Sport
19 December, 2023
Saints upset Warriors in round eight
The Horsham Saints produced an upset in round eight of the Horsham Cricket Association defeating West Wimmera Warriors by five wickets at Davis Park on Saturday.
With Brock Hamerson, Jono Carroll and Alan Dube back in the side, captain Gary Davidson won the toss and elected to bowl.
Caroll struck early to dimiss the dangerous Jobe Dickinson and Jeremy Weeks for three and nine runs respectively. Alan Dube then got the big wicket of Nathan Alexander for five and when Brad Alexander fell shortly after, for 46, the Warriors were 4/73.
Brett Jensz, 44, and Trevor Polkinghorne, 27, rallied for the Warriors but the Saints bowled them out for 169 in 44.4 overs. Jono Carrol, 4/25, was the pick of the bowlers.
In reply the Warriors got off to a good start with Luke Smith bowling Mark Crafter for 16 and Gary Davidson run out for 13, to have the Saints 2/33.
Corey Smith and Dezi Carter rallied for the Saints and were looking in control at 2/105 with 20 overs left.
Jeremy Weeks took the wicket of Smith for 49 and when Dezi Carter fell for 16 in the next over off Liam Albrecht's bowling, the Saints were 4/105.
Rod Kirkwood and Alan Dube, fresh at the crease, had time on their side and they batted smartly to put on a 49 run stand until Dube was out leg before by James Crowhurst on 27.
Needing just 16 runs off the last five overs, Brock Hamerston came to the crease and they chased the target down in the 42nd over. Hamerston and Kirkwood finished not out on 11 and 28 runs respectively.
Gary Davidson said the boys fully deserved the victory.
"They have been turning up to training and doing everything right and they have fought hard," he said.
"They deserve this. We have been competitive and it finally clicked for them."
At the Dimboola Recreation Reserve, Lubeck Murtoa won their first game of the year, cruising to a nine wicket win over a depleted Blackheath Dimboola outfit.
Struggling for numbers, Bulls captain Sam Leith got a team together and they won the toss and batted first.
Their best batters - Leith, Sam Polack and Daniel Polack could only manage 53 runs between them so it gave the middle order a chance to score runs. Malcolm Barry played well to top score with 41 and with Archer Laverty chipping in with 25 they managed to get the total to 143.
Shannon Reddie took 3/23 off his nine overs whilst Nic Ballagh, Blake Downer and Joshua Hedt all bowled cleanly taking two wickets a-piece.
In the chase, Blake Turner, opening for the first time this season alongside Thomas Barrand, put on a 120 run opening stand. Turner fell for 71 but they chased the total down in the 27th over. Barrand remained unbeaten on 48 with Lachlan Weidemann on 23. Daniel Collins finished with figures of 1/26 as the sole wicket-taker for the Bulls.
Lubeck Murtoa captain Shannon Reddie said it was a great team performance.
"It was a real good team effort. We were at full strength and everyone contributed," he said.
"We had a good partnership batting and the bowling and fielding was unreal. We bowled tight lines and every bowler that came on did their job. I can't complain about that.
"Blake Turner batted really well. He has been pushing for an opening spot and he has proven he can do it so he will have to stay there moving forward."
Bulls captain Sam Leith said they struggled in the three components of the game.
"We were inconsistent in the bowling and if you don't do any of the three phases right in bowling, fielding and batting, which we failed to do, it's hard to win a game," he said.
"The positives to take out of the match was Malcolm Barry and Archer Laverty batted really well to get us over the 100 run mark.
"With us losing early wickets it gave those guys more of a chance to have a hit and both stepped up. Archer has been bowling well lately and it is good to see him get some runs."
At Cameron Oval, the Tigers defeated Laharum by 92 runs. Laharum won the toss and elected to bowl. They got early wickets and when the dangerous Angus Adams fell, the Tigers were reeling at 4/61.
Tyler Puls continued his good form and with help from Prabath Bandara and Dom Rose, he remained unbeaten on 55 to guide his side to 6/173.
Joshua Mahoney was the pick of the bowlers with 2/14 off nine overs but Connor Cowan was the talk of Laharum, taking his 100th wicket - that of one of the dangerous men in the competition, Angus Adams.
The Tigers bowled tight and clean and Laharum were bowled out for 81 in the 28th over. Ben Peucker, 18, and Jude Borlase, 11, were the only batsmen to score in double figures. The Tigers best bowler was Codi Kenny with 4/9.
It was Kenny's first match for the season and Tigers captain Tyler Puls said he bowled brilliantly.
"He was unreal. He was bowling really good pace and it was brilliant to see," he said.
"With our batting we lost a few early wickets but we dug in and batted out our overs which is something we want to aim for each game so it was pleasing we could do that."
In the other match, at Sunnyside, Homers beat the Bullants by five wickets. After winning the toss and bowling, Baxter Perry had an electrifying day with the ball, finishing with figures of 6/21 to help bowl the Bullants out for 128 with Matthew Combe top scoring with 48.
Homers made little work of the chase, reaching the total in the 28th over with Logan Millar guiding them home, unbeaten on 53. Matthew Combe was the pick of the Bullants bowlers finishing with figures of 3/34.
The win puts the Homers one game clear on top of the ladder with the Warriors second as the league pauses for the Christmas break.
