In its first two-day encounter this season, Kyabram elected to bat, but the pace of a British import for Katandra upended the Redbacks’ best talent with the willow.
Joel Beaumont is one of Katandra’s young imports this season, and while he plied his trade solidly across the white ball matches, the youngster has come into his own with the red Kookaburra.
However, the initial grunt work in Katandra’s bowling was done by Dayne Wilson.
Wilson bowled to his field to dismiss in-form bat Paul Parsons for a duck, soon followed by opening partner Billy McLay, leaving the Redbacks 2-20.
Beaumont then began to fire in his spell, dismissing superstar bat Kyle Mueller for just 13 runs with a peach that sent the bails to New South Wales, while Kyle Fitzgerald was unable to last longer than a ball, Beaumont delivering an identical corker to again uproot the stumps from the pitch.
The resistance came through Cade Mueller, who continued his stretch of runs while Kyabram were down 4-47, following his ton from a fortnight ago and a solid 35 against Waaia last week.
Mueller tallied 52 from 88 deliveries, recorded six fours and a six, but a miss-hit down Mitchell Black’s throat spelled the end of his time in the middle.
Corey Hickford and Wilson joined in the fun of sending bails airborne with Tim Nelson and Lukas Hanslow bowled, before Jackson McLay and a defiant Alec Young were sent walking by Beaumont.
Ultimately, Kyabram was skittled for 156 by the 58th over, and it was an effort well received by coach Ryleigh Shannon.
“We knew it was going to be pretty tricky as they (Kyabram) have a lot of quality bats and high aspirations this year,” Shannon said.
“We needed to maintain our discipline in the longer format, not chase wickets and I thought that was one of the aspects we did really well.”
Shannon lauded Beaumont, who’s familiarity with the red ball was the catalyst for the uptick in form.
“We’ve seen that as a pattern with the Englishmen imports we’ve had over the years, they don’t use the white ball over there and they don’t get targeted as much in the longer format,” Shannon said.
“The ball moved a little bit more for him like the conditions over in England, so it was good to see him get some reward.”
However, the poor batting display is a surprisingly familiar sight for Kyabram, bowled out for a second time this season, and losing eight wickets or more for the fourth time this summer.
When the Redbacks are on song though, they are arguably the competition’s most potent batting line-up - last week’s 3-235 against Waaia reflects that.
But now, Kyabram will once again rely on its bowling to save itself from a shock loss.
With the early innings finish, it gave Katandra plenty of time to be patient with its turn with the blade, handed 19 overs to see out the day, and while Hickford’s plucky seven was short-lived, Talon Wilson and Benjamin Pedretti ensured they survived, with the Eagles well-poised at 1-37.
“We felt it was probably a bit too long to protect so we wanted to bat positively,” Shannon said.
“I think we achieved that and with 35-odd runs on the board we’re well-placed.”
But knowing the Redbacks killer bowling line-up, the Eagles will need to back up its efforts made by the ball with the bat next Saturday.
It’s something Shannon knows will be a challenge, but as a 2024-25 finals participant, the Eagles are up for the fight.
“We saw with scores in the 200s for the one-dayers we know reaching their target is achievable,” Shannon said.
“But they’ve got a quality attack and we know it could turn pear-shaped pretty quickly if we don’t stick to the game plan, so we’ve got to stick to the task.
“There’s plenty of work to do.”
THE GAME
Katandra 1-37 (Talon Wilson 21 not out, Benjamin Pedretti eight not out, Samuel Langley 1-20) trail Kyabram 156 (Cade Mueller 52, Alec Young 32, Joel Beaumont 4-32)
