Sport
23 January, 2024
Combe's century sinks Bulls
Blackheath Dimboola fought hard in their 83 run loss to the Bullants in round nine of the Horsham Cricket Association at the Dimboola Recreation Reserve.
The Bulls won the toss and Sam Leith decided to have a bowl. Elliott Braithwaite struck early dismissing Jamie Byrne with a great catch off his own bowling for 14 but Matthew Combe and Justtin Combe both put on a big partnership.
They had their chances, dropping both and they were punished with Justtin making 54 and Matthew scoring 104 on their way to a total of 8/217.
Daniel Polack 4/51 and Elliot Braithwaite 2/40 were the wicket-takers for the Bulls.
In response the Bulls faltered with Braithwaite's score of 62 the shining light as they were bowled out for 134 in the 35th over.
Justtin Combe 3/20 and Heath Lang 3/25 were the pick of the bowlers and Matthew Combe picked up a wicket in a man of the match performance.
Bulls captain Sam Leith said it was one of those days.
"The dropped catches early didn't help and it set the tone for the day," he said.
"We did bowl well late in the innings, so a credit to the boys for fighting it out.
Braithwaite made some runs which was good to see. Sam Polack and Harry Young stayed in the middle for a bit too which helped."
At Coughlin Park the Horsham Saints and Lubeck Murtoa fought out a thrilling tie.
After winning the toss and batting, Thomas Barrand 22, Joshua Hedt 27 and an unbeaten 33 from Blake Downer guided them to a toal of 8/146 from their 45 overs.
Matt Carroll was the pick of the bowlers with 3/38 with Brock Hamerston 2/18 and Jono Carroll 2/33 chipping in.
The Saints got off to a good start and with Gary Davidson looking great at the crease, they looked to be in a winning position at 3/92. Their middle order struggled and when Davidson fell for 67 they needed 22 runs with four wickets in hand.
The match went down to the final over bowled by Thomas Barrand. Brock Hamerston was on strike and after three dot balls, they needed 6 runs off the last three balls to win. He scored 2 runs with the fourth and fifth ball of the over.
The last ball, the equation was simple. A dot ball would give the Mudlarks a victory, but the Saints managed to rush for a single to tie the match.
Lubeck Murtoa captain Shannon Reddie said they did well to get back into the match.
"The bowlers were really good. Barrand was wanting to come off and was getting tired but I forced him to bowl which paid off," he said.
"Blake Downer bowled well in the death overs and kept it tight and Nic Ballagh did well.
"Unfortunately we couldn't win but the signs were good. We just need our batters to convert their starts."
At Horsham City Oval, the Homers solidified their premiership credentials with a brilliant 40 run win over the Tigers.
Tigers captain Tyler Puls won the toss and decided to bowl and had the Homers in trouble early at 3/19 thanks to a brilliant spell from Jake Durdin.
Logan Millar 79, Adam Atwood 27, and a brilliant unbeaten 59 from Chaminda Gamage guided them to 7/194.
David Puls 2/22, Jake Durdin 2/39 and Tyler Puls 2/20 were the wicket-takers for the Tigers.
In the chase, Baxter Perry trapped Hallam LBW for a duck with the third ball of the innings to give the Homers a brilliant start.
Dom Rose and Jake Durdin rallied but were dismissed in quick succession to be 3/39. Tyler Puls 48, Angus Adams 18 and Levi Mock 25 all batted well but the Homers bowling was too good and they were unable to chase the target down, being bowled out for 154 in the 39th over.
Adam Atwood 4/35, Gibson Perry 3/32 and Baxter Perry 2/30 all bowled brilliantly for the Homers.
In the other match at Cameron Oval, West Wimmera were too strong for Laharum winning by seven wickets.
Josh Mahoney 13 and Dayan Wilfred 15 were the shining lights with the batting in their total of 58.
Bradley Alexander 4/25 was the pick of the bowlers.
Laharum battled hard in the field and their bowlers did well, but the Warriors, one of the premiership fancies, were too strong chasing the total down in the 18th over.
Jobe Dickinson continued his brilliant season with 24 whilst Ben Peucker 1/4, Jim McInnes 1/3 and Joel Pymer 1/12 were the wicket-takers for Laharum.