Seniors
A Reserve
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Benalla’s A Reserve side hosted Rovers United Bruck at the weekend in a big round three Wangaratta and District Cricket Association contest, but proved no match for the reigning premier, going down by 73 runs.
On home turf at Benalla Gardens Oval, the Bushrangers won the toss and sent the visitors in to bat, with Mark Osborne immediately heaping the pressure on the Rovers openers with a maiden over to start.
The visitors soon got stuck in, however, scoring at a handy rate of four runs per over to race to 64 without loss, until Tom Osborne struck to claim the Bushrangers’ first wicket, bowling opener Blake Nixon (25) to leave Rovers at 1-64.
There would be no time for the visitors to form a new partnership, either, as Bryce Cooney struck just a few overs later to remove the Rovers number three, while Tom Osborne snared a second in the very next set of six without Rovers adding to the total, reducing them to 3-85 with the top three back in the sheds.
Stands of 23 for both the fourth and fifth wicket saw the visitors claw their way to 5-131; however, a formidable spell from James Ladd threw the Rovers lower order into chaos, with Ladd snaring 4-17 from 5.5 overs as the visitors crumbled to be all out for 149, losing their final six wickets for 18 runs.
Ladd finished with team-best figures, and was well supported by Tom Osborne and Cooney, who finished with figures of 2-27 and 2-25, respectively, while Dylan Barber snared 1-16 and Vishal Sharma was attributed a run out.
A strong finish with the ball meant the Bushrangers were in with a solid opportunity to clinch a big win, needing just 150 with the bat to overcome the reigning premier.
However, any hope of an upset was quickly quashed by an ominous Rovers bowling lineup, which tore through the Benalla top order at a ferocious pace.
Sharma, who had set the tone with a blazing assault at the top of the order in each of the first two rounds, lasted just five balls and contributed just one run at the weekend before he was given his marching orders by the umpire.
Fellow opener Graig Williams followed suit, also out for one, while his replacement Mitchell Cooney lasted just one ball, gone for a golden duck as the Bushrangers slumped to 3-12 inside five overs.
It soon became four down as skipper Gary Priest was removed in the following over for 12, while his deputy, Dylan Barber, went the over after, leaving Benalla in all sorts at five wickets down with just 19 runs on the board.
Bryce Cooney, Nathan Delaney and Harrison Skelton rallied with knocks of 17, 14 and 14, respectively, down the order; however, they too were undone by the supreme bowling performance from the visitors, who cleaned up the tail with relative ease to bowl the Bushrangers out for 76, handing the home side a 73-run defeat.
The A Reserve side will look to regroup ahead of a trip to Myrtleford this weekend, where the Bushrangers will take on Ovens Valley United on Saturday at Memorial Park Oval.
B Grade
Benalla’s B Grade side had the bye in round two, and will next be in action after the long weekend on Saturday, November 8, hosting Rutherglen United at Arundel St Oval.
C Grade
Benalla’s C Grade outfit continued its impressive start to the 2025-26 season at the weekend with a dominant 78-run victory over Delatite at Bonnie Doon Park.
After earning a close first-up victory over Yarrawonga Mulwala in week one, it was a much more comfortable margin in round two for the Bushrangers, who elected to bat after winning the toss.
It was a similar story to round one at the top of the order, as Greg Hoysted continued his superb form to raise the bat for a second straight week, belting 60 runs to go with his unbeaten 93 against Yarrawonga Mulwala to boast a healthy average of 153 after two innings.
Hoysted set the tone, but his teammates found the going tough, with only Thomas Snell (15), Matthew Hadj (16), Tom Trewin (12) and Paul Ivery (12) able to reach double figures, yet none were able to surpass 20 as the Delatite bowling attack restricted the Bushrangers to 9-154 from 36 overs.
With a competitive total on the board the Benalla bowlers had plenty to work with. Hoysted wasted no time in removing both of the Delatite openers for a combined total of four runs, finishing with team-best figures of 2-7 as he got the Bushrangers off on a roll with the ball.
Ivery (1-13) and skipper Nicholas Jacobs (1-16) each claimed one scalp as the Bushrangers stuck to a tidy line and length to make scoring hard for Delatite, while Jatin Solanki cashed in with a pair of wickets to finish with 2-15 from five overs.
An economic performance from each and every Benalla bowler saw Delatite unable to score freely at all, mustering 7-76 from 36 overs to hand the Bushies a comfortable victory to remain as one of the three unbeaten sides after two rounds.
The C Grade side, which sits in third at the end of round two, will have a week off with the long weekend to plot a route to victory against second-placed Greta, with the big third vs second clash set for Saturday, November 8 at Arundel St Oval.
Juniors
Under 16s
After posting 10-150 on day one of its two-day clash against Greta in the under-16 Eugene Kneebone Shield last week, Benalla needed a strong bowling performance to secure points at Benalla Gardens Oval on Saturday.
