Cricket
12 November, 2024
Donald Jeffcott remains unbeaten
The second Wimmera Mallee Cricket Association T20 carnival was a blast. Donald Jeffcott was the only team to remain unbeaten through five matches this season.
They easily won two games against Birchip and Southern Mallee Giants at Donald Recreation Reserve. Against Birchip, they batted first and scored 6/156, with Aaron Schofield starring with 70 runs. Lachy Randall was the pick of the bowlers for Birchip with 4/29 (4).
Birchip was bowled out for 86 in reply, with Riley Doran top-scoring with 23. Luca Rice took 3/23 (4) for Donald Jeffcott.
In their second match, they defeated the Giants by six wickets. They restricted the Giants to 6/98, with Cooper Anderson 2/5 (2), Nicholas Atkins 2/11 (4), and Luca Rice 2/19 (4) as the damaging bowlers. Luke Mitchell top scored for the Giants with 38.
In reply, Donald chased the total down with the loss of four wickets, with Koby Westerland, 22, and Lachlan Jones, 21, the leading scorers. Jack Flavel took 2/26 (4) for the Giants.
Also at Donald Recreation Reserve, St Marys suffered their first loss of the season, losing to Marnoo by 109 runs. Marnoo put up 6/172, with Brylie Cameron top scoring with 51 off an impressive 29 balls, including six fours and three sixes. Colby Schmidt 2/45 (4) and Bailey Watts 2/30 (4) were the best bowlers for St Marys.
In reply, St Marys were bowled out for 63, with Nicholas Germano top-scoring with 20.
In their other match against St Arnaud, St Marys won by 42 runs. They posted 7/112, with Nicholas Germano top-scoring again with 26. Carl Torney did the damage with the ball for St Arnaud, taking 3/17 (4).
Germano was the star with the ball, taking 4/6 as they bowled St Arnaud out for 70. Jacob Patching top scored with 27.
Marnoo, meanwhile, won their second game with an easy win over Birchip. They restricted Birchip to 89 with David Lang 3/15 (4) and Jack Duxson 3/15 (4) the stars with the ball. James Paley, 20 and Lachy Randall, 19, were the best with the bat for Birchip.
Marnoo chased the total down with eight overs to go. Nic Baird, 41 and David Lang, with an unbeaten 35, were the top scorers.
In the final match, St Arnaud won a thriller over the Giants. They bowled the Giants out for 73, with Lachlan Patching doing the damage and the ball claiming 4/12 (3). Jayson Kiem top-scored for the Giants with 18.
In reply, St Arnaud was at one stage, 8/60, but managed to chase the total down with seven balls in hand, with Jayden McCartney 26 and Ned Gorrie 17 being the main contributors with the bat. Clinton Castleman took 3/15 (4) for the Giants.
In the B-grade competition, the Southern Mallee Giants forfeited both their matches.
In the first match of the day at Charlton Park, Donald Jeffcott defeated Charlton in a thriller, which came down to the final ball.
Thomas Reekie scored an unbeaten 45 as they finished at 6/96. Cooper Boyle, 2/23 (4), was the pick of the bowlers for Charlton.
Charlton managed to put up 95 in reply, falling two runs short. Jake Needs did the damage for Donald Jeffcott with 4/9 (4), and Billy Sexton top-scored for Charlton with 40.
In their second match against Watchem, Donald Jeffcott won by five wickets with one over remaining.
Watchem put up 7/108, with Daniel Slater top-scoring with 24 runs and Austin Dean and Ty Colbert contributing 23 runs apiece. Thomas Reekie again starred with the ball, claiming 3/20 (4).
Reekie also starred with the bat in reply, scoring 39 runs as they chased the total down with one over remaining. Seamus Lowry was the pick of the bowlers for Watchem with 2/18 (3).
In the other match, Charlton defeated Watchem by three runs in a thriller.
Billy Sexton scored an unbeaten 54 as they posted 5/132. Lukshan Kasthuriarachchi took 3/16 (4) for Watchem.
In reply, Watchem were bowled out for 130 with two balls remaining, falling three runs short. Kasthuriarachchi scored the top with a bat score of 46. Patrick Soulsby was the pick of the bowlers for Charlton with 4/16 (4).