Seniors
A-reserve
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With Benalla’s A-grade side enjoying a week off with the bye, all eyes were on the A-reserve Bushrangers as they headed to RC McNamara Reserve at Myrtleford for a date with Ovens Valley United on Saturday.
Having endured a rollercoaster start to the Wangaratta and District Cricket Association season, the Bushrangers were hunting win number three at the weekend, however, they ultimately were unable to find it, going down by six wickets to a strong Tigers attack.
Losing the toss and being asked to bat, Benalla initially looked to be off to a solid start with Gary Priest and Lee Brennan at the crease, with the duo seeing the shine off the new ball before motoring along to have 50 runs on the board inside 10 overs.
However, things took a turn when Dylan Barber replaced Brennan at the crease, with the Bushrangers unable to find another partnership of the same value as the opening stand.
Barber’s stay at the crease was brief, yielding 11 runs off 13 deliveries, while number four Nathan Delaney lasted 10 balls before he too perished without scoring a run, leaving the Bushrangers 3-71, which soon became 4-84 as set batter Priest was forced back to the sheds for a well-made 39 off 81 deliveries.
Matthew Priest and Xavier De Fazio found themselves out in the middle together after the mini-collapse and duly set about salvaging a total, chipping away patiently to tick the scoreboard over.
For 10 overs the pair accumulated runs, passing the 100-run mark before batting on to reach 120 together, until De Fazio succumbed, departing for 10 to bring an end to the 38-run stand, while Priest lasted another five balls before he too was sent packing for 20, with the Bushrangers slumping to 6-124.
It was a quick end to the innings from there, with the final four wickets falling for 21 runs, bringing an end to the Bushrangers’ innings at 10-145 and setting the Tigers 146 for victory.
It would be tough going with the ball for Benalla, as the home side proved punishing with bat in hand.
De Fazio found the first breakthrough, catching Ovens Valley opener Thomas Chettleburgh off his own bowling to reduce the home side to 1-34, however, a 70-run stand for the second wicket dragged the Tigers to within sight of victory.
Bryce Cooney would finally remove Cooper Thomason to end the drought of wickets for Benalla, although with Ovens Valley at 2-104 and with just under 20 overs to hit the 41 runs needed, the Bushies would need a minor miracle to pull off the victory.
Wickets to Tom Osborne and Mitchell Wheelens with consecutive balls to end the 27th over and start the 28th looked like it could be the catalyst for said miracle, but it proved too little, too late for the Bushrangers, as the Tigers cruised home without further loss to wrap up the win, condemning Benalla to a 2-4 record and bottom spot on the ladder through six rounds.
Cooney (1-11) ended with the best figures of the afternoon out of Benalla’s bowling attack, with Osborne (1-16), Wheelens (1-28) and De Fazio (1-31) the only other wicket takers.
The loss also heralds the end of the one-day fixtures for Benalla’s A-reserve side this year, with four T20s to be played between now and the Christmas break, the first of which will have the Bushrangers host Delatite at Benalla Gardens Oval this Saturday.
B-grade
The tough start to the B-grade campaign has continued for Benalla, with the Bushrangers suffering a third straight loss to begin the season at the weekend against Rovers United Bruck.
Travelling to WJ Findlay Oval in Wangaratta, the Bushrangers were competitive in the hunt for their first win of the season, however, ultimately proved no match for the home side, going down by 21 runs.
Being asked to bowl after losing the toss, Benalla was put on the back foot immediately, as both of the Rovers’ openers got off the mark in the first over and continued to turn up the heat as the contest wore on.
It took nearly 19 overs for Benalla to find a breakthrough via Jordan Smith and, by that point, the home side was on the cusp of crossing the 100-run threshold, looking comfortable at 1-98 as the Bushrangers continued to toil hard in the field.
The hard work began to pay off as Smith struck again to remove the remaining Rovers opener, reducing the home side to 2-123, although another 30 runs would be added for the third wicket, dragging Rovers past the 150 mark, before Smith (3-33) could find a third scalp, leaving the home side at 3-153.
