Yarrawonga Mulwala A Grade hosted Ovens Valley United, with the Lakers losing the toss and being sent into the field on what appeared to be a pristine batting surface.
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Ovens Valley began patiently, showing strong discipline through the opening exchanges.
The Lakers built pressure but couldn’t find an early breakthrough, as the visitors progressed steadily to 57 before the first crack appeared, Angus Heslin and Brock McCabe combining smartly for a much-needed run out.
With Ovens Valley establishing a platform, the momentum shifted when Jyda House was introduced during the middle overs. House made an immediate impact, producing a blistering burst that tore through the middle order with three wickets in four balls, including the key dismissal of Geeth Alwis. He was superb, attacking the stumps and pads with unrelenting accuracy. His spell of 3/18 off five overs was the standout bowling performance of the day.
Following the template from the previous week, the Lakers again turned to spin through the back half of the innings to slow the scoring and regain control.
The tactic worked well, helping contain Ovens Valley to 8/186 from their 45 overs, a competitive but chaseable total.
The Lakers’ run chase, however, began on the back foot when opener Ben Welsh fell to a dubious LBW decision early.
From there, the innings struggled for consistency, with wickets falling at regular intervals.
The exception was Brock McCabe, who looked in excellent touch. Sharp from ball one, he punished anything loose and played with authority through both sides of the wicket. His composed 59 from 91 balls kept the Lakers in the contest, but without sustained support at the other end, the chase never fully settled.
Zac Fraser showed promise with a tidy start, only to be caught behind off the final ball before drinks, a pivotal moment that swung momentum firmly back to Ovens Valley.
From there, Clarke, Archibald and Gillies all had short stays at the crease as the innings folded for 109 all out.
Despite the result, the Lakers remain in a solid position at three wins and two losses, rounding out the one-day block before shifting into T20 mode in the lead-up to Christmas.
A-Reserve delivers comprehensive victory
A Reserve travelled to Barr Reserve to take on Wang Magpies on a warm, overcast Saturday.
Winning the toss, the Lakers batted first, starting with Jack Hudson and Darcy Hargreaves. It was a conservative start before they both fell in quick concession, score on 25.
Andrew Dishot and Van Kreeck enjoyed their promotions up the order, moving the game forward positively. Dishy was caught for a well-made 39, which brought the excitement machine, Ethan Thorpe to the crease.
A quickfire 37 from Thorpy put the Lakers in a good position to push towards a large total.
Kreeck continued his classy innings, being joined by Cope late in the inning to pile on 40 runs in the last few overs, Lakers finishing on 5/186.
Dot ball pressure was the key for the bowlers, this was headlined by Xav Mitchell, Dishot, and Kreeck, who gave the Maggies batsmen no width to score off, all three bowlers taking a wicket each.
The Magpies put on a solid middle-order partnership before it was broken by the golden arm of Connell, which all but sealed the game for the Lakers.
The Magpies batted their overs out to finish 8/115.
A comprehensive victory for the Lakers A Reserve’s which has them two games clear on top of the ladder.
Next week, Lakers host Magpies again, this time in a 20/20 format.
B Grade don’t break a sweat
The B Grade boys were back at home against Beechworth in Mulwala after three weeks off to rest their seasoned bodies.
Hawk was scrambling for a side after 2 of our big guns were called up for higher duties.
The two young Pickering boys answered the call and fielded like guns, Eamon almost pulling off three ‘catch of the year’ nominations, however, leaving his Dad a little lighter in the pocket due to the fines system.
Hill and Bozzola opened up proceedings, and Boz looked like he had come off a big preseason, bowling express pace and making a mess of the stumps.
Once Boz blew up, Will Murphy took over and claimed a pole of his own.
Meanwhile, Mom Rob Borowski came on and proceeded to rattle through the Beechworth middle order. He was hooping them around corners and claimed 4/20 off his 8.
In going for his fifth, a questionable tactic was employed as he tried a Trevor Chapple grubber. The ump sensibly called a dead ball, leaving Rob agonisingly stuck with four.
Vagg was brought on to bowl some right-arm slow, and the Beechy boys fell for it. He claimed three wickets and was also on a hat trick; however, the number 11 navigated the hat trick ball with ease.
