Sport
9 December, 2025
Carisbrook earn stunning eight-run win
Carisbrook has burst the top four race wide open with a landmark eight-run victory against Beaufort.
With their finals chances potentially hanging by a thread, rising star Elliot Cullinan continued his sensational form at the top of Carisbrook’s order, belting a stunning 83 to guide Carisbrook to 8/189.
After 2024/25 MDCA Team of the Year batsman Kriss Ellis and the debuting Toby Alexander allowed Beaufort to recover from a top-order collapse, a magical spell from Dean Nalder severely wounded the Bulls, who fell just short despite some late heroics from Charlie Dyer and Adam Miller.
Last season’s runners-up now sit just three points behind the fourth-placed Bulls with six rounds to go.
The morning’s rainfall threatened the game to be abandoned, but a 35-over match started when Carisbrook won the toss and elected to bat.
While Elliot Cullinan attacked Beaufort with some early bounda-ries, his fellow opener, William Coutts, was quickly gone for six, with Theo Trevelyan-Clark claiming the big wicket with a catch from Alexander.
Similar to their victory over Clunes the week prior, Carisbrook’s Jordan Hooper ensured the Bulls couldn’t bulldoze the top order, navigating Trevelyan-Clark and Joel Pymer while Elliot Cullinan accelerated towards his third consecutive half-century.
The partnership would add 60 to the total before a brilliant caught and bowled from Walsh removed Hooper for six.
With Carisbrook at 2/76, the hard-hitting duo of Elliot Cullinan and Nalder were applying enormous pressure on the Bulls’ attack.
As his fellow bowlers’ economy rates continued to rise, Lachlan Oddie was doing a brilliant job limiting runs, and got his just rewards when he removed Nalder for 21 with a catch from Ellis.
Brayden Wright picked up where Nalder left off with a four and a six before Pymer managed the second caught and bowled of the day to end Wright’s entertaining cameo at 21.
With Carisbrook at 4/151, the bash brothers of Elliot and Atticus Cullinan attempted to bring the hammer down.
Playing another of his patented aggressive shots, Elliot Cullinan’s speculative innings came to an end when he hit a Trevelyan-Clark delivery down the throat of Oddie at long-on, falling 17 runs short of his maiden A grade century.
After Elliot Cullinan’s wicket, the hosts began to throw caution to the wind in their search for valuable insurance runs.
That allowed the Bulls to take full advantage of their increased opportunities, starting with Trevelyan-Clark claiming his third victim of Liam Mottram for four, thanks to a diving catch from Dyer.
A miscommunication between Atticus Cullinan and Cole Harris allowed Dyer to easily run out Harris for three, while Lucas Hurse was bowled two deliveries later by Ben Woolidge.
With four boundaries to his name, Atticus Cullinan finished on 26 not out alongside Martin Mark, who scored zero, as Carisbrook posted an imposing score of 8/189.
Trevelyan-Clark’s hot streak with the ball continued, finishing with 3/34, while Oddie produced a superb spell at a critical juncture, taking 1/20 from seven overs.
Needing a required run-rate of 5.4 without the services of dynamo opener Jarrod Blandford, Ellis and Walsh started the Bulls’ run chase well, routinely finding the fence facing Atticus Cullinan and Hurse.
With Ellis and Walsh looking comfortable against their frontline seamers, Carisbrook turned to Hooper and Wright to stem the tide.
Hooper delivered in spades, drawing Walsh to be caught by Atticus Cullinan for 28 before bowling Trevelyan-Clark for a golden duck to instill confidence into his Carisbrook teammates.
Quickly falling to 2/51, Beaufort were still in adept hands with Ellis and Oddie at the crease, who threatened to develop a game-changing stand with two quick fours from Oddie.
However, Carisbrook duly delivered another double blow, as Nalder crashed into the stumps of Oddie for 10 and Wright bowled Lyle Aichroth for naught.
Now finding themselves in serious trouble at 4/68, Beaufort needed a strong partnership to get their run chase back on track. Luckily for the Bulls, Ellis and Alexander were the right men for the job, navigating the visitors to triple digits.
With the contest now back in the balance, the opportunity arose for someone to step up and lead their team to glory.
That someone was Dean Nalder.
Carisbrook’s elite all-rounder first ended the fifth-wicket partnership at 56 runs by trapping Alexander for an LBW dismissal, sending Alexander packing after a well-made 24.
Shortly after taking the wicket of Noah Scofield for one, thanks to a catch from Wright, Nalder grabbed the big fish of Ellis, who was gone for a valiant 63 after being caught by Elliot Cullinan.
Ellis’ dismissal felt the Bulls’ last spark at victory had been extinguished. That feeling was exacerbated when Wright removed Woolidge for four with a catch from Mottram.
However, Dyer, playing his second match this season, and Miller, who recently scored an unbeaten 75 for Beaufort Blue in A reserve, began to plant some unrest in the hosts.
The duo continued to creep towards the target in the final overs with some excellent shots, but they just ran out of time, as the Bulls finished on 8/181.
Nalder was integral to Carisbrook holding on with figures of 4/15 from six overs. Wright (2/30) and Hooper (2/35) also bagged multiple wickets.