With only one round remaining in the Busselton Margaret River Cricket Association the race for A grades Barnard Cup intensified last Saturday with two contrasting games played out.
In Dunsborough, a depleted Margaret River side was no match for the reigning premiers who scored a solid 168 run win.
In the other game, St Mary’s played their final game of the regular season when they took on ladder leaders Yobs at Chruchill Park.
On winning the toss, Yobs captain Nayton Colombera elected to bat but the innings did not begin well with Bailey Sanford and Lachie Golding dismissed quickly.
St Mary’s opening bowlers Ben Mattock(2/17) and Danny Hatton(2/35) continued to trouble the Yobs top order and at one point had Yobs 5/55. St Mary’s captain Ben Lloyd paid tribute to his bowlers who he felt were “bowling very consistent and to a plan” and this was making a big difference to his sides chances in games.
The Yobs lower order mounted a strong comeback and eventually completed their allotted 50 overs at 9/169. Solid contributions by Haig Colombera(30) and Chris Brook(21) were a highlight for Yobs.
In reply, Yobs Haig Colombera got his side off to a strong start when he bowled the dangerous Danny Hatton for 6, but a solid 71run stand between man of the match Mark Ford(63) and Lloyd(43) took the game away from Yobs. Along with a patient 34 from youngster Luke Wedderburn, St Mary’s chased the target only four wickets down and with eight balls to spare.
Lloyd was happy with the win but more so the way his side was building towards finals – “I think we are playing so much more as a team than in previous years and I think that will make all the difference when we play finals” – Lloyd added.
St Mary’s will now freshen up with a week off before finals, whilst Yobs will look to bounce back and gain winning momentum when they take on Dunsborough this Saturday.
The game will be a preview of the following weeks semi final when the two clubs will meet again, the winner of which will progress straight to the grand final.
In B grade, ladder leaders Dunsborough scored a 10 wicket win over St Mary’s and will finish ahead of Vasse who also posted a strong win over Cowaramup. In what amounted to an elimination final, Margaret River took on Yobs and scored an important win which ensured their place in the finals and ended the season of Yobs.
In C grade, a one sided affair between top sides Augusta and an undermanned Nannup saw Augusta dismiss Nannup for only 21 runs.
The two sides will meet again in the semi-final in two weeks with Nannup stalwart Pieter Bresser commenting that the game should be much closer with several key players set to return.
The season of Margaret River came to an end when defeated in a stirring performance by Vasse who registered their third win of the season.
Last Saturday also saw many local players emulating the feats seen in the current ICC World Cup when 4 centuries were scored around the BMRCA.
Dunsborough A’s Jake Gillett(128), Margaret River B’s Grant Garstone(108) and C’s Paul Gravatt(129), and Vasse C’s Murray Gould(111) all scored centuries in the limited overs format.
