The top of the table A grade Lakers travelled to Wangaratta to take on the Wangaratta Magpies in the last home and away round action with the Lakers starting their two day campaign in fine style.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
The Lakers bowled first and Jim Irvine had an early wicket caught behind by Reid Clarke who returned to the gloves this week.
Angus McMillan had the next wicket also caught Clarke before the same thing happened just a few overs later.
Magpies 3/56.
Angus Heslin joined the party to give Matt McCabe a catch while Harry Wheeler created a pivotal run out to leave the Magpies 5/93.
Before long, bowlers Heslin and McMillan partnered with Clarke again to two more cheap wickets caught behind.
Magpies 7/98.
The Magpies dug in late and grinded out the innings.
Brock McCabe took a wicket caught by Wheeler before going alone to have an LBW and bowled to finish the game. Magpies 10/152.
McMillan and McCabe with three wickets, Heslin two and Irvine one.
Clarke took 5 catches with the gloves, while Wheeler took one and Matt McCabe took a blinding catch at point diving to his left.
The Lakers faced 6 overs at the end of the day and are 1/0 after Knight nicked off to the cordon.
A Res look to solidify finals spot
The A Reserve Lakers arrived to yet another lush green outfield and form wicket at Vic Park, winning the toss and choosing to bat against the top of the table Wangaratta Magpies.
Ollie Cope and Ben McDonald opened the batting and saw out the first few overs.
Cope fell first LBW, then McDonald caught in the slips.
Adam Dodd and Fraser Smart walked out to the middle and hit the ball with intent.
Dodd hit five fours and a six to race to 28 before he was caught. Lakers 3/75.
Smart pressed on with Van Kreeck, hitting five fours and five sixes on his way to 60 from 33 balls before he was caught in the deep. Lakers 4/97.
Kreeck and captain Dishot tickled the ball around the gaps before Kreeck was caught behind and Dishot was caught at square leg. Lakers 6/120.
Justin ‘Juggy’ O’Brien and Jyda House put on a fine partnership and increased the score with intent.
House made 6, whole Xavier Mitchell and Aneeque Azam hung around while Juggy’ started finding the boundary.
The Lakers scratched to 150 runs before number 11 Tom Lovell came to the crease.
Lovell threw the willow around and smashed the ball to all parts of the ground while Juggy’ also pushed the score.
Lovell made a fine 22 including four fours to finish the Lakers innings 10/191 from 57.3 overs.
Wangaratta Magpies then needed to face 7 overs at the end of the day.
House, Dishot, Azam and Kreeck all bowled overs to no avail, leaving the Magpies at 0/20 chasing the Lakers 191 this weekend.
B Grade record solid win before finals
Merton 7/127 def by Yarrawonga Mulwala 3/270.
The B Grade Lakers continued their winning run this week against an under-strength Merton at Merton.
Winning the toss and batting, the Lakers openers went to work with Hudson Gillies and Alex Reilly getting away to a flyer on the lightning quick Merton outfield.
Both players taking advantage of any loose balls before Reilly fell for a run a ball 26, Gillies continued his rich form with a better than a run a ball 70 including 10 boundaries.
Their departure brought the hero of the day, Luke Buerckner to the crease who smashed an unbeaten 100 off only 75 balls.
His straight driving and ball placement were first class with 9 boundaries and a towering 6 that finished 30 meters into the Merton RaceTracks infield and stopped the game for 10 minutes as the Merton side looked for the ball.
Montgomery continued his good form with an unbeaten 55 from 40 balls. Lakers finishing 3 for 270.
With the ball, the bowling was rotated heavily until the desired line and length could be found with Hunter Frauenfelder being the pick of the bowlers taking 3-11 from his 8 overs.
Veteran Shaun Giblet having his first bowl for 15 years showing he can still make the ball talk with 2-7 from 3 overs.
A solid win leading into next weeks finals.
Almost hattrick for Pickering
Yarrawonga Mulwala 10/176 def Benalla Bushrangers 7/150.
On a gusty but sunny day the C Grade boys took to Vic Park 2 to battle it out with Benalla Bushrangers.
The team was without several big stars this week and also Josh Bozzola.
But they had some great replacements in Phat, Charlie Jamieson and club royalty and legend Josh Vagg.
‘Krome dome’ wasted no time in losing another toss and being sent into bowl, this finished the regular season without a single correct call for Pickering at the toss.
Sullivan was promoted to opening bowler as Bozzola was dancing ‘La Vida Loca’ at a wedding.
An early wicket and some tight bowling kept the Benalla openers quiet and forced them to take a risky single, “Pistons” Wilson, needed a direct hit and he delivered.
The boys continued to bowl well with Hawking and Ted Graham doing the damage in the middle overs before Lucas “Rackeman” Pickering wrapped up the innings with 3 quick wickets - and was even on a hat trick!
Some great fielding and catches helped round out a good set of 36 for the Yarrawonga boys.
Benalla 7/150.