Tyson Williams (1-11) would be the only other Benalla bowler to snare a scalp, which left Rovers at 4-185 with two overs remaining, with the home side eventually posting a total of 4-198 from its 36 overs, setting Benalla a target of 199 for victory.
While Smith had done the wicket-taking with the ball for Benalla, he became the first wicket to fall with the bat, dismissed for 20 as the Bushrangers fell to 1-34 to start the chase.
Wickets would fall at regular intervals from there, as the Bushrangers slumped to 5-58, and it looked as though the contest was done and dusted.
But Craig Williams breathed life back into the chase, combining first for a 27-run stand with Mark Osborne for the sixth wicket, which ended with Benalla at 6-85 following Osborne’s demise, before adding another 49 runs alongside Mathew Hadj.
While ultimately Williams would fall for a team-high 45, his departure left the Bushrangers at 7-134, and had given them an outside chance of victory, needing 65 runs with eight overs remaining.
It proved a bridge too far, despite handy contributions of 18 from number eight Hadj, 14 from number nine Grayson Kirk and an unbeaten 13 from number 10 Udaykiran Kommidi, with the Bushrangers finishing with a total of 9-177 from 36 overs.
The hunt for a maiden win of the season will continue this weekend at Arundel Street Oval, with the Bushrangers to host unbeaten ladder leader Yarrawonga Mulwala.
C-grade
Benalla’s C-grade side suffered its first loss of the 2025-26 campaign at the weekend, going down by 19 runs to Gapsted in a low-scoring thriller at Gapsted Recreation Reserve.
Having lost the toss and been asked to bowl, Benalla was immediately in the wickets, with Vishal Fernando removing opposition skipper Peter Newton for a duck to have the home side down 1-3 in the second over.
The rest of Gapsted’s top order would all make starts, however, some skilful bowling from Paul Ivery (2-29) and Jake Holmes (3-7) saw the Bushrangers tear through the home side’s line-up with clumps of wickets at a time, eventually bowling Gapsted out for 94 in 28.1 overs.
With only 95 runs needed for victory, Benalla looked in the box seat to clinch victory, however, the Bushrangers could not have suffered a more disastrous start to their chase.
Openers Trevor Saker (10) and Angus Hayes (5) put 18 runs on the board together, however, in the blink of an eye the Bushrangers slumped to 2-19, as both batters departed within two overs.
Number four Murray Parton was the next to go, dismissed for a duck, as Benalla sunk further to 3-21, while Holmes and Gavin Batchelor also departed in the same fashion, with the Bushrangers five wickets down with 24 runs on the board.
It somehow got worse, as Fernando (6) was unable to salvage the innings, leaving the Bushrangers in dire trouble at 6-26.
Ivery (10) and Noah Cooney found themselves at the crease far earlier than they would have liked, but managed to correct course, ticking the scoreboard over and slowly creeping closer to the required total.
The duo added 39 runs together to bring Benalla a mere 30 runs from victory, however, Gapsted soon found a way through Ivery’s defence, leaving the Bushrangers teetering at 7-65.
Cooney was Benalla’s hope, having made his way to a gritty 26 off 47 deliveries, the lone Bushranger to surpass 10 runs, however, he too found himself back in the sheds shortly after Ivery was dismissed, as Benalla was left with only two wickets in hand and still needing 26 runs.
It would only find six of those required, with the final two wickets falling with the score stuck on 75, as the Bushrangers were left to accept their first defeat of the season.
It’s not all doom and gloom, however, with the Bushrangers remaining in third spot and level on wins with Greta and Moyhu above them, and will look to return to winning ways this week when they travel to Barkly Park at Rutherglen to take on Rutherglen United.
Juniors
Under-14 Red
Benalla’s under-14 Red side stormed to a dominant victory in its clash against Yarrawonga Mulwala Bulls, needing just 17 overs on day two to wrap up a strong victory at Benalla Showgrounds on Saturday.
