It was a clean sweep during the weekend for Benalla Bushrangers senior cricket sides, with A, B, C and A-reserve grades all posting wins for the club.
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A-grade took on Beechworth at the Benalla Gardens, with the home side defending 262 runs with a fast outfield.
Beechworth got off to a steady start until James Saker had one of the openers trapped LBW with the score on 74.
The battle see-sawed after that, as the bowlers continued to work hard.
Sam Gladstone had Cam Fendyk caught by Conor Brodie, with Beechworth then 5/150 and the game evenly poised.
Beechworth kept up the required run rate, but steadily lost wickets, while the pressure was on both sides when the visitors lost their ninth wicket with the score 240 with seven overs to go.
Tight bowling from Saker and Tom Williams in the final few overs yielded the result when Williams had the Beechworth number 11 LBW with the score on 259 and eight balls remaining.
Saker was the pick of the bowlers with 4/52 from 17 overs, while Sam Gladstone finished with 3/35 from 19 overs, including eight maidens. Williams also took three wickets.
The A-grade Bushies are now third on the WDCA ladder and face the Wangaratta Magpies this weekend in Wangaratta, playing on Saturday and Sunday.
A-reserve
A-reserve also recorded a solid win against Beechworth at Beechworth defending 123 runs.
Beechworth started the day at 1/2 and some excellent bowling from the Bushies saw them bowl out their opponents for just 69 runs.
Under-16 player Henry Sadaya starred with the ball, taking 3/8 from 9.2 overs with four maidens.
Dale Stratton was also in great touch taking 3/16 from 14 overs.
Wade Gladstone took two wickets and Senaka Lakmal and Josh McCallum grabbed a wicket each.
Brendan Hernan was unbeaten on 26 in the Bushies second innings.
A-reserve plays Greta this Saturday and Sunday at Moyhu and sits in third place on the ladder.
B-grade
Bushies B-grade defeated Greta after bowling them out for 156 at Moyhu, making 174 in reply.
The wickets were evenly spread with Grayson Kirk, Trev Saker and Jasper DeFazio taking two each while Mitch Cullen, Sam Cullen and Deakyn Kohler both took a wicket.
Phil Begnone and Richard Hubbarb saw the Bushies over the line with the bat.
Begnone made 21 and Hubbarb 14.
B-grade remains a chance for finals as it sits in fifth place on the ladder with just two points between them and the second-placed side.
B-grade takes on Ovens Valley United at the Benalla Showgrounds this Saturday in a one-day game.
C-grade
C-grade finally broke the drought with a good win over Milawa at Tarrawingee.
Batting first, the Bushies made 224 from its 36 overs and lost just three wickets.
James Arendt top scored with 72, while Adam Walsh was unbeaten on 57.
Kieran Linke opened and made 41, while Kaiden Skelton made 21.
Milawa made 7/205 from its 36 overs in reply.
Walsh and Arendt combined well with the ball to take two wickets each while Skelton, his father Darren and James Davies grabbed a wicket each.
C-grade plays Wangaratta Magpies at Wareena Park this Saturday.
Under-16
Junior action saw the under-16s post 7/160 runs from their 42 overs on day one of their two-day game against Yarrawonga-Mulwala at Yarrawonga.
Jack Fullager and Luke Dunne opened the innings and put on 74 before Fullager was out for 38.
Dunne went on to make 84.
The young Bushies will look to bowl and field well this Saturday to beat their rivals.
Under-14
There were plenty of runs scored in the under-14s.
The Bushrangers/Greta combined side was all out for 171 in 40 overs in its two-day game against Ovens Valley United at Moyhu.
Liam Semmens top scored with 51 not out while Nick McAsey made 23 and Oscar Roberts 17.
Max Woods made 13 and Cooper Woods, Tyler Begnone and Tom Binion all contributed to the total.
The Benalla Bushrangers’ under-14s batted first against Rovers United Bruck Blue at the Gardens and they only lost three wickets on their way to 195 from 42 overs.
Lucas Hales top-scored with 51 not out while Flynn Weeks was also unbeaten on 36.
Sam Heaney retired not out on 21 while George Lithgow made 16 and Shaalv Deo made 12.
Will Hyland retired not out on 10.
Under 12
The under-12 Bushies suffered a loss to Rutherglen United playing at Rutherglen, where the home side batted first making 4/135 from 20 overs.
Archie Stevens, Oscar Ring, James Martin and Will Botten took the wickets with some good catching by James Depio and James Martin.
In reply, the Bushies made 7/86 from their 20 overs with the chase made difficult by a hat trick to one of the Rutherglen bowlers.
Stevens capped a great game to top-score with 23, while Mitch Cooney was not out 10 and Botten made seven.
The under-12s are at home this Saturday at Arundel St lake end against the Wangaratta Magpies.
The club would also like to remind members the Blaster program will start again this Friday, February 8, at the Benalla Gardens at 5pm, weather permitting.