Sport
25 October, 2024
Important assignment for Crows and Brook
Beaufort will be hoping to back up their round one victory with another success against Carisbrook at Goldfields Reserve tomorrow.
The Crows were superb first up in marching in to Bull Millgate Oval and taking the premiership points against Clunes, scoring at a good clip and also maintaining a tight line to restrict the Magpies after a good start to their innings.
Central to their success with both bat and ball was Lachlan Oddie. While Oddie didn’t take a wicket, the reigning Ken Gibbs Medallist showed that he will again be a hard man to score runs off in season 2024/25, conceding just 11 runs off eight overs and scoring 28 with the bat.
However, he did have plenty of mates, with both captain Kriss Ellis and Thomas Grant scoring 35, while Nick Stabbins provided some good hitting with 28, while with the ball, Ben Grant took 3/41 from his eight overs to lead the way for the Crows.
Last year’s one-day grand finalists are most certainly hoping that this wasn’t just a flash in the pan, and a win against Carisbrook could yet cement their status as one of the contenders again.
Carisbrook will be disappointed they didn’t get the chance to show how they would bounce back from their round one loss against Colts Phelans last week, and undoubtedly will be hoping to get some good rhythm in.
Top order support for Dean Nalder appears to be the key to Carisbrook’s hopes of getting a victory here, with Nalder almost single-handedly keeping some interest in the game in round one, scoring 63 of the Brookers’ 133.
Atticus Cullinan could be one to watch after impressing with the bat last week in A reserve, scoring 44 runs against Clunes, and is continuing to improve both with the bat and the ball. His middle order hitting could yet prove handy.
The other important part of the game for Carisbrook will be recognising the need to stop Beaufort’s top order, who were able to get away from Clunes batting first. Quick wickets will be the key for Carisbrook to get themselves into the game.
Last season, both these teams met on three occasions, with Beaufort taking two of the victories on offer.
In round one, Carisbrook took advantage of wayward Beaufort bowling to secure a 12-run victory in their return to A grade, with Nick Broad doing his bit with the ball in taking 5/20.
Round seven brought about a high-scoring game, with Martin Mark and Cole Harris doing some early damage at the top of the order, but three wickets apiece to Jay English and Blake Jantzen saw Carisbrook all out for 184, before Beaufort, led by an aggressive Ellis and Jack Smith, were able to chase down the target with eight overs to spare.
The final meeting was in round 13, and in a topsy-turvy game, Carisbrook were bowled out for 93, before Beaufort took first innings points.
Carisbrook were sent in again after the Crows were rolled for 145, and improved dramatically to get themselves in a position where they could consider themselves a chance, but it was a game that belonged to Smith, remaining unbeaten through the first innings, and top-scoring with 35 in the second dig, to help Beaufort take an outright victory.