Seniors
A Reserve
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A home ground advantage failed to help Benalla’s A reserve side in its quest for a first win since the Christmas break, as the Bushrangers slumped to a fifth straight loss in the Wangaratta and District Cricket Association competition.
Hosting Ovens Valley United at Benalla Showgrounds on Saturday in a 40-over contest, the Bushrangers bowled well to keep the Tigers in check, but were ultimately unable to complete the chase, going down by 23 runs.
Winning the toss and opting to bowl, Benalla made a slow start to proceedings as the visitors’ opening batters began to tick the scoreboard over, cruising to 38 without loss after 10 overs had been bowled.
But Gurpreet Singh Mann (2-26) found a breakthrough for the Bushrangers to start the 12th over, which he followed up with a second scalp in the 16th, to help the home side stem the momentum, as Ovens Valley fell to 2-58.
A fascinating battle began to play out as the Tigers continued to press on, becoming more expansive with their shots and putting the pressure on Benalla’s bowlers, pressure that Matthew Priest was able to defy with a double-wicket maiden to reduce the visitors to 4-85 after 23 overs had been bowled, keeping the home side in the fight.
A third wicket to Priest in his next over swung the contest in the Bushrangers’ favour, as Ovens Valley slumped to 5-90, which soon became 6-100 as Mitchell Cooney (1-23) joined the party, before a run out left the visitors in trouble at 7-100, as Benalla claimed 5-15 in five overs to flip the contest on its head.
The Tigers rallied for five overs, adding 18 runs to their total, before another Priest (4-13) double-wicket over — one off his bowling to snare a fourth for the afternoon, the other via a run-out — left the visitors teetering on the edge of an early finish to the innings at 9-120 with seven overs still to come.
Ovens Valley would face all but one ball of the seven overs, too, as Benalla struggled to find the final wicket, which eventually came off the second-last ball of Bryce Cooney’s (1-39) over, but not before the Tigers had added another 37 crucial runs to be bowled out for 157.
With 158 needed to win, Benalla’s innings got off to an eerily similar start to the Tigers’, reaching 38 runs without loss before losing the first wicket as Nathan Delaney departed for 21.
But the second and third Benalla wickets fell much sooner than the Ovens Valley ones did, with both Mitchell Cooney (14) and skipper Gary Priest (4) falling in the following two overs, as the Bushrangers collapsed from 0-38 to 3-44 in the span of 13 balls.
Bryce Cooney and Matthew Priest found themselves at the crease following the early carnage, and for 15 overs they got themselves set, continuing to accumulate runs as they attempted to correct course.
A fruitful 43-run partnership blossomed, with the pair proving a thorn in the side of Ovens Valley’s bowling attack until Cooney’s dismissal in the 26th over, with Benalla in a fairly even position at 4-87, still needing 91 for victory.
Four overs later, however, the Bushrangers found themselves six wickets down with 91 runs on the board, with set batter Priest (22) and Cooney’s replacement, Josh Heylbut (3), both back in the sheds, and the situation became more desperate as Benalla needed 87 with 10 overs remaining.
It proved to be a bridge too far for the tail, with the Bushrangers falling 27 runs short in the end, posting a total of 9-134 from 40 overs to slump to a seventh loss of the season.
The Bushrangers will return to Benalla Showgrounds this weekend, taking on fifth-placed Wangaratta Magpies as both sides vie for a third win of their respective campaigns.
B grade
A solid showing with the bat, complemented by an all-round contribution with the ball, has ensured Benalla remains in the finals hunt in B grade following a strong victory over Milawa at Milawa Oval on Saturday.
A slow start to the season put the Bushrangers on the back foot, but the 28-run win at the weekend, the side’s sixth straight triumph, leaves them in with a shot of securing a finals berth, sitting seventh, level on points with fourth, with two rounds remaining.
