BROADFORD are on the Johnstone Shield winners’ list for the first time this season, taking a much-needed win with a seven-wicket triumph over Riddell at Harley Hammond Reserve.
Riddell looked to take the challenge straight up to Broadford early on, with the Bombers putting 49 runs on for a brisk first-wicket partnership.
But Broadford gradually wore down Riddell, with Braden Hickey and Taylor Shell initially slowing down the run rate with five good overs apiece, while also claiming a wicket apiece.
Jeremy Bradshaw and Sikander Sharma then rammed home Broadford’s new-found advantage, with Bradshaw putting in a superb seven-over spell where he only conceded nine runs, bowled three maidens and took two wickets, while Sharma was equally brilliant, bowling 8.4 overs for the figures of 3/19.
That ensured that Riddell lost its 10 wickets for just 46 runs to be bowled out for 95.
In response, the opening duo of Ashley Wood and Hickey took up the challenge.
Wood scored 22 off just 12 delivers, while Hickey was a consistent threat all innings.
Joshua Nolan would top score, however, scoring 34 runs off 30 deliveries to anchor the chase, with Hickey unbeaten on 25 as Broadford chased down the target with almost 30 overs to spare, finishing on 3/96.
Meantime, Kilmore struggled at Eynesbury Recreation Reserve, losing to Eynesbury by 65 runs.
Eynesbury batted first, making 7/207, with Alex Mowat dominant for Eynesbury, making 101.
Kilmore had no answer in response with the bat, with Trent McNamara top-scoring with 32, and captain Jacob Walton scoring 28, as the Blues could only muster 8/142. No bowling stats were available for Kilmore at the time of production.
In what is started to look like a familiar pattern for Johnstone Shield teams, Lancefield met the full force of Merrifield’s batting order, losing by 148 runs at Lancefield Park.
Merrifield batted first, with the top order all dominant in making 5/277, led by Rubal Singh Dillon’s 73, Satnam Singh’s 71 and Talwinder Prince’s 62.
Harrison Lehner bowled well for the Tigers to take two wickets for 51 runs, while Andrew Richardt, Jake Goodwin and Mitchell Bye also took wickets.
Despite the Tigers doing what they could, it was never going to be enough, falling well short on 8/129.
Lachlan Mitchell top-scored with 27, while Goodwin, Richardt, David Attard and Jack Crosland all got starts before falling, each scoring in the teens.
Diggers Rest, in the other game, took a nine-wicket win over Sunbury Kangaroos.
In the seconds, Broadford also claimed success by seven wickets at Riddells Creek Primary School.
Mitchell Collier scored 61 and Connor Stute 40, while Michael Mirabella did the job with the ball to claim 3/22 as Broadford’s chase of 143 was complete in 28.4 overs, scoring 3/149.
In a rain-affected game at the Kilmore Cricket Ground, Kilmore did enough to win by five wickets under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern system.
Abu Bakar Saeed spearheaded the Blues’ bowling efforts, taking 4/33, while James Acret (2/16) and Brent Proctor (2/28) also contributed heavily as Eynesbury were bowled out for 148.
After falling to 3/35 early on, Kyle McNicholas steadied the ship, scoring 34 off 79, while Proctor (32 off 23) and Callum Partridge (22) also did well to ensure Kilmore scored 5/139 to win by five wickets.
Lancefield’s seconds also struggled against Merrifield, losing by 118 runs.
Merrifield scored 9/236, with Samuel Taylor taking 3/47, while Lachlan Bendeich, Lachlan McElhinney and Angus Nuttall all took two wickets apiece.
Josef Moro played a lone hand for the Tigers, scoring 66 of their 118 in response.
Broadford’s third XI lost to Gisborne by 167 runs, while Kilmore was outclassed by Wallan by 133 runs.
Kilmore’s 4th XI claimed a strong win over Lancefield by 74 runs.
McIntyre Cup
IT was a mixed bag of results in the McIntyre Cup for the local teams, with Wallan and Eastern Hill losing its games, but Romsey taking a much-needed win.
