Saints let finals slip
Berrigan’s final chances are over after an eight wicket loss to Deniliquin on Saturday in Round 14 of the Murray Valley Cricket Association Division One competition.
Losing the toss, the Saints were sent in on a green and spongy Deniliquin pitch, which in turn provide a tough wicket to play on. Andrew Parr opened the batting up with Damien Taylor against Charlie Hillier (0/2) and the off spin of Jack Tonta.
The Saints batsmen struggled with a ball seaming around and turning sharply and it wasn’t long before Tonta claimed Taylor caught for one and the Saints were 1/4.
Zach Nugent joined Parr in the middle and the two started to turn the strike over, however the pitch conditions continued to favour the Rhino bowlers and in the 10th over the Saints had only 13 runs on the board.
Tim Hiller was brought into the attack and maintained the bowling pressure, but again it was Tonta (2/23) to strike again, this time claiming Nugent for 14 caught at point and the Saints were now 2/22.
Tom Whelan was the next man in but seven runs later it was Hillier’s turn to strike picking up Parr caught in the Gully for 12 and the Saints were in trouble at 3/29.
Simon Packer was the next man in and with Whelan the two started to pick up the scoring rate with some boundaries.
The score slowly crept up with the Saints getting to 45 before Packer misjudged a throw from the deep and was caught short of his ground, run out for 11 by Chris Pyle and the Saints were reeling at 4/45.
Next over saw the introduction of Phil Rotherham into the attack and had immediate success with Whelan dragging his foot out of the crease and stumped for five and the Saints had lost another wicket for no change in the score. They were now 5/45.
With two fresh batsman at the crease in Lachie Pyle and Fraser Haintz, the Saints had to show some spirit to get a defendable score on the board.
The two started strongly taking advantage of the small ground putting the bad balls to the boundary.
The two clubbed a number of fours, however with the score on 62, Pyle was caught off the spin bowling of Rotherham and the Saints were now 6/62.
Graeme Parr was next in but did not last long making two runs before Ash Germano (1/12) struck picking up Parr caught at mid-off and the Saints were now 7/68 after 26 overs.
Brad Loats was next in, but it was Haintz who did all the scoring with some quick running between wickets and lofty shots to the boundary.
He kept adding to the Saints score, whilst the remaining batsman succumbed to the tight line and length of the Rhino bowlers.
Loats, Vidura Gunaratne and John O’Neil all failed to trouble the scorer with Loats bowled by Rotherham, Panda caught behind off the spin bowling of Brodie Arthur (2/0) and O’Neil bowled.
The Saints finishing all out for 80 in the 32nd over with Haintz not out for 23 and with his effort claiming the Tim Harris $50 most valuable award winner for the day.
With a bowler favoured wicket at the disposal of the Saints openers, 80 was a defendable target with they were disciplined like the Rhinos bowlers showed.
Zach Nugent (0/18) opened up alongside the off spin of Packer (0/12) against the Rhinos opening pair of Arthur and Pyle.
Nugent had the ball cutting and zipping around, but luck went the way of the Rhinos batsmen with edges flying over the catches heads and just missing the stumps.
Taylor was brought into the attack and had the batsman worried early with the batsman edging safely and after 10 overs the Rhinos were 0/30.
Tom Whelan (1/14) came into the attack and with his left arm pace he managed to claim Arthur caught behind for 23 with a ball that jagged away from the openers bat.
Harry Hiller was next in and was in a huge hurry to finish the game for the Rhinos.
His hard swinging proved frustrating for the Saints bowlers as balls flew in the air, landing short of fielders. Between him and Pyle the two hit their way to tie the score for the Rhinos.
However it was Lachie Pyle (1/11) who had the last laugh with Andrew Parr stumping Hillier for 18.
The Rhinos were now two down.
Germano joined Pyle and they took the score to 2/87 before the game was called in the 24th over.
In the last round, the Saints play host to Nathalia.