Saturday Sundries | A century-rich final round and the thriller that determined the D-grade finals
As the home and away campaign of Cricket Shepparton’s lower grades come to a close, many cricketers across the region had one final chance to earn a mention in Saturday Sundries - and plenty grasped the opportunity with both hands.
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A couple bowled brilliant spells, a handful hoisted their helmets and bats to the sky, and News photographer Rechelle Zammit captured what was effectively a knockout D-grade wildcard final between Mooroopna and Karramomus, with only the winner entering the top six.
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Magpie and Bomber swoop in with bowling carnage
Euroa’s B-grade love affair has continued right up until finals, claiming an 11th win without loss in the Clyde Young Shield.
Its latest win was spearheaded by Darby Wilson, the Magpie bowler raising the rock against Kyabram.
Taking 5-42, Wilson got the ball rolling in the first over, and sealed the deal with the final wicket of the match in nearly 15 overs of relentless pace.
Meanwhile at Waaia Recreation Reserve, the Bombers’ B-grade outfit finished its season on a high note despite its wooden spoon status.
Hayden Hixon heaved havoc onto Katandra in Waaia’s best bowling performance of the season on day one last week, nabbing 5-27 as the Eagles were blitzed for 98.
Going large in the last
In the last round of the season, many batters in the Goulburn Valley made the most of their final stint in the pads.
Five lower-grade centuries were scored on the weekend, but none higher than a freedom-relishing Isaac Chandler in the aforementioned Waaia B-grade clash.
Chandler posted an enormous 145, outscoring Katandra’s entire team, and then some, as a Bombers opener.
Facing 195 balls, Chandler played a poised innings with the stick, driving 19 shots to the rope, plus whacking one for six as well.
Elsewhere, Tatura’s D-grade opener Brandan Reilly too dominated from the outset - albeit at a much quicker clip.
Reilly hooked nine balls over the fence for six, and scored six fours as well, en route to a 79-ball 104.
In Reilly’s first ton of the season, Tatura secured its spot atop the SJ Perry Shield ladder.
The runs continued flowing in D-grade, with Old Students’ Jason Wild blasting an unbeaten 113 in his club’s win over Euroa, while Robert Marsters of Mooroopna extended the trend of openers tonning up, also making a score of 104 likewise to Reilly.
D-grade do-or-die comes down to final over
While the stakes of lower grade cricket may fly under the radar, both Mooroopna and Karramomus’ SJ Perry Shield sides knew what was on the line when they showed up to Mooroopna Recreation Reserve on Saturday - win, and you’re in.
In the sixth against seventh clash, players would have undoubtedly been tense for what was effectively a wildcard elimination final, as the previous encounter between the two sides ended in a heartstopping tie.
On Saturday, the rivalry lived up to the hype once again.
As Robert Marsters played a masterful innings with the willow, Mooroopna’s score of 8-220 was a proud effort, but one the Bloods had reeled back significantly.
The Cats’ first wicket fell at 174, but Karramomus forced a collapse, taking 7-21 in the latter stages of the innings to provide some momentum after a torrid afternoon standing in the field.
The Bloods rued miscommunication while running to lose opener Ashley Taylor for 12, but Rohit Srivastava and Jagjit Bawa produced a 71-run stand before the pair fell within four balls of each other.
Four balls later again and the Cats had clawed back another, leaving the Bloods at 4-114 halfway through the innings, the match heading towards potentially another tie - a result that would see Mooroopna make finals.
But Shahidul Chowdhury and Lyle Sinclair held together a determined 36-run partnership, a minor stand in the grand scheme of cricket, but one that proved stabilising for the Bloods.
Sinclair and Jeremy Lewis then shared the crease briefly, before Lewis and Declan Moreno scored about a run-a-ball 46-run partnership, before Moreno departed for 29.
As Moreno trudged off the deck, Karramomus required 10 runs for victory with 12 balls remaining.
Enter Amandeep Bawa.
Bawa faced two dot balls in the penultimate over before swinging for the fences, smacking a six to ease the scoreboard pressure on the Bloods and inch Karramomus closer to a finals berth.
Bawa rotated the strike the next ball, leaving just two runs required for victory off the last over.
Mooroopna’s Ryan Neil stepped up to the plate at the death, but Bawa clinically dispatched the delivery for four, ending the nail-biter encounter and leapfrogging Karramomus over Mooroopna into the D-grade finals equation with a three-wicket win.