It got that and then some, with the Bushrangers needing just 26.5 overs to secure a 111-run first-innings victory, with Harrison Skelton leading the way in a commanding performance.
Greta looked to be up for the task early, as the opening duo plodded their way to 23 without loss, surviving the first seven overs against the new ball with apparent ease.
As soon as Skelton nabbed his first wicket in his first over, the eighth of the match, though, it opened the flood gates for the home side, who pounced with authority.
At 1-23, there was still plenty of time for Greta to secure victory, yet Skelton struck again with the first ball of his very next over to reduce the visitors to 2-25, and while there was a small lull in proceedings, Skelton reinvigorated the match once again in the fourth over of his spell.
A double-wicket maiden saw the visitors stumble to 4-32, with Skelton having claimed all four wickets in the match to that point while conceding just six runs in a scintillating showing.
The Greta batters would have breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Skelton removed from the attack after claiming his fourth scalp; however, things only went from bad to worse for the visitors, as Xavier De Fazio came on to bowl and needed just two deliveries to make it 5-32, while a run out in the next over saw Greta collapse to 6-32, as Benalla sensed the opportunity for a quick kill.
De Fazio (2-0) claimed the seventh wicket of the innings an over later, with Greta’s score reading 7-33, and while its lower order managed to add six runs, they were unable to navigate the bowling of Ryder Humphries (2-3) and Noah Cooney (1-12), who claimed the final three wickets between them without Greta adding a run, bowling the visitors out for 10-39.
With the first-innings win secured, Benalla batted on to add 3-49 in its second innings, with Humphries top scoring with 17, although the contest came to an end with no prospect of further points being scored.
The Bushrangers will be back in action for another two-day contest following the long weekend, where they will take on Delatite at Lords Reserve in Mansfield.
Under 14 Blue
An unbeaten century from skipper Thomas Snell put the icing on top of a very sweet cake for Benalla in its two-day clash against Delatite in the Len Hill Shield, with the Bushrangers posting a mammoth total having already secured victory on day one.
With first innings points in their pocket, the Bushrangers were unshackled on day two, and Snell cashed in to the max, belting a ridiculous 102 not out from just 39 deliveries, whacking 12 balls to the rope and six straight over it in a remarkable ball-striking display.
Vice-captain Lachlan Osborne was also a solid contributor with 42 runs at number eight, while Alex Lambert (17) and Maxwell Hadj (14) were the next highest scorers, as the Bushrangers romped to a huge score of 7-239 from 47 overs.
The under-14 Blue side will next face Yarrawonga Mulwala Rams at Victoria Park in Yarrawonga as they hunt a second win of the season.
Under 14 Red
Benalla’s under-14 Red side proved no match for Ovens Valley United on day two of their clash at RC McNamara Reserve at the weekend, going down by 195 runs.
Chasing 258 for victory, the Bushrangers were up against it from the opening over, slumping to 3-11 as Ovens Valley ran riot.
A brave effort of 36 not out from vice-captain Noah Anderson was the highlight from Benalla; however, no other batter made it to double figures, finishing with a total of 7-62 from 16.2 overs in the loss.
The under-14 Red side will take on Yarrawonga Mulwala Bulls at Benalla Showgrounds in a two-day clash following the long weekend.
Under 12s
Benalla’s under-12 White side went down by 48 runs to City Colts Blue at Arundel St Oval on Friday night after bowling first.
Captain Dustin Nolan finished with team-high bowling figures of 1-8 as the Colts set a total of 2-106, and while Nolan (15), Joel Emmanuel (9) and Archie Maconochie (5 not out) battled hard with the bat, the Bushrangers mustered 4-58 in reply.
On Saturday, co-captain Edward Clancy led the under-12 Blue side to a 10-wicket win over Delatite at Arundel St Oval.
Cooper Rheese (2-13), William Staggard (1-1) and Jaxson Heatherill (1-4) all claimed wickets as the Bushrangers kept Delatite to 4-45, before Clancy added 41 not out as the Bushrangers raced to 45 runs without loss.
Heatherill (26) and co-captain Finlay parker (13) added handy runs as Benalla batted on to post 5-118 from the 20 overs.
The under-12 Red side also notched a win on Saturday over City Colts White at Wangaratta High School, securing an 80-run victory.
Skipper Toby Smith (36, retired not out) and Ewan Patel (26 not out) led the way with the bat as Benalla posted 1-131 after batting first, before Jagga Schintler (1-1), Neev Patel (1-7), along with Smith (1-3) and Ewan Patel (1-6) all claimed wickets to restrict the Colts to 4-51.
In the final contest featuring a Benalla side, the under-12 Green team went down to Yarrawonga Mulwala Rams at Yarrawonga P-12 College by 41 runs.
Sully Homes and skipper Tom Lambert finished with equal team-best bowling figures of 1-4 as the home side posted 5-105, but with 106 needed for victory with the bat, only Lambert (14 not out) managed double figures, as the Bushrangers finished with a total of 3-64.