Finals are set in Grampians
Aprediction that Grampians Cricket Association semifinals would be a repeat of the final round became reality when Buangor-tatyoon crushed Pomonal and Swifts-great Western easily put down Youth Club.
Semi-finals will now involve Buangor-tatyoon taking on Pomonal at Tatyoon and Swifts-great Western playing Youth Club at Stawell’s Central Park.
Last week at Central Park, Swiftsgreat Western chose to bat and posted a healthy score of 4-221 at nearly fiveand-a-half runs per over.
The bulk of this score was notched by Eckel brothers Tom, 96, and Jesse, 65, who shared a 138-run partnership.
Faced with this score, Youth Club managed only 57 from 24 overs with the Combine’s main wicket takers Matt Heffer, 5-10, and Chad Gilmour, 3-12.
Buangor-tatyoon chose an alternative option in its game and invited Pomonal to bat and promptly dismissed it for a paltry 48 off 35 overs.
Callum Baker led the bowling with 3-6 and James Phillips, Michael Harricks and Ashley Maconachie took two wickets each.
The Hawks took just 14 overs to reach the score, losing only two wickets to finish at 2-57.
With a repeat of last week’s round of matches, Pomonal and Youth Club have the task of turning around heavy defeats to make it to the grand final.
Many would say this is impossible, but to use that well-known quote ‘cricket is a funny game’ they are not without hope.
But it will take a total team effort for them to prevail.
At Tatyoon, Clayton Mackley, Lyndon Brewis, Matt Peel and Lachie Green must bring their A game to keep out Zander Mcdougall, Callum Baker, Michael Harricks and James Phillips, all of whom appreciate their home pitch.
Whatever score they post, Tigers bowlers Mackley, Green, Pat Frawley and Lachy Dalkin must bowl tight line and length to put pressure on Hawks batsmen Jarrod Blandford, Shaun Allen, Jack Ganley, Jacob Bates, and free hitter Michael Harricks.
Youth Club will have a real struggle to turn around a 180-run loss and it will all fall on Nic Baird’s shoulders.
He is the only Clubbers batsman capable of getting that big score required to build a competitive total.
The problem for the Clubbers is that the Combine can still add Jay Moody and Charlie Neild to its attack.
The Clubbers would be hoping to add a couple of players to their list this week as well.
Junior cricket wound up on Sunday
with Swifts-great Western winning back-to-back premierships by defeating Halls Gap.
Scores were 9-127 to 119. Best for the Combine were Owen Summers, 31, with the bat and Juddy Smith, 4-15, with the ball.
Earlier, Halls Gap, by reason of its unbeaten season, was awarded the under-13s premiership. This week: Semi-finals, Buangortatyoon v Pomonal at Tatyoon, Swiftsgreat
Western v Youth Club, Central Park, Stawell. Last week: Buangor-tatyoon 2-57 d Pomonal 48 (C Baker 3-6), Swiftsgreat Western 4-221 (T. Eckel 96, J. Eckel 65, S. Cocks 36; H. Evans 3-37) d Youth Club 57 (N. Baird 26; M. Heffer 5-10, C. Gilmour 3-12). Final ladder: Swifts-great Western 45, 2.73 percent; Buangor-tatyoon 42, 1.87; Youth Club 24, 0.68; Pomonal 18, 0.44; St Andrews 15, 0.60.
Homers A Grade cricketers will plan to turn a Horsham Cricket Association T20 premiership on Sunday into back-to-back success against Jung Tigers when the teams meet again in a seasonproper one-day game this weekend.
The Pigeons were far too good for the Tigers in the shortest serious form of the game and will now go for the jugular in a 40-overa-side contest.
Jung Tigers’ 69 in the twilight final at Horsham City Oval was never going to be enough and Homers, with Adam Atwood, 40, and Paddy Mills, 25, passed the target without losing a wicket.
