CATS UP FOR THE CHASE
LARA’S strategy of promoting home-grown talent was instrumental in running down Highton’s 7-243 with a stylish undefeated 64 from Brenden Miller leading the chase.
Miller teamed with Rob Sodomaco (36) and Ed Kol (36) to carry the Cats to success after Adam Teesdale (41) and Kaden Marum (33) prepared a sound platform with a 69-run opening stand.
“It’s a policy that has served us well; we don’t necessarily recruit, but we’ve got good kids coming through and if we give them opportunities, they can sometimes surprise you,” elated Cats captain Daniel Weigl said post-game.
Despite its youthfulness, Lara’s line-up demonstrated composure beyond its years to pace the pursuit, winning with eight balls to spare.
“Externally expectations of us might not be that high, but we know what we’ve got with Kaden, Adam, Ed and even Mitch Heyward coming in at the end,” Weigl said.
“Mitch has a licence to go, he can hit a big ball and he broke the shackles.
“He made sure it was knocked over with an over to spare rather than letting it get into the last over where it can become a lottery with nerves.”
In setting the target, the visitors to Bisinella Oval leaned heavily on a classy 114-ball 89 from skipper James Gillard, while Jack Cook (48) struck his third 40-plus score of the season and Brady Somers was unconquered on 31.
Casey Young (2-52), Rob Pehar (2-32) and Heyward (2-33) claimed the wickets.
“When they got 243 it was a decent target, but we’ve played enough cricket at Lara to know that the wicket and the outfield means that 250 is a par score,” Weigl said.
“It’s smaller but also so quick; you can bring the field up and leak boundaries or put out sweepers and concede four of five an over without the batsmen taking too many risks.”
Despite the loss, Alex Watson was terrific for the Heat with 4-38 from his 10-over allotment.