Wilson and Vagg took the opening bowlers on an aggressive start to the innings. Wilson given out LBW to one that hit him in the hip, ‘Pickles’ Phibbs wasted no time in giving him out LBW.
Ball tracking showed it hitting halfway up middle.
Vagg was looking good until he was caught and bowled by a fantastic piece of cricket by the Benalla opener.
Hawking (67) then came to the crease and made it look easy on his way to a match winning knock, running through multiple partners including Lappin, Sully, Phat and Pickering.
Lappin is to be banned from all future umpiring duties until he has his eyes tested.
Things were looking Grim for Yarra until Charlie Jamieson (15) and ‘Pickles’ Phibbs (27) partnered with Hawk to get the Lakers over the line.
Benalla 7/150 def by Yarrawonga Mulwala Lakers 10/176.
A sold knock by both those boys under some pressure.
‘Pickles’ Phibbs picked the perfect time to score his second run for the year.
Lucas and Eamon Pickering finished off the innings after the winning runs were scored.
Phibbs will now head off on a much-deserved wellness retreat for the remainder of the season.
He will be sorely missed during the finals.
All in all, a great team win to end the regular season.
A week off now for the boys before finals start.
Bulls reign supreme
Yarrawonga Mulwala Bulls 2/154 def Benalla Bushrangers 6/137
The Yarrawonga Mulwala Under 12 Bulls have capped off a terrific season defeating Benalla Green in an epic grand final at Stan Hargreaves oval on Saturday.
The Bulls won the toss and decided to bat first on what looked to be a fast outfield.
Openers Blair and Hudson got the team off to a great start putting on 36 runs for the opening stand until Benalla’s captain Jack Hart got one through Hudson’s defence.
Byron Dodd then strode to the crease and looked confident from the word go.
Both Byron and Blair were feasting on any loose deliveries from Benalla combining for six boundaries and one maximum.
Blair retired with 27 from his 20 deliveries in what was an entertaining innings. Byron retired with 32 from his 20 balls in another fine knock.
Benji and Isaac then set about continuing the rapid run rate the earlier batters had set and did so without a fuss.
Isaac was in doubt prior to the match after a little misadventure on his electric scooter required a visit to Yarrawonga Health only days before the game. He bounded out of the car before the game, ran over to the coaches and that was enough to prove his fitness, so he was in!
Both Isaac and Benji played some great shots and were able to keep the score ticking over at better than a run a ball. Isaac finished with 23 from 20 balls including three boundaries and Benji made a well-crafted 19 from his 20 balls.
Finn and Murphy were able to continue building a strong total with Finn making 15 retired from his 20 balls and Murphy finished on 5 not out.
At the conclusion of their 20 overs the Bulls had 154 runs on the board, which would take some chasing.
After some inspirational words from coach Dodd, the Bulls were ready to go.
Benalla started well before Zander Gallagher struck in his first over, clean bowling Jakobi Williams.
Benalla then put together some solid partnerships with 154 not seeming out of reach for the Bushrangers.
It wasn’t until the 13th over that the Bulls were able to strike through the ever improving and energetic Murphy Doyle. Murphy was assisted by Benji Wollington taking a fantastic catch.
What followed was a celebration of epic proportions. Doyle ran to the crowd, produced the double cobra celebration, followed by a single and then another double.
To say that this young man was pleased with his wicket was an understatement!
Blair then chipped in with another wicket, leaving Benalla at 3 for 111 after 15 overs, requiring 44 from 30 balls.
This was not out of the question as they had retired batters waiting on the sidelines.
Everything was hinging on the last five overs of the match.
A lull came over the crowd as the stark reality of an undefeated season going up in flames became a possibility, but fear not, there was another twist to come.
Benji and Byron were tasked to bowl the Bulls to victory and they did just that, conceding just 22 runs from the last four overs.
Both boys showed maturity beyond their years and should be congratulated on their nouse and tactics they used during the last few overs.
Unfortunately for Benalla they finished 17 runs short in what was a real ding dong battle. The Bushrangers should be congratulated on their terrific season and they wouldn’t have lost any fans with their brave effort in the run chase.
The Bulls team effort and team first attitude was on full display again during the grand final and is a big reason in the success they have had this year.
Each players success is celebrated by their fellow teammates, which is brilliant to see.
The team celebrated after the game with a bbq and a few soft drinks.
Once again the game was well supported by parents, friends, family and plenty of senior Laker cricketers.
A big thanks to Ben McDonald for organising the livestream so those who couldn’t make it were able to watch from afar.
Those who missed Murphy Doyle’s celebration will also be able to watch the replay on YouTube.
It was a huge effort from the team, and they have now earned the right to play off for the Bill Daniel shield or the ‘Superbowl’ as the kids are referring to it as.
The game will be played against the premiers from the Under 12 Blue Division, Ovens Valley at North Wangaratta this Saturday starting at 9am.
The Bulls are chasing back to back wins in this final and hopefully they are able to bring the shield back to Yarrawonga for another year.
Yarrawonga Chronicle