With a strong total of 8-181 on the board at stumps on day one, Benalla was in complete control from the first ball on day two, bowling the visitors out for 75 to secure a 106-run win in quick fashion.
Ten deliveries was all it took for the Bushrangers to find their first scalp as play resumed at the weekend, with Tyson Williams removing Bulls opener Murphy Doyle for a duck, before he and Noah Anderson heaped the pressure onto the visiting batters over the next few overs.
With the runs having dried up for Yarrawonga Mulwala, Louis Horne (3-3) was thrown the ball in the seventh over and immediately capitalised in a scintillating spell.
In his first two overs, Horne claimed figures of 3-1, decimating the visiting top order and reducing the Bulls to 4-25, well and truly giving Benalla the upper hand.
There was some resistance from opposing skipper Jordan Knight, who added 40 from number four, however, once he was removed by Hudson Pickering (1-5), the end came quickly, with Benalla mopping up the tail in quick fashion.
Jai Collins (2-3) snared two scalps, while Charlie Bowen (1-15) also contributed with one, as the Bushrangers stormed to the first win of their campaign.
It sets up a huge intra-club clash this week, too, with the under-14 Red side to face their Blue teammates at Benalla Showgrounds in a two-day clash, starting on Saturday.
Under-14 Blue
Benalla’s under-14 Blue side was unable to contain Yarrawonga Mulwala Rams at Victoria Park at Yarrawonga, with the home side proving far too strong with bat in hand on Saturday.
Having posted a competitive score of 8-150 from their 40 overs the previous Saturday, the Bushrangers headed into day two at the weekend well and truly in the contest, but still with work to be done with the ball.
Unfortunately for Benalla it was the Rams that got off to the hot start, with the home side putting 78 runs on the board before the first wicket fell via Tom Lambert (2-12).
With Yarrawonga Mulwala at 1-78 and having already passed the halfway point of the chase, the Bushrangers were undoubtedly on the back foot, but time still remained in the contest to find a few quick wickets.
The Rams’ top order was on song, though, and no flurry of wickets eventuated for Benalla, despite Caleb Hein (1-33) and Maxwell Hadj (1-9) snaring scalps, the home side reached the 151-run mark for the loss of three wickets, wrapping up the win.
Jack Davies (1-19) and Toby Smith (1-12) picked up late wickets for Benalla too, however, the result was already confirmed, with the Bushrangers unable to pick up any points.
The under-14 Blue side will look to bounce back in its next two-day contest against its Red clubmate, which gets under way at Benalla Showgrounds on Saturday.
Under-12
Benalla’s under-12 Red and under-12 Green sides faced off at Benalla Gardens Oval on Friday night, with Red claiming a five-wicket win.
Winning the toss and bowling first, Red was off to a flyer courtesy of Luke Conway, who claimed four wickets in the third over, finishing with figures of 4-7 in a stunning display.
Tulson Reynolds (1-4), Neev Patel (1-0) and Ewan Patel (1-16) picked up wickets for Red, too, while Bill Bourke retired not out on 25 and Tom Lambert whacked 19 runs to help Green to a total of 8-73.
In the chase, Red’s Maximus Reynolds belted an unbeaten 31 to help his side to the win, well supported by Ewan Patel (15 not out) and Jack McKenzie (15), while Archer Pickering (1-8), Cailin Delaney (1-15) and Mitchell Murray (1-22) snared wickets for Green.
On Saturday the under-12 Blue side hosted City Colts Blue at Arundel Street Oval, with the Bushrangers claiming a 53-run win.
Asked to bat after losing the toss, Benalla posted a total of 5-97, with Jaxson Heatherill top scoring after retiring not out on 33, while Ronald Staggard and Edward Clancy were unbeaten on 15 and 19, respectively.
It was an even bowling contribution, too, with Clancy and Jimmy Humphrey each snaring 1-2 to finish with the best bowling figures, while Finlay Parker (1-3), Staggard (1-4) and Bodie Gall (1-5) claimed a wicket each as well, as the Bushrangers kept City Colts to 5-44 in reply.