Saturday Sundries | Cheeky reason behind E-grade upset of the season as players fill the runs and wicket column
Lower grade cricket in Shepparton continues to deliver, and this week the action was jam-packed.
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Twin tons, a trio of Kookaburra-raisers and two gripping finishes for Karramomus highlight the previous weekend of Saturday Sundries, as the Christmas break near for Cricket Shepparton clubs.
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Travball comes to Cricket Shepparton
As the nation’s Ashes campaign rages on, Australian fans have taken aim at the English rivals by arguing Australia has a ‘Bazball’ of its own in Travis Head - Travball.
Bazball, coined to positively promote head coach Brendan McCullum’s aggressive philosophy with the bat, has failed to deliver on Australian shores, but Head’s second-fastest century in Ashes history showed to the joy of many that it can be done, and done better by a Baggy Green wearer.
Well, it appears Invergordon has its own Travball to boast, with skipper Travis Murdoch smacking 12 boundaries, including three sixes, on his way to an unbeaten ton in round seven of C-grade cricket.
The number four bat arrived at the crease with Invergordon 2-23, and soon 3-27, before he and Patrick Riordan combined for a 158-run partnership to make Old Students feel like the English cricket side struggling equally as much in the field on day three of the second test.
Murdoch finished with 102 off 106 balls, as Invergordon claimed a 129-run victory.
Murdoch wasn’t the only man in the runs, however, with D-grade Numurkah batter Tyson Woods scoring 101 not out in the Blues’ win over Katandra.
Woods was the difference, with six of the nine Numurkah batters to face a ball scoring 10 runs or less, leaning on Woods to produce his match-winning effort as opener.
The winless defeat the undefeated
Northerners sure weren’t expecting this.
Sitting atop the E-grade ladder with an unblemished 4-0 record, the green and red would have confidently rolled their kit bags into Bunbartha Recreation Reserve as it faced the winless Karramomus - until it spotted a familiar face.
Six-time Lightfoot Medallist Chris Keady popped up for his first game of the summer, and it’s safe to say he’s a six-time A-grade champion player for a reason.
Keady steered Karramomus to 183 off 35 overs with a not out score of 45, enough to see the Bloods home by three runs to claim their first win of the summer.
Chambers of carnage
Across the beginning of B-grade’s two-day contests, three bowlers from across the competition delivered devastation to opposing batting orders.
Waaia’s Isaac Chandler made no friends with Northerners by taking 6-62 off 22 overs, while Katandra’s Karl Rosevear swooped on Old Students to claim 6-30 off his 16 overs.
Nic Chambers also raised the rock with a five wicket haul for Kyabram, recording stunning figures of 5-11 off 12 overs and was involved in a run out also, causing a Cats collapse that ended Mooroopna’s innings at 10-95.
Lightning strikes twice
For the second time this season, a Karramomus team has been involved in a tie.
Karramomus’ D-grade outfit has tied with Mooroopna, two weeks after its E-grade team endured the same fate.
The Cats were bowled out for 179 with 14 balls to spare - 14 balls that were ultimately the difference.
The Bloods made a confident start to the run chase, crossing the triple-figure mark with seven wickets still in hand and 18 overs left to go at a pace of around four runs per over.
But soon Mooroopna began to reel back the contest, taking four quick wickets in nearly as many overs.
Karramomus’ Declan Moreno blasted four boundaries in a quick fire 20, but when he was caught, and Gurpreet Singh was bowled for a golden duck, the Bloods were the team fighting for a result, needing 16 runs off 25 balls with one wicket in hand.
Riley Kilgour and Nathan Cross held their own in the middle, however, and by the last over, four runs were required for a Bloods victory.
It was Michael Ford who took the battered Kookaburra for the final six deliveries, starting a treat with two dot balls.
Cross eventually found bat on ball and scampered through for a single, before another dot was bowled.
With three runs needed off the last two balls, Kilgour and Cross exchanged singles in a tense final minute of action to secure a tie between the clubs.