Sport
18 January, 2024
One-day final rematch as Laane and Crows do battle
It’s a rematch of the one-day grand final, with Beaufort hosting Laanecoorie Dunolly at Goldfields Reserve. Although their return home didn’t go the way they would have liked, having been inflicted an outright loss by Colts Phelans for their...
It’s a rematch of the one-day grand final, with Beaufort hosting Laanecoorie Dunolly at Goldfields Reserve.
Although their return home didn’t go the way they would have liked, having been inflicted an outright loss by Colts Phelans for their second straight two-day meeting, a return home to their revamped pitch was just the tonic the Crows needed, and will be relishing the challenge of playing the reigning champions on their own deck.
Much of their clash with Colts was lost on the first day, having been bowled out for 105 and needing too much work to do with Colts ending the first day on 2/63.
But you have to admire the aggression from Beaufort captain Ben Woolidge, who wasn’t prepared to accept a first innings defeat and instead have a crack at a reverse outright victory.
At times, it appeared that Beaufort were on track to get back into the game, and much of it, as it has in the recent past, rested on the shoulders of Lachlan Oddie.
Oddie had a sensational individual performance on day two, scoring an unbeaten 50 in the Crows’ second innings, before turning the game on its head with three quick wickets to leave Colts reeling at 5/65 before they settled.
The performance means that Oddie is now equal with Crows teammate Jay English on top of the wicket-taking charts, while also maintaining second place on the batting charts as well, 58 runs behind Luke Smith at an average of 56.5.
Beaufort also welcomed back Joel Pymer to the mix, and had a terrific outing throughout the match against Colts Phelans, taking seven wickets across both innings.
However, it’s a tough ask to beat the reigning champions, who look as good as ever, even with the loss of Smith for the short term.
It was captain Matt Smith who took charge in their win against Maryborough, scoring a quickfire 91 as he set sail for his second big score of the year off limited deliveries.
Combined with Tom Hannett, who added 71, and Sam Bartlett, who continued his consistent season with 43, it allowed Laane to put up an imposing 302 runs at a brisk rate of just under four runs an over.
Laane were then able to get the job done comfortably last Saturday, despite some frustrating moments, eventually bowling the Owls out for 149.
Bartlett was a key factor with three wickets, while Joe Lovel took another two. Both players have now joined Daniel Romeo on 13 wickets to each lead the way for Laane with the ball this season.
To indicate Laane’s dominance with the ball, each of Romeo (10.9), Lovel (14.4), Bartlett (14.5) and Zach Graham (12.5) all average under 15, while taking a combined 49 wickets for the season, and their run-rate numbers are also superb, with Lovel leading the way with just 3.1, while Graham (3.2), Bartlett (3.3), Sergio Rosier (3.3) and Romeo (4.3) have also been economical throughout.
The two teams have met twice this season, with their T20 meeting going the way of Laane by five wickets, while the one-day final proved to be just as fruitful, with Laane winning by seven wickets.
On both occasions, Luke was dominant, with the ball in the first meeting taking 4/9, before scoring an unbeaten 72 in the one-day final.