Sport
2 November, 2023
Must-win encounter for Clunes as they clash with Owls
Clunes travel to Princes Park tomorrow with the simple goal of needing to win by enough against Maryborough to overhaul Beaufort and Carisbrook to secure a grand final berth. With Maryborough assured of the T20 wooden spoon, the Owls will be playing...
Clunes travel to Princes Park tomorrow with the simple goal of needing to win by enough against Maryborough to overhaul Beaufort and Carisbrook to secure a grand final berth.
With Maryborough assured of the T20 wooden spoon, the Owls will be playing for pride, but they can still have a big say in the outlook of who plays Laanecoorie Dunolly in the grand final.
After a slower start to the season, Maryborough have steadily started making runs over the last two weeks, but it hasn’t been enough to secure wins.
Specifically, trying to build a settled lineup has been the challenge for the Owls, with 19 batsmen and 12 bowlers trying to make an impact so far this season.
The overall impact is that the Owls have scored the fewest runs in the competition so far with 462, while also taking just 14 wickets — also the fewest in the competition.
However, the Owls still have some dangerous weapons at their disposal.
Tom Hart, Mitch McClure and Ben Hoban have been solid at the top of the order in recent weeks, with the trio combining for 233 runs so far this season, which included Hoban making 48 against Beaufort last week.
Youngster Jasper Trickey has been their best bowler so far this season, having taken six wickets, while Jacob Glen has taken four.
They will need all hands on deck to defeat a Clunes outfit that will be burning from letting slip a golden opportunity to control their destiny by losing to Colts Phelans by seven wickets.
A slow start was the Magpies’ downfall, having been restricted early on by some good economical bowling.
But Mitch Coppick came in and helped Clunes eventually finish on 6/135 after some excellent hitting, and was rewarded with his second 50 of the season.
However, they could not stop the likes of Rhys Wagstaff, Dave Robinson and Dayne Baker from helping control Colts’ batting innings, and were able to chase down Clunes’ target with four balls to spare.
Clunes are the only team in the competition so far to have had four batters — Coppick, Lachlan Morganti, Brenton Jones and Mark Allen — make more than 50 runs across the season to this point, suggesting that they are able to make starts.
Maintaining that level will be the key goal for the Magpies, particularly with a potential grand final berth as the reward.