Winning the toss ahead of the must-win fixture, Benalla opted to bat but was immediately under siege, finding runs hard to come by in the opening overs before Thomas Snell succumbed to the pressure, dismissed for 16 to leave the Bushrangers at 1-28.
The wicket brought skipper Steven Pickering to the crease, although he had a new partner just six balls into his stay following the dismissal of opener Jordan Smith (9), while replacement batter Noah Anderson fell for a nine-ball duck, as Benalla slumped to 3-38.
A pair of key partnerships propelled Benalla to a respectable total, however, as Brendan Duncombe strode to the middle and contributed 21 from a partnership of 57 alongside Pickering before he fell, with the Bushrangers at 4-95.
Pickering remained at the crease, joined by Matthew Hadj. The pair added a quick 30 runs to sit at 5-125 when the skipper departed for a team-high 45.
Hadj batted on to reach 42 before he was eventually sent packing, while a valuable contribution of 20 from Willem Hyland saw the visitors reach a competitive total of 9-178 from the allotted 36 overs.
It would prove to be more than enough following a full team performance with the ball, led by Stewart McLeod’s 3-22, as the Bushrangers restricted Milawa to 9-150 in reply, with Noah Anderson (2-16), Snell (1-9), Smith (1-10), Brendan Anderson (1-19) and Udaykiran Kommidi (1-24) all among the wickets.
Benalla faces a tough test this weekend against top side Merton, before a date with Rutherglen United in the final round, with wins vital if the Bushrangers are to continue playing on into finals.
C grade
An unbeaten knock of 76 by Greg Hoysted saw Benalla make light work of Beechworth at Arundel Street Oval on Saturday, with the C grade Bushrangers storming to an eight-wicket win.
Having lost the toss and been asked to bowl in the fourth vs fifth clash, Benalla made a lightning start to proceedings, snaring the first wicket via Hoysted (1-14) without conceding a run, while Paul Ivery got in on the act soon after to leave Beechworth 2-5 with less than two overs completed.
The wickets continued to tumble, as Chris Lindsay and Ivery combined for a run out, before Ivery (2-18) doubled his haul to leave the visitors in all sorts of trouble at 4-37.
A 73-run partnership for Beechworth, however, cooled the Bushrangers’ momentum somewhat, with the visitors pushing beyond 100 before Noah Cooney (1-28) found the breakthrough to claim the fifth wicket with Beechworth at 5-110.
A handy 33-run stand for the sixth wicket propelled the visitors to 143 by the time they lost their final wicket, which was snaffled by Nicholas Jacobs (1-32), as Benalla restricted Beechworth to 6-147 from 36 overs.
It would be light work for Hoysted, who was the driving force behind Benalla’s successful chase, which began with a mammoth 115-run opening wicket partnership alongside Grayson Kirk, who contributed a patient 36 from 72 to help set the Bushrangers up for victory.
Tom Trewin was also solid, smacking 20 from 18, eventually dismissed seven runs shy of victory; however, it was Hoysted that was the hero, with his 76 not out coming from 105 balls, striping 11 balls to the boundary in a brilliant dig to help his side to the win.
The Bushrangers now sit fourth with two games remaining before finals, and will host second-placed Yarrawonga Mulwala this weekend at Arundel Street Oval in what shapes as a solid test before the post-season.
Juniors
Under-16s
Benalla’s under-16 Eugene Kneebone Shield side is locked in a tense battle at stumps on day one of its two-day clash with Beechworth-Ovens Valley United, with the game delicately poised ahead of day two.
The Bushrangers, who currently sit second on the ladder, lost the toss and were asked to bowl at Benalla Gardens Oval on Saturday, and were immediately among the wickets with Tom Osborne (2-20) snaring a scalp in the fourth over to leave the visitors 1-3 early.
Osborne stayed involved in the game as Benalla continued to find wickets, first throwing down the stumps as Beechworth-Ovens Valley United was reduced to 2-20, before holding on to a catch off the bowling of Noah Cooney (1-18) as the visitors fell to 3-46.
