Also by Seymour and District Cricket Association President Mitch Itter
Seymour Club A Grade
IN round four one day matches, the SDCA resumed its season following its recess for the Melbourne Cup.
The crowd cheered on their respective teams, Tallarook, and Yea for its grand final rematch at Tallarook.
Yea won the toss and chose the pitch, but they found themselves in early trouble.
Fifth in the order, Edi Waghorn was able to steady the ship with 39 runs and at the end of the order, Austen Ross and Will Dalton had a 33-run partnership creating a Tigers capital of 129 runs.
Tallarook’s Blake Munari-O’Dwyer, Xavier Arandt, and Matt Archibald each claimed two wickets and five of those were assisted by catches. Arandt was grippy with three and Andrew Dundon, two.
Tallarook got off to a slow start in its chase, with some tight bowling up front.
Joshua Rudge (37), Mitch Itter (42), and Lachlan Watts (38 not out) batted in that order and helped the home side defend their top position on the ladder, 131 to 129.
At the Puckapunyal Army base, the home side hosted Avenel.
Despite winning the toss, Avenel fielded first, to tryout a new spin bowl its captain Travis Stefanos said.
Jamison Black quickly dismissed Henry Long (1), but it was all one-way traffic from there as Charles Davies produced a record innings for Puckapunyal in one of the most dominant performances the SDCA has seen (218 not out).
Davies played 138 balls including 17 fours and 12 sixes, and a partnership with Nicholas Bennetts thrilled the crowd (65) until Warren Dowley claimed his wicket.
With such a mammoth total to chase down, Avenel was never really in the game and a couple of early wickets from Ciaran Fountain made sure of it.
Stefanos carried his bat, (75 not out) but Avenel’s innings was 139 runs short, 315 to 176.
Alexandra made the trip to Seymour and made the Maroons work hard for the win after posting a competitive total, 159.
Vinu Hewage (44) and William Ashton (30) were pivotal for Alexandra through the middle order before Justin Leary added some valuable lower order runs (21).
It was an even spread with the ball for Seymour as Brodey Pointon, Braidon Horkings and Daniel Bergowicz all finished with two wickets.
Seymour got off to a steady start before the match winning partnership was formed between Lachlan Drummond (51) and Bergowicz (28).
Despite a flurry of late wickets, Seymour was able to get over the line with two batters left in the sheds, 159 to 157.
Atmos Renewables B Grade
B grade also saw home side victories, some closer than others.
Tallarook defeated Yea, 78 to 73 and Puckapunyal closed the gap against Avenel, 117 to 116, and Seymour was no match for Alexandra, 205 to 95.
In round five, Pyalong are back from the dry, I mean bye. They take the security check to play Puckapunyal and Tallarook head north to play Avenel, while Yea is hosting Seymour and Alexandra have a bye.
As always, the B grade matches are reversed and, in each grade, Tallarook are the team to beat.
