Sport
12 December, 2025
Beaufort aim to rebound against in-form Colts
Before they attempt to avenge last season’s one-day Grand Final loss next weekend, Colts Phelans will first have to navigate a tough away trip to Beaufort.
In a coincidental moment of deja vu, the Colts and Bulls also met in the final round of one-day action during the 2024/25 season in a winner-takes-all showdown.
Thanks to a game-winning partnership from Luke Tatchell and Dayne Baker, the Colts snatched the final spot in the white-ball finale at the Bulls’ expense, eventually losing the Grand Final to Laanecoorie Dunolly by 45 runs.
While Saturday’s encounter isn’t as crucial for the Colts this year, already booked for a Grand Final rematch with Laane, it can have serious ramifications on Beaufort’s two-day finals chances.
It can be haplessly cruel how such narrow margins can create long-lasting ripple effects on a sporting team’s aspirations.
If the Bulls found a way to score an extra nine runs last weekend, they would be on cruise control along the road to finals with a 15-point buffer in fourth.
However, their deflating defeat to Carisbrook immediately shrunk their cushion to a measly three points, meaning any slip-up could see them tumbling out of the top four.
Saturday’s loss wasn’t a complete whitewash for the Bulls, as star batsman Kriss Ellis started to showcase the form that made him Beaufort’s highest run-scorer last season with a brilliant 63.
Ellis got his team’s run chase off to a credible start alongside Brandon Walsh and kept the Bulls in the game after a top-order collapse as part of a gritty partnership with Toby Alexander, who impressed in his season debut.
Another interesting wrinkle to this contest is that a handful of adversaries on Saturday will become teammates on Sunday.
Beaufort’s Walsh, Theo Trevelyan-Clark and Lachlan Oddie, as well as the Colts Asim Ahktar and Ben Evans, have all been picked to represent the MDCA against Grenville in the prestigious Sharp Shield, giving the team an abundance of depth with both bat and ball.
Walsh, Trevelyan-Clark and Oddie have done the bulk of their damage this season wreaking havoc on opposing batting lineups, combining for 35 of the Bulls’ 61 wickets.
Walsh and Trevelyan-Clark have been particularly potent for the Bulls, both sitting inside the league’s top-five wicket-takers.
Ahktar and Evans aren’t far behind with 11 and nine wickets respectively, two vital pieces in the Colts bowling jigsaw that’s taken the most wickets in the competition so far this season.