After that Hawking had seen enough and dragged Vagg for Hill to clean up the tail and get amongst the wickets. Beechworth all out for 73.
Arvo Tea was had, and for the most part, a good spread was provided; however, a box of Shapes was presented by a local Accountant, showing the true effects of the cost-of-living crisis gripping the country.
Sometimes a small target can be tricky; however, Borowski 40* and Wilson 19* strode out with confidence to chase it down, with the former sending the new ball to all parts early to ease the pressure in the sheds.
Wilson decided that playing anchor was no fun anymore and got in on the act, playing some great shots of his own, and knocking off the total without loss. A great win and credit to curator Jug on preparing a wicket that we can bat on, but the opposition can’t.
Next week it’s off to Benalla to take on the reigning premiers in a grand final rematch.
C Grade
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Under 16s outclassed by Magpies
The Under 16s travelled to Wangaratta this week to be greeted with blue skies and a perfect outfield, Captain Hargreaves said ‘let’s have a bat’.
Unfortunately, they lost the toss and bowled. The Maggie’s came out firing, and the boys had to work hard to stop the flow of runs.
Chessells 2/23, Cruikshank 2/29, Darcy 2/41 and Dec Reeves 2/22 all chimed in with wickets, while Pickering took a great catch to remove the dominant Simms for 88.
It was a long 40 overs for the boys, but they learnt some lessons. Maggie’s all out in the 39th over for 240.
Day two saw the boys arrive at a nicely top-dressed oval and a slow outfield. The mission for the day was to get yourself set and bat the whole 40 overs.
Openers Hargreaves and Smith set about their work. Each batsman was patient and waiting for the loose delivery.
Newly elevated Jack Browning batted superbly for 15 runs from 43 balls.
Alex Richardson scored 10, Chessells hit some great shots before electing not to play a straight one and getting bowled for 16.
Declan Reeves came in for a timely 17 runs from 23 balls, showing some classy stroke play.
With all the boys chipping in Yarra were all out for 105 in the 30th over.
The team bids farewell to Wally Hammond now as he goes to Melbourne for Big Bash duties. Thanks for helping out, Wally.
Rovers Bruck at home next week, see you there.
Lakers Under 15 Girls on the up
A much-improved showing from the Lakers Girls resulted in our Friday night clash against the top of the table Beechworth Wanderers at their home venue at Baarmutha Park.
The longest trip of our season was negotiated without issue, apart from one unscheduled detour to the Beechworth Old Lolly Shoppe.
Under Captain Paige Bamford the toss was won and the decision to bat and first use of the turf pitch provided by the home club. Bamford partnered up with Matilda Thackray, and the two put up a fine show of batting, with both finding runs while seeing off the opposition's opening bowlers.
It was a direct hit of the wickets from the Square Leg fielder that saw “Tilly” caught short of her ground looking to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
It never rains, but it pours, as Sally “Stanga” Howell struck her first delivery and took off for a run, only to be sent back, but not quickly enough. Two run-outs in consecutive balls. Ouch, that hurts.
Stella Hill took her turn at the crease and scored runs straight away to restore some running confidence to the team. Combining with Bamford, Hill dug in and the pair ensured runs were the order of the day.
Bamford retired, leading from the front in a fine performance with the blade as Skipper. Lexi Richardson made her way out to the middle, and she then partnered with Hill to ensure the visitors’ innings were in good shape. Unfortunately, for Hill she found the field on her 20th delivery, missing out on retirement.
Richardson was joined by Mackenzie Wolfe, with progress being made until a ball jagged back and knocked over “Wolfey’s” woodwork. Sienna O’Brien took her turn at bat and showed a lot of class, batting her way to retirement.
Certainly, her best effort swinging the willow for the season so far. Bridie “Burner” Burns got off the mark with a nice single, but she too fell to a run out, the third of the innings, and her bright and breezy knock came to an abrupt end all to soon.
Perhaps the best batting performance was left to last, when Sophie “’Arro” Harris strode to the crease. Our youngest squad member batted with courage and determination against her older opponents and took the team on her shoulders to see the visitors bat out their 20 overs undefeated.
This is a magnificent bounce back from the previous round for the team, with four players reaching retirement and setting a total of 61 for the loss of five wickets.