The visitors waged a small fightback, adding 41 runs and making their way to 87 before losing their fourth wicket at the hands of Joshua Montgomery (1-21), as Benalla asserted itself again to be right on top.
But a mammoth 92-run stand for the fifth wicket ensured the combined side remained in the contest, reaching 181 before Osborne snared his second and the fifth total for the innings.
Benalla claimed one more scalp before stumps, as the visitors accumulated another 19, with the two sides set for a mammoth showdown on day two.
Under-14s
Benalla under-14 Red
Benalla’s under-14 Red side wrapped up a stunning first-innings victory over Delatite on day one of their two-day clash at Arundel Street Oval on Saturday, needing less than 20 overs total to bag the points.
Despite losing the toss and being asked to bowl, Benalla was on the offensive straight away, with Tyson Williams (3-1) claiming a wicket with the first ball of the match, and another two wickets in his second over, as Delatite was left in turmoil at 3-4 after three overs.
Matthew White (2-3) joined the party with two scalps in his second over as Delatite slumped to 5-9, while Jai Collins found himself on a hat-trick in his opening over, snaring wickets with consecutive balls to leave the visitors in dire straits at 7-11.
Finlay Parker (1-1), Jack Crook (1-2) and Charlie Bowen (1-3) all claimed wickets also to mop up the tail, with the whirlwind innings over in just 12.2 overs, as Delatite was bowled out for 18.
The Bushrangers needed only eight overs in reply to surpass that figure, before going on to smack 4-121 declared from 22.5 overs, with Noah Anderson leading the way to retire not out on 41, well supported by Bowen, who also retired, unbeaten on 23.
Under-14 Blue
Benalla’s under-14 Blue side has set itself up for victory with a dominant performance on day one of its two-day clash against Yarrawonga Mulwala Bulls at Benalla Showgrounds on Saturday.
Winning the toss and electing to bowl, Henry Briggs (1-11) and Caleb Thwaites (2-7) got the Bushrangers off to a hot start with early scalps to leave the Bulls down 3-17, while Ryan Lindsay, Lincoln Richardson and Edward Clancy all snared wickets throughout the middle order to keep the pressure on the visitors, who had rallied with a 54-run partnership, reaching 3-71 before the trio struck to leave them at 6-99.
But it was Oliver Smith that finished things off with a tidy three-wicket haul, which included back-to-back wickets, with the Bulls tumbling from 6-99 to 9-102 after Smith’s cameo of 3-4, while Lachlan Osborne (1-7) ended the innings with the final wicket, bowling the visitors out for 107 ahead of day two this Saturday.
Under-12s
Benalla Blue claimed a six-wicket win over Benalla White in a Bushrangers shootout at Arundel Street Oval on Friday night, led by the efforts of Edward Clancy with the bat.
Bowling first after losing the toss, Blue bowled out the White side for 64, despite the efforts of Joel Emmanuel (7), Oliver Ross (7) and Josie De Fazio (7 not out), with Cooper Rheese (2-10) the only multiple wicket-taker for Blue.
Darcy Ross (1-4) was valiant with the ball for White, but his side proved no match for the big-hitting Clancy, who belted 35 not out to help his side to the win.
On Saturday, Benalla Green cruised to a big victory over City Colts White at Wangaratta High School, restricting the home side to 3-59 courtesy of wickets to Tom Lambert (1-0) and Tess Ladd (1-6), while reaching the 60 runs required for the win for the loss of three wickets, before posting a total of 7-99 from the full 20 overs, with Archer Pickering finishing unbeaten on 32.
Benalla Red also had a convincing win over City Colts Blue at Arundel Street Oval, claiming a 78-run win off the back of 34 to Jack McKenzie and an unbeaten 27 to Luke Conway in a big first innings total of 8-137, before Miller Fowles (1-7) and Toby Smith (1-4) were the pick of the bowlers as the Bushrangers kept the visitors to 2-59 in reply.