The result was an important turnaround for the Pigeons, who themselves had crumbled badly in a 40-over-a-side showdown against Noradjuha-toolondo the day before.
The result also came as a blow to the Tigers, who had come off second best against Rupanyup-minyip, albeit in a much closer match.
The wash-up from the weekend’s action is that Rupanyup-minyip is back in the four by percentage and Jung Tigers are outside the finals equation with two home-and-away games remaining.
The Tigers are sure to be out for some redemption on Saturday, but will need to find more runs and, critically wickets, in a hurry.
Making the T20 final probably represented more of a bonus than an aim for the underdog Tigers who have eyes for a bigger prize.
Despite a 50 from Callum Maybery and runs to Brett Jensz, 30, Angus Adams, 28, and others, the team could not defend 173 against the Blue Panthers, capturing only two wickets.
Rupanyup-minyip showed off its arsenal of top-order batsmen with Jamie Byrne, 64 not out, Bailey Young, 59, and a returning Mark Mbofana an unbeaten 37, during the chase.
Homers turned disaster into success at the weekend, but will still need some degree of self-examination after collapsing to Noradjuha-toolondo’s reputable attack.
Only Nathan Koenig, 30, and Craig Britten made it into double figures for the Pigeons, who made only 71 against the Bullants.
Homers, a high-quality fielding side, probably did the best they could and had the Bullants six wickets down when their opponents passed the score.
There is obviously plenty of intrigue surrounding games this weekend and Rupanyupminyip will be out to cement its freshly won spot in the four against West Wimmera.
The contest at Minyip should be a ripping game, with the Blue Panthers finding timely winning form and West Wimmera fresh from a monster win over Horsham Saints.
West Wimmera goes into the contest after making 7-198 against the Saints, courtesy of good knocks of 85 and 48 from Nathan Alexander and Mitch Dahlenburg respectively, who shared a 139-run opening stand. Luke Smith also chimed in with 28 down the list.
The Westerners then conspired to take it in turns to capture Saints wickets, rattling through the home side for 78.
Austin Smith collected 3-7 and Xavier Bone 3-3.
Horsham Saints, who had Karl Goodwin get some welcome runs with 36, now face the daunting task of fronting up against Noradjuha-toolondo at Horsham City on Saturday.
Results – This week: One-day games, Homers v Jung Tigers at Sunnyside, Rupanyup-minyip v West Wimmera at Minyip, Noradjuha-toolondo v Horsham Saints at Horsham City Oval. Last week: One-day games, Rupanyup-minyip 2-179 (J. Byrne 64no, B. Young 59, M. Mbofana 37no) d Jung Tigers 6-133 (C. Maybery 50, B. Jensz 30, A. Adams 28, B. Hallam 22, T. Puls 22; L. Wiedemann 3-22), Noradjuha-toolondo 6-73 (J. Combe 32; C. Britten 3-27, S. Hopper 3-13) d Homers 71 (N. Koenig 30, C. Britten 20; M. Combe 3-15), West Wimmera 7-198 (N. Alexander 85, M. Dahlenburg 48, L. Smith 28) d Horsham Saints 78 (K. Goodwin 36no; A. Smith 3-7, X. Bone 3-3). T20 grand finals: A Grade, Homers 0-70 (A. Atwood 40no, P. Mills 25no) d Jung Tigers 69 (D. Puls 26); B Grade, Laharum 2-81 (D. Griffiths 36no, D. Bunworth 25no) d Lubeck-murtoa 80; C Grade, Quantong 9-147 (P. Brand 31, T. Brand 30; J. Newell 4-14) d Colts 141 (D. Arnott 47no; B. Mcqueen 3-27). Ladder: A Grade, Noradjuha-toolondo 57 points, 1.11 percent; Homers 48, 1.47; West Wimmera 45, 1.30; Rupanyup-minyip 39, 1.09; Jung Tigers 39, 0.91; Horsham Saints 6, 0.42.