The home team showed their class and set about their run chase with aplomb, their batters were switched on and recorded runs despite some desperate fielding and a much-improved effort with accurate bowling.
It wasn’t until the introduction of Stella Hill that the Lakers’ Girls got their first wicket, bowled.
To prove it wasn’t a fluke, Hill buttered back up and bowled her second victim in the same over, be the pick of the Lakers’ bowlers with 1-0-2-2.
Wides and No Balls still proved to be a problem for the travellers, yet again it was an improvement on our last outing to show great resolve by the trundlers. The Wanderers got the better of the Lakers and took the points for the win, but some very pleasing signs were there for all to see.
Player of the week was Sophie “’Arro” Harris for showing the way with the bat, leading the charge against a much-vaunted opposition.
Finally, we are back at home with a game next Sunday at Victoria Park number 2 Oval, as we take on the Wang Maggies.
Under 14s Bulls fall short against Benalla
Topped up with a few young Under-12 champions, the Bulls hit the Benalla Showgrounds full of enthusiasm and elected to bowl.
The lads bowled and fielded well but came up against some quality batting.
Benalla ended up setting a target of 181.
The wickets were shared among the bowlers. Darcy ODwyer was a standout with 1 for 3 off his three overs.
With the bat, Eamon Pickering and Tathila worked hard at the top of the order. However, after taking the shine off the ball, they departed.
Jordan Knight gave his all in the chase of the large target. He scored 40 from 35 balls, which included eight boundaries. However, his clean hitting wasn’t enough to get the side over the line, and the Bulls were all out for 75.
Under 14s Rams
Yarrawonga Rams U/14’s took on Benalla Bushrangers Blue in a two-day game at Stan Hargreaves Oval.
Bowling first, Yarrawonga mostly bowled a good line and length; however, anything short, Benalla punished.
After their captain retired for a well-made 50, it wasn’t until Benalla reached 104 that the Rams had their first breakthrough.
Following this the Rams turned the screws and made scoring hard for the Bushrangers.
The pick of the bowlers was Benji Wollington (2/3 off 5 overs), with other wicket takers Finn Mitchell (1), Byron Dodd (2), Billy Vagg (1) and Lochie Brown (1).
Benalla finished with 8/150 from their 40 overs, helped by 54 extras.
On day two the Rams started confidently with Finn Mitchell (30) and Benji Wollington (53 not out) putting on 78 for the first wicket.
Benji in particular was scoring freely, pushing singles off the good balls and punishing the bad ones. Byron Dodd was next in and made a brisk 34 off 22 balls, including several sixes and fours.
Billy Vagg (13), Lochie Brown (11) and Parker Cowan (4 not out) all put a high price on their wicket, while still turning over the strike and edging closer to the total.
A late flurry of quick runs from Kristy Plenik (5 off 3) and Todd Lawless (10 off 4) pushed the Rams final total to 6/180 from their 40 overs.
In a very even team performance, it was great that for the second two-day game in a row, the Rams batted out all their allotted 40 overs.
Under 12 Bulls sneak over the line in Wang
Saturday morning brought our first road trip for the season over to Wangaratta to take on the City Colts white team.
Upon arrival, we were greeted with only seven opponents due to another basketball tournament scheduled during cricket season. We decided to lend the opposition two players to create a fair contest, so when our captain and strike bowler were pulled out of the hat, there was a nervous sigh around the group.
Hugo Bott and Jack Hawking both displayed great sportsmanship and played their hearts out for the Colts, despite coach Hill requesting some mediocre performances from the pair. They top-scored for the Colts and also claimed wickets.
After sending Colts in the young Bulls toiled hard, eventually breaking through when Finn snuck one through the gate. George was the pick of the bowlers, keeping things tight and claiming a wicket of his own.
Some late hitting from Jack and Hugo gave the bulls a tricky total of 91 to chase. Credit to the fielding of the bulls who were very energetic throughout the whole innings, with young guns Miles and Jack O cutting anything that came their way off.
Our run chase didn’t go to plan at the start, with four Bulls back in the shed before we were 20. Rosie 11* and Flynn 21 then dug in, and Finn 20 joined Flynn for a match-winning partnership.
The three of them combined for the required 75 runs, and an unlikely victory was pulled off through guts and determination, showing our great depth
Next week we host the ladder leading Benalla side.