Romsey travelled to Tony Clarke Recreation Reserve to take on Macedon, and it was the Benjamin Way show as he did it all to help Romsey claim a comfortable five-wicket victory.
After Macedon made a reasonable start to sit at 2/111 at one stage, Romsey started to put together some good bowling to slow the run rate down significantly, with Way claiming a catch and two late wickets to finish with Romsey’s best figures, taking 2/28 off seven overs as Macedon finished on 7/202.
Romsey got off to a somewhat shaky start, but Way’s introduction to the crease brought with it some certainty, forming a good partnership with Chris Burkett, with the duo putting on 57 runs for the third wicket.
While Burkett fell for 43, Way anchored the rest of the innings, top scoring with 81 off 111 deliveries, which included eight fours, as Romsey chased down the target with three overs to spare, finishing on 5/205.
Eastern Hill lost in a rain-affected match to a powerful Gisborne outfit.
The Eagles made a steady start to put 34 on for the first wicket, but Gisborne soon put on the clamps, taking 4/10 as the premiership favourites started to take over.
Brayden Speechley provided some resistance for the Eagles, scoring an unbeaten 39, but it wasn’t enough as Eastern Hill scored 8/123 off its 45 overs.
Gisborne’s innings was heavily rain-affected, losing 19 overs, which meant a revised target of 91 off 26 overs.
While Eastern Hill had a brief look in thanks to Fraser Lewis claiming the wicket of Brenton Cook, the duo of Jarryd Vernon and Reegan Scott guided Gisborne to 1/94 off just 14 overs to win easily.
Although early in the season, Wallan will need to start getting a move on to get off the bottom of the ladder, losing to Rupertswood by five wickets.
The Magpies had a handy start at the top of the order, with Bryan Vance making 36 and Hamish Mullavey-Clark making 42, but as the innings wore on, Rupertswood’s bowlers started to bring back the run rate.
Apart from Spencer Whittlngham’s 21 and Darcy McNicholas’ 13, no other batter in the middle and lower order scored above double digits as Wallan were rolled for 152 off 40.4 overs.
In response, Rupertswood were guided well by Jordan Curran, who scored 86 off 72 to anchor the chase.
While Ryan Cumberland had a good game with the ball, taking two wickets and claiming a catch, Wallan’s score simply wasn’t enough, as Rupertswood chased down the target with 16 overs to spare, finishing on 5/153.
Wallan’s seconds had a better time of it at Salesian College, chasing down 187 to win by five wickets.
Zac Bell and Ben Funnell did a lot of early damage to restrict Rupertswood to 6/118 at one stage, but some good lower-order hitting ensured Rupertswood made 7/186.
Funnell took 3/20 off eight overs to lead the way.
With the bat, it was Bell and Troy Jeffs who led the charge, with Bell scoring 40 and Jeffs scoring 52, while Josh Cumberland helped finish the job by scoring 35 to ensure the Magpies took the points, scoring 5/190 off 39.3 overs.
Romsey did it easily over Macedon at Romsey Recreation Reserve, with Joe Meehan dominant with the ball in a special spell.
Meehan claimed 4/8 off 2.5 overs as he cleaned up Macedon’s tail, remarkably claiming all four wickets in the space of five balls, which included a hat-trick, while Jed Richardson’s 3/6 off six overs and Daniel Paterson’s 3/10 off eight overs also noteworthy as Macedon were rolled for 109.
In response, Jake Rees scored 35 and Brendan Norris 55 as the chase was completed in 25.1 overs, Romsey scoring 1/110.
Eastern Hill was no match for Gisborne, losing by 86 runs.
Gisborne batted first and made 7/220, with six Eastern Hill players taking one wicket apiece.
With the bat, the Eagles had seven players make starts and scoring double digits, but couldn’t go on with it, with Eric Loweke top-scoring with 24 as they could only muster 136 off 36.3 overs.
Wallan’s thirds and Club White team scored wins, while Wallan’s Club Black team lost. Romsey’s thirds also tasted defeat, but it was better news for the fourths, who took a win. Eastern Hill’s thirds were also defeated.
