Tigers cling to top
Cobram primed to give itself some breathing space on ladder
Cobram Cricket Club looks primed to give itself some breathing space at the top of the Murray Valley Cricket Association Premier Division ladder.
The side produced a stellar performance against secondplaced Katamatite in the battle of the Tigers at Cobram Showgrounds.
In the first red ball match of the season, Cobram batted first but it was far from smooth sailing early.
It lost destructive opener Wian Van Zyl for four and fellow opener and young gun Izac Artavilla managed just six.
Katamatite was in dream land when the side managed to dismiss classy South African Ewald Roberts for just 13.
The visitors experienced some resistance from Lewis McShane (16), who was promoted to bat at four after spending the majority of the season batting at 10.
Once experienced campaigner James Daniel (11) was cleaned up, Cobram looked to be in a real spot of bother before captain Adam De Cicco (33) and the returning Tyron Baden (45) put on a solid partnership to revive the innings and swing the momentum of the game back their way.
Hugh Hyde (13) and Andrew Hogan (12) managed to add some vital runs at the tail to give the Tigers a competitive total of 163 from 40 overs.
Once in to bat, Katamatite’s opener Tom Pendlebury (37) looked on track for a big day at the office before falling to the bowling of Adam De Cicco.
It was a sign of things to come from the Cobram skipper, who went on to dismantle Katamatite’s top order to claim figures 5/14 from 12 overs.
Tyron Baden also made an impact with the ball, finishing with figures of 2/16 from eight overs.
Behind the stumps wicketkeeper McShane had a day to remember, hauling in five catches.
Besides Pendlebury’s effort of 37, it was a tough day for Katamatite with the bat, with only Sam Gordon (10) and Brayden Beaton (10) reaching double figures.
Katamatite finished 8/86 but could yet escape with a draw with rain forecast for the weekend.
Because Cobram is so close to victory, needing just two wickets to win, it has every chance to finish the game.
After starring with both bat and ball, Cobram skipper De Cicco said he been working hard in the past few seasons to improve all parts of his game.
‘‘The last couple of years I’ve been working hard on my batting because I always want to score runs,’’ he said.
‘‘Most of our batsmen got out to bad shots on the weekend though, so there’s certainly something to take out of the day and improve on.’’
Across the bridge, Barooga already secured first innings points against Tocumwal and will search for an outright victory on Saturday.
The Hawks were out for blood early on in the two-day contest, winning the toss and sending the Bloods in at Barooga Recreation Reserve.
The tactic worked a treat when Riley Gow struck almost immediately before Justin Maley went on a demolition expedition of his own with the ball.
Maley took the next five wickets to fall to have to Bloods reeling at 6-60 and finish with figures of 5-27 from his 11 overs.
The rest of Barooga’s attack tidied up the tail well to have Tocumwal all out for 108, with Amar Ullah (2-20) also taking multiple wickets.
Ranji Oliver showed the most resistance for the visitors with a gritty — and ultimately unbeaten — 30 from 90 deliveries, but no other batsman passed 15 in the innings.
The Hawks had little trouble reeling the target in — passing it with six wickets in hand — and finished the day on 6-171 from 35 overs.
Gow led the way with 63 from only 51 balls, while Matt Jaensch (12 not out) and Matt Dimble (10 not out) will resume their side’s innings on day two with the hopes of piling on quick runs.
Jesse Barker found the most success with the ball for Tocumwal, snaring 3-29.