded an unbeaten 86-run partnership to see the Bulldogs over the line.

The win was a “mature” start to the Haisman Shield one-day leg, with Coombs knowing wins on the board early go a long way in booking a finals position.

“Katandra will be there pushing for finals again, so it’s one of those games if you can win it gives you a bumper on your opposition,” Coombs said.

“Last season we won five games to start the season and it really set us up for a finals position, so hopefully we can keep the momentum going.”