Sport
15 January, 2024
Colts survive wild fluctuations to take outright win over Beaufort
Colts Phelans’ outright victory against Beaufort on Saturday had a penchant for the dramatic, without a doubt. Starting at 2/63, requiring 42 runs to claim first innings points, Rhys Wagstaff, who resumed on 33 not out, and Luke Tatchell, who was...
Colts Phelans’ outright victory against Beaufort on Saturday had a penchant for the dramatic, without a doubt.
Starting at 2/63, requiring 42 runs to claim first innings points, Rhys Wagstaff, who resumed on 33 not out, and Luke Tatchell, who was starting on four, made a positive enough start, putting 16 runs together before Tatchell was first to go for the day, with Shannon Brown catching him off a Joel Pymer delivery.
That brought out Rhys Egan, who was determined to help see Colts through to claim first innings points, and along with Wagstaff, the duo was successful in their endeavours, and still had seven wickets in hand.
Egan was next to go, however, with a four-run lead, trapped in front by Lachlan Oddie for LBW.
Wagstaff would soon pass a well-deserved 50, his second against the Crows this season, but he was next to go with the score on 127, with Pymer luring him into a nick straight to Craig Grant behind the stumps.
Indeed, the next passage of the game belonged to Pymer, who claimed four quick wickets.
First, he bowled Daniel McGregor for five, before he lured Graham Taylor into a shot to Grant behind the stumps. Soon, he lured Dayne Baker into playing a shot straight to Cooper Cahill to give himself a five-wicket haul in his best outing of the season so far.
That left the tail vulnerable, and they delivered, with Blake Jantzen and Grant combining to leave Riley Govan stumped, and Nick Henderson was last to go, with Cahill luring him into Grant’s fourth catch of the innings.
It meant that Colts last six wickets fell for just 12 runs.
Beaufort came out looking to play aggressive in hopes of getting a result, with Jantzen and Kriss Ellis looking to get early runs, and were successful in getting 23 on the board before Jantzen was first to go, caught by Henderson off his own bowling — his fifth wicket of the game.
With the Crows looking to make as many runs as possible in such a short amount of time, the batting order was re-jigged, with Shannon Brown coming in at first drop, and together with Ellis, put 20 runs together for the second wicket.
However, Colts would then take three quick wickets to keep the game in their favour.
First, Dave Robinson would lure Ellis into a wicket, before McGregor came on and claimed the wickets of Brown, trapped in front for LBW, before luring Jack Smith for a second wicket in quick succession.
With Oddie in, and the game still in Colts’ favour, he looked to play as aggressive as possible, and was successful in getting some big shots through to all parts of Goldfields Reserve.
The Crows did suffer a setback when Govan had his first wicket, stumping Cahill for 11, but alongside Oddie, Pymer came in and provided some solid support.
Oddie would soon reach 50, while captain Ben Woolidge declared after Pymer was run out on 11 to give Colts 20 overs to try and claim an outright victory.
There was plenty to play for, with Colts requiring just over four runs an over, while Beaufort were out to claim 10 wickets, and they got off to the perfect start when they claimed the wicket of Wagstaff for one, with Pymer continuing on his good form.
Bayden Macintyre and Egan, however, would soon steady the ship, with good batting allowing them to get to 36 in quick time.
Pymer would soon have his second wicket, with Macintyre edging a ball straight to Grant behind the stumps for his fifth catch of the day.
Egan was doing much of the heavy lifting as he and Robinson combined for 29 runs, before a dramatic Oddie over helped create a tense finish.
First, Oddie bowled Robinson for five, before quick wickets to Sebastian Borg, caught by Ellis, and Tatchell, who was trapped in front for LBW, meant Oddie had turned the game.
But Egan, importantly, was still there, and along with Taylor, the duo were able to guide Colts home after their scare.
Egan top-scored with 42, while Oddie finished with 3/12 off 3.4 overs, while Pymer took 2/27 off six.