Sport
24 February, 2025
West Wimmera Warriors claim second consecutive HCA one-day premiership
West Wimmera beat Homers in 2024/25 Horsham cricket one-day final.
The West Wimmera Warriors have claimed its second one-day title in as many seasons.
The green and gold claimed a 48-run victory against Homers at Horsham City Oval on Sunday, February 23.
West Wimmera captain Nathan Alexander said the game was hard fought.
"It's always a tough game when we play Homers," he said.
"It's always pretty close and it always goes down to the line with them."
Having won the toss and elected to bat, West Wimmera's Bradley Alexander was a steady hand at the top of the Warriors' order.
He stayed at the crease while his opening partner and first drop both fell for no runs.
Bradley and Brodie Cramer eventually settled things down and combined for a 78-run fourth-wicket partnership.
When Bradley's wicket fell, he was one run short of a half-century, but he did top-score for the game and combined with two wickets in the second innings (2/21 off 8.1 overs), it was enough to earn him man-of-the-match.
The captain said it's 'just the way he goes about it' that makes Bradley stand out on the cricket pitch.
"I'd say he is one of the best bats in the league," Alexander said.
"You can always rely on him."
It was Gibson Perry (4/18 off nine overs) who led Homers' bowlers in restricting West Wimmera's total.
He took the wicket of four of West Wimmera's top-six batsmen.
Baxter Perry and Chaminda Gamage each took a couple of wickets, alongside one for Oliver Potter to keep West Wimmera to a first-innings total of 140 runs.
"We were aiming for probably aiming for 160 or 180 to start with," Alexander said.
"We knew if we scraped away and got a few at the end there, we'd have a half-decent total to bowl at.
"A few blokes dug in late and got a few late runs down the order, which was probably crucial.
"We feel like we've got a pretty strong bowling line up so we can defend pretty much whatever we put on the board."
Homers also had a rough start to their innings, with two ducks and two more batsmen out in single figures before Luke Mills and Monty Wynne combined for a settled partnership.
But, while scoring at a tick just above 50, the run rate required began to mount.
When Jobe Dickinson broke the partnership, Baxter Perry arrived at the crease and quickly made his intentions clear, launching his second ball into the City Oval grandstand with a strong lofted drive for six.
Gibson Perry maintained the aggression when he replaced Baxter at the crease, but as the overs ticked by, victory became less likely for the red and white.
Both side's find themselves in a strong position in the final round of the HCA two-day regular season and are likely bound for the longer-form finals.
"We batted yesterday (February 22) and made a good score," Alexander said.
"We're pretty confident that'll just lead us into finals nicely and get a good touch and good form going in."