Sport
6 March, 2026
Premiership favourites collide at Bryants Oval
For the first time since the 2025 one-day decider, Laanecoorie Dunolly and Colts Phelans will collide to conclude their home and away seasons, with another premiership, albeit a minor one, on the line.
Thanks to their commanding outright victory over Clunes last round, the Colts can snatch top spot from Laane with a victory.
The reigning premiers would love to deliver a psychological advantage to their main rivals in their attempts to defend their title, especially after losing the one-day Grand Final by six wickets to Laane back in December.
After being placed in immediate trouble at 2/13, a vital 88-run partnership between Tarkyn Balzan and Asim Akhtar, combined with a quickfire 50 from Rhys Egan, allowed the Colts to finish with a solid total of 7/186.
However, in one of their most complete innings to that point, Laane controlled the tempo of their run chase with a smashing 82 from best on ground Tom Hart and a half-century from Nafis Shaikh, allowing Laane to reach the required 187 in just 30 overs.
After struggling at times to meet their lofty run-scoring standards during the first half of the season, Laane’s batting line-up has come into its own in the two-day format, surpassing 300 runs in their last two matches against Maryborough and Beaufort.
Without the constraints of limited overs, players like Sam Bartlett, Alex Cook, Matt Smith and Amar Ullah have been given more opportunities to flourish.
Bartlett in particular is quietly having one of the most sensational batting seasons in the competition.
After only having six appearances with the willow during the one-day campaign, headlined by a season-best 93 against the Colts, Bartlett has made a half-century in all two of his two-day knocks.
While Laane’s two-day success has been led by the bat, their upcoming opponents have done much of their talking with the ball.
In the four matches since failing to defend 186 in the one-day Grand Final, only Carisbrook has surpassed 125 runs against the Colts’ bowling attack.
All of that damage has largely been done without the services of last season’s top wicket-taker in A grade, Ben Evans, who took 6/23 in his first two-day spell to complete the Colts’ win over Clunes.
Currently second in this season’s wicket-taking charts, Akhtar has been the star bowler for the Colts in recent weeks, with six-wicket hauls in back-to-back matches versus Beaufort and the Magpies.
He and Nick Henderson will be tasked with taking some early Laane wickets if the Colts bowl on day one, with the pair creating a frightening duo as Henderson has 24 breakthroughs this campaign at an elite average of 13.25.
Before the one-day finale, the Colts and Laane split two thrilling encounters that were decided in the last over.
After Laane scored a one-wicket victory at Hedges Oval in round five thanks to a magical stand from youngsters Thang Nguyen and Lachie Condie, Abdaar Ishaq hit a boundary on the final ball of their round eight rematch to give the Colts their first win over Laane in